Healing Crowds

^29 (A)Departing from there, Jesus went along ^(B)the Sea of Galilee, and after going up on the mountain, He was sitting there. ³⁰ And ^[a]large crowds came to Him bringing with them those who were limping, had impaired limbs, were blind, or were unable to speak, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and ^(C)He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd was astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs ^[b]restored, those who were limping walking around, and those who were blind seeing; and they ^(D)glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Men Fed

^32 (E)Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “^(F)I feel compassion for the ^[c]people, because they ^[d]have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” ³³ The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” ³⁴ And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵ And He directed the ^[e]people to ^[f]sit down on the ground; ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after ^(G)giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large ^(H)baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

^31 (A)Again He left the region of ^(B)Tyre and came through Sidon to ^(C)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of ^(D)Decapolis. ³² And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they *begged Him to ^(E)lay His hand on him. ³³ And Jesus ^(F)took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after ^(G)spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven with a deep ^(H)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the ^[a]impediment of his tongue was ^[b]removed, and he began speaking plainly. ³⁶ And ^(I)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they ^(J)continued to proclaim it. ³⁷ And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”

Four Thousand Men Fed

8 In those days, ^(K)when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned His disciples and *said to them, ² “^(L)I feel compassion for the ^[c]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 ^[d]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 ^[e]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 ^[f]people. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and ^(M)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 ^(N)baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. ⁹ About four thousand ^[g]men were there; and He dismissed them.