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)

The Leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees approached,^(E) and tested him, asking him to show them a sign from heaven.^{(F) 2} He replied, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be good weather because the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy because the sky is red and threatening.’ You^[b] know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can’t read the signs of the times.^{[c] 4} An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of^[d] Jonah.”^(G) Then he left them and went away.

⁵ The disciples reached the other shore,^[e] and they had forgotten to take bread. ⁶ Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven^[f] of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”^(H)

⁷ They were discussing among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸ Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith,^(I) why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? ⁹ Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you collected? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you collected?^{(J) 11} Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread?”^{(K) 12} Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the leaven in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.^(L)

Jonah’s Preaching

3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:^{(A) 2} “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh^(B) and preach^(C) the message that I tell you.” ³ Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command.

Now Nineveh was an extremely great city,^[a](D) a three-day walk. ⁴ Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed,^(E) “In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!” ⁵ Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast^(F) and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

⁶ When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth,^(G) and sat in ashes. ⁷ Then he issued a decree^(H) in Nineveh:

By order of the king and his nobles: No person or animal, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. ⁸ Furthermore, both people and animals must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God.^(I) Each must turn from his evil ways^(J) and from his wrongdoing.^{[b] 9} Who knows?^(K) God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.^(L)

¹⁰ God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways^(M)—so God relented from the disaster^(N) he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.