Mark 6:30-46

New Testament for Everyone

The feeding of the five thousand

³⁰ The apostles came back to Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. ³¹ “All right,” he said, “it’s time for a break. Come away, just you, and we’ll go somewhere lonely and private.” (Crowds of people were coming and going and they didn’t even have time to eat.)

³² So they went off privately in the boat to a deserted spot. ³³ And . . . crowds saw them going, realized what was happening, hurried on foot from all the towns, and arrived there first. ³⁴ When Jesus got out of the boat he saw the huge crowd, and was deeply sorry for them, because they were like a flock without a shepherd. So he started to teach them many things.

³⁵ It was already getting late when his disciples came to him and said, “Look: there’s nothing here. It’s getting late. ³⁶ Send them away. They need to go off into the countryside and the villages and buy themselves some food.”

³⁷ “Why don’t you give them something?” Jesus replied.

“Are you suggesting,” they asked, “that we should go and spend two hundred dinars and get food for this lot?”

³⁸ “Well,” said Jesus, “how many loaves have you got? Go and see.”

They found out, and said, “Five, and a couple of fish.”

³⁹ Jesus told them to sit everyone down, group by group, on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in companies, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹ Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, looked up to heaven, blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples to give to the crowd. Then he divided the two fish for them all. ⁴² Everyone ate, and had plenty. ⁴³ They picked up the leftovers, and there were twelve baskets of broken pieces, and of the fish.

⁴⁴ The number of men who had eaten was five thousand.

Jesus walks on water

⁴⁵ At once Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and set sail across towards Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ He took his leave of them and went off up the mountain to pray.