Mark 8:1-13
New American Standard Bible
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. 10 And immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region of (E)Dalmanutha.
11 (F)And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, (G)demanding from Him a [f]sign from heaven, [g]to test Him. 12 (H)Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation demand a [h]sign? Truly I say to you, [i](I)no [j]sign will be given to this generation!” 13 And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Mark 8:2 Lit crowd
- Mark 8:4 Lit loaves
- Mark 8:6 Lit crowd
- Mark 8:6 Lit crowd
- Mark 8:9 I.e., 4,000 men plus women and children, cf. Matt 15:38
- Mark 8:11 I.e., confirming miracle
- Mark 8:11 Lit testing Him
- Mark 8:12 I.e., confirming miracle
- Mark 8:12 Lit if a sign shall be given, a very strong refusal
- Mark 8:12 I.e., confirming miracle
Mark 8:1-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Feeding the Four Thousand
8 In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, 2 “I have compassion for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.(A) 3 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 His disciples replied, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” 5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”(B) 6 Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They had also a few small fish, and after blessing them he ordered that these, too, should be distributed.(C) 8 They ate and were filled, and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.[a]
The Demand for a Sign
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him.(D) 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”(E) 13 And he left them, and getting into the boat again he went across to the other side.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 8.10 Other ancient authorities read Mageda or Magdala
Mark 8:1-15
The Message
A Meal for Four Thousand
8 1-3 At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, “This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they’ll faint along the way—some of them have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples responded, “What do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?”
5 He asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they said.
6-10 So Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. After giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish and told his disciples to hand them out as well. The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected. There were well over four thousand at the meal. Then he sent them home. He himself went straight to the boat with his disciples and set out for Dalmanoutha.
11-12 When they arrived, the Pharisees came out and started in on him, badgering him to prove himself, pushing him up against the wall. Provoked, he said, “Why does this generation clamor for miraculous guarantees? If I have anything to say about it, you’ll not get so much as a hint of a guarantee.”
Contaminating Yeast
13-15 He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, “Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.”
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson