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Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, (A)Jesus called His disciples and *said to them, (B)I feel compassion for the crowd because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough [a]bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” And He *directed the crowd to [b]sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them. And He kept giving them to His disciples to [c]serve to them, and they served them to the crowd. And they also had a few small fish; and (C)after He blessed them, He ordered these to be [d]served as well. And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large (D)baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. Now about four thousand were there, and He sent them away. 10 And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of (E)Dalmanutha.

11 (F)And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, (G)seeking from Him [e]a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12 (H)And sighing deeply [f]in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation seek [g]a sign? Truly I say to you, [h](I)no [i]sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.

14 And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, (J)Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of (K)Herod.” 16 And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, *said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? (L)Do you not yet perceive or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? 18 (M)Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, 19 when I broke (N)the five loaves for the five thousand, how many (O)baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They *said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “When I broke (P)the seven for the four thousand, how many large (Q)baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they *said to Him, “Seven.” 21 And He was saying to them, (R)Do you not yet understand?”

22 And they *came to (S)Bethsaida. And they *brought a blind man to Jesus and *pleaded with Him to (T)touch him. 23 And taking the blind man by the hand, He (U)brought him out of the village; and after (V)spitting on his eyes and (W)laying His hands on him, He was asking him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he [j]looked up and was saying, “I see men, for [k]I see them like trees, walking around.” 25 Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. 26 And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter (X)the village.”

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

27 (Y)And Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of (Z)Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He was asking His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 (AA)And they told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He continued asking them, “But who do you say that I am?” (AB)Peter *answered and *said to Him, “You are the [l]Christ.” 30 And (AC)He [m]warned them to tell no one about Him.

31 (AD)And He began to teach them that (AE)the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And He was stating the matter (AF)openly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, (AG)Satan! For you are not setting your mind on [n]God’s interests, but man’s.”

Take Up Your Cross

34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to [o]come after Me, he must deny himself, and (AH)take up his cross and follow Me. 35 For (AI)whoever wishes to save his [p]life will lose it, but whoever loses his [q]life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For (AJ)whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, (AK)the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He (AL)comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Footnotes

  1. Mark 8:4 Lit loaves
  2. Mark 8:6 Lit recline
  3. Mark 8:6 Lit set before
  4. Mark 8:7 Lit set before them
  5. Mark 8:11 Or an attesting miracle
  6. Mark 8:12 Or to Himself
  7. Mark 8:12 Or an attesting miracle
  8. Mark 8:12 Lit if a sign shall be given
  9. Mark 8:12 Or attesting miracle
  10. Mark 8:24 Or gained sight
  11. Mark 8:24 Or they look to me
  12. Mark 8:29 Messiah
  13. Mark 8:30 Or strictly admonished
  14. Mark 8:33 Lit the things of God
  15. Mark 8:34 Some mss follow
  16. Mark 8:35 Or soul
  17. Mark 8:35 Or soul

Jesus feeds four thousand people

In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they won’t have enough strength to travel, for some have come a long distance.”

His disciples responded, “How can anyone get enough food in this wilderness to satisfy these people?”

Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

They said, “Seven loaves.”

He told the crowd to sit on the ground. He took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them apart, and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they gave the bread to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said a blessing over them, then gave them to the disciples to hand out also. They ate until they were full. They collected seven baskets full of leftovers. This was a crowd of about four thousand people! Jesus sent them away, 10 then got into a boat with his disciples and went over to the region of Dalmanutha.

Looking for proof

11 The Pharisees showed up and began to argue with Jesus. To test him, they asked for a sign from heaven. 12 With an impatient sigh, Jesus said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I assure you that no sign will be given to it.” 13 Leaving them, he got back in the boat and crossed to the other side of the lake.

Understanding about the bread

14 Jesus’ disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, so they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 He gave them strict orders: “Watch out and be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees as well as the yeast of Herod.”

16 The disciples discussed this among themselves, “He said this because we have no bread.”

17 Jesus knew what they were discussing and said, “Why are you talking about the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you grasp what has happened? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts so resistant to what God is doing? 18 Don’t you have eyes? Why can’t you see? Don’t you have ears? Why can’t you hear? Don’t you remember? 19 When I broke five loaves of bread for those five thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?”

They answered, “Twelve.”

20 “And when I broke seven loaves of bread for those four thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?”

They answered, “Seven.”

21 Jesus said to them, “And you still don’t understand?”

A blind man is healed

22 Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch and heal him. 23 Taking the blind man’s hand, Jesus led him out of the village. After spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on the man, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”

24 The man looked up and said, “I see people. They look like trees, only they are walking around.”

25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again. He looked with his eyes wide open, his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26 Then Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t go into the village!”

Jesus predicts his death

27 Jesus and his disciples went into the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

28 They told him, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others one of the prophets.”

29 He asked them, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” 30 Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

31 Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Human One[a] must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts, and be killed, and then, after three days, rise from the dead.” 32 He said this plainly. But Peter took hold of Jesus and, scolding him, began to correct him. 33 Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, then sternly corrected Peter: “Get behind me, Satan. You are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”

34 After calling the crowd together with his disciples, Jesus said to them, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. 35 All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me and because of the good news will save them. 36 Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? 37 What will people give in exchange for their lives? 38 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Human One[b] will be ashamed of that person when he comes in the Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Footnotes

  1. Mark 8:31 Or Son of Man
  2. Mark 8:38 Or Son of Man