Four Thousand Men Fed

8 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, ² “^(B)I feel compassion for the ^[a]people because they have remained with Me for three days already and have nothing to eat. ³ 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.” ⁴ 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?” ⁵ And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” ⁶ 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. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and ^(C)after He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these as well. ⁸ And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large ^(D)baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. ⁹ About four thousand ^[e]men were there; and He dismissed them.