¹³ As soon as Jesus heard the news, he went off by himself in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds saw where he was headed and followed by land from many villages.

¹⁴ So when Jesus came out of the wilderness, a vast crowd was waiting for him, and he pitied them and healed their sick.

¹⁵ That evening the disciples came to him and said, “It is already past time for supper, and there is nothing to eat here in the desert; send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy some food.”

¹⁶ But Jesus replied, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them!”

¹⁷ “What!” they exclaimed. “We have exactly five small loaves of bread and two fish!”

¹⁸ “Bring them here,” he said.

¹⁹ Then he told the people to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves and two fish, looked up into the sky, and asked God’s blessing on the meal, then broke the loaves apart and gave them to the disciples to place before the people. ²⁰ And everyone ate until full! And when the scraps were picked up afterwards, there were twelve basketfuls left over! ²¹ (About five thousand men were in the crowd that day, besides all the women and children.)