Feeding the Five Thousand

¹³When Jesus heard that John was beheaded, he departed from there by ship into a solitary place, apart; and when the people had heard of him, they followed him on foot out of the cities. ¹⁴And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

¹⁵And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a solitary place, and the time is now past. Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves provisions. ¹⁶But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart. Give them to eat. ¹⁷And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves and two fishes. ¹⁸He said, Bring them here to me. ¹⁹And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and he took the five loaves and the two fishes and, looking up to Heaven, he blessed, and broke, and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. ²⁰And they did all eat and were filled. And they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. ²¹And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁰Now the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus and told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. ³¹And he said unto them, You, come yourselves, apart into a solitary place, and rest awhile; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure, not so much as to eat.

³²And they departed into a solitary place by ship, privately, ³³and the people saw them departing; and many knew Jesus, and ran on foot there out of all cities, and outran them, and came together unto him. ³⁴And Jesus, when he came out, saw many people and was moved with compassion towards them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

³⁵And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him and said, This is a solitary place, and now the time for departure has come. ³⁶Send them away, that they may go into the country round about and into the villages, and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. ³⁷And he answered and said unto them, You give them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennies worth of bread and give them to eat? ³⁸He said unto them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

³⁹And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. ⁴⁰And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹And when he had taken the five loaves and two fishes, he looked up to Heaven and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave to his disciples to set before the multitude. And the two fishes divided he among them all. ⁴²And they did all eat and were filled. ⁴³And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments and of the fishes. ⁴⁴And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

¹⁰And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them and went aside privately into a solitary place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. ¹¹And the people, when they knew it, followed him. And he received them and spoke unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them who had need of healing. ¹²And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge and get provisions, for we are here in a solitary place. ¹³But he said unto them, Give them to eat. And they said, We have but five loaves and two fishes, and except we should go and buy food, we can provide no more food for all this multitude ¹⁴(for they were in number about five thousand men). And Jesus said unto his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. ¹⁵And they did so and made them all sit down. ¹⁶Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to Heaven he blessed them, and broke, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. ¹⁷And they did eat and were all filled. And there were taken up of fragments which remained, twelve baskets.

¹After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. ²And a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. ³And Jesus went up into a mountain and there he sat with his disciples. ⁴And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? ⁶And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. ⁷Philip answered him, Two hundred pennies worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, says unto him, ⁹There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? ¹⁰And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. ¹¹And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were seated, and likewise of the fishes, as much as they desired. ¹²When they had eaten and were satisfied, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing should be lost. ¹³Therefore, they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. ¹⁴Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is truly that prophet that should come into the world.