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Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.

Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money[a] to feed them!”

Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

14 When the people saw him[b] do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”[c] 15 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:7 Greek Two hundred denarii would not be enough. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
  2. 6:14a Some manuscripts read Jesus.
  3. 6:14b See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.

Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand(A)

After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (that is, to Tiberias). A large crowd kept following him because they had seen the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. But Jesus went up on a hillside and sat down there with his disciples.

Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” Jesus[a] said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[b] worth of bread isn’t enough for each of them to have a little.”

One of his disciples, Andrew, who was Simon Peter’s brother, told him, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish. But what are these among so many people?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was plenty of grass in that area, so they sat down, numbering about 5,000 men.

11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated. He also distributed[c] as much fish as they wanted. 12 When they were completely satisfied, Jesus[d] told his disciples, “Collect the pieces that are left over so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they collected and filled twelve baskets full of pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14 When the people saw the sign[e] that he had done, they kept saying, “Truly this is the Prophet who was to come into the world!” 15 Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew[f] again to the hillside by himself.

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Footnotes

  1. John 6:6 Lit. He
  2. John 6:7 The denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer.
  3. John 6:11 Lit. Likewise also
  4. John 6:12 Lit. he
  5. John 6:14 Other mss. read signs
  6. John 6:15 Other mss. read fled