Feeding of the Four Thousand

³² Jesus called his disciples and said,^(A) “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way.”

³³ The disciples said to him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place^(B) to feed such a crowd?”

³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked them.

“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵ After commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶ he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.^{(C) 37} They all ate and were satisfied. They collected the leftover pieces—seven large baskets full. ³⁸ Now there were four thousand men who had eaten, besides women and children. ³⁹ After dismissing the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.^[a](D)