^10 (A)When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. ^(B)And taking them with Him, He withdrew privately to a city called ^(C)Bethsaida. ¹¹ But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and He welcomed them and began speaking to them about the kingdom of God, and curing those who had need of healing.

Five Thousand Men Fed

¹² Now the day ^[a]was ending, and the twelve came up and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get ^[b]something to eat; because here, we are in a secluded place.” ¹³ But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” But they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ (For there were about five thousand men.) But He said to His disciples, “Have them recline to eat ^(D)in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ They did so, and had them all recline. ¹⁶ And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He blessed them and broke them, and gave them to the disciples again and again, to serve the crowd. ¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied; and ^[c]the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve ^(E)baskets full.