Four Thousand Men Fed

In those days, (A)when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned His disciples and *said to them, (B)I feel compassion for the [a]people because they have remained with Me for three days already 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 replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough [b]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 [c]people to recline on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve, and they served them to the [d]people. They also had a few small fish; and (C)after He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these 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. About four thousand [e]men were there; and He dismissed them. 10 And immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region of (E)Dalmanutha.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 8:2 Lit crowd
  2. Mark 8:4 Lit loaves
  3. Mark 8:6 Lit crowd
  4. Mark 8:6 Lit crowd
  5. Mark 8:9 I.e., 4,000 men plus women and children, cf. Matt 15:38

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”

His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”

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

“Seven loaves,” they replied.

So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.

They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were about 4,000 men in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. 10 Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.

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