Jesus Feeds More than 5,000 People

³⁰The apostles* [that Jesus sent out] came back to Jesus. They gathered around Jesus and told him about all the things they did and taught. ³¹Jesus and his followers were in a very busy place. There were many, many people. Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. Jesus said to his followers, "Come with me. We will go to a quiet place to be alone. There we will get some rest." ³²So Jesus and his followers went away alone. They went in a boat to a place where there were no people. ³³But many people saw them leave. The people knew it was Jesus. So people from all the towns ran to the place where Jesus was going. The people were there before Jesus arrived. ³⁴When Jesus arrived there, he saw many people waiting. Jesus felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd [to care for them]. So Jesus taught the people many things. ³⁵It was now late in the day. So Jesus' followers came to him. They said, "No people live in this place. And it is already very late. ³⁶So send the people away. They need to go to the farms and towns around here to buy some food to eat." ³⁷But Jesus answered, "You give them some food to eat." The followers said to Jesus, "We can't buy enough bread to feed all these people! We would all have to work a month to earn enough money to buy that much bread!" ³⁸Jesus asked the followers, "How many loaves of bread do you have now? Go and see." The followers counted their loaves of bread. They came to Jesus and said, "We have five loaves of bread and two fish." ³⁹Then Jesus said to the followers, "Tell all the people to sit in groups on the green grass." ⁴⁰So all the people sat in groups. There were about 50 or 100 people in each group. ⁴¹Jesus took the five loaves and two fish. He looked up to the sky and thanked God for the bread. Then Jesus divided the bread and gave it to his followers. Jesus told his followers to give the bread to the people. Then Jesus divided the two fish and gave the fish to the people. ⁴²All the people ate and were full. ⁴³After the people finished eating, the followers filled twelve baskets with the pieces of bread and fish that were not eaten. ⁴⁴There were about 5,000 men there that ate.

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵Then Jesus told the followers to get into the boat. Jesus told them to go to the other side of the lake to Bethsaida. Jesus said that he would come later. Jesus stayed there to tell the people they could go home. ⁴⁶After Jesus said good-bye to the people, he went into the hills to pray. ⁴⁷That night, the boat was still in the middle of the lake. Jesus was alone on the land. ⁴⁸Jesus saw the boat far away on the lake. He saw the followers working hard to row the boat. The wind was blowing against them. Sometime between three and six o'clock in the morning, Jesus went to the boat. Jesus was walking on the water. Jesus continued walking until he was almost past the boat. ⁴⁹But the followers saw Jesus walking on the water. They thought he was a ghost. The followers shouted with fear. ⁵⁰All the followers saw Jesus and were very afraid. But Jesus spoke to the followers and said, "Don't worry! It's me! Don't be afraid." ⁵¹Then Jesus got into the boat with the followers. And the wind became calm. The followers were completely amazed. ⁵²They had seen Jesus make more bread from the five loaves. But they did not understand what it meant. They were not able to understand it.

Jesus Heals Many People

⁵³Jesus and his followers went across the lake. They came to shore at Gennesaret. They tied the boat there. ⁵⁴When they were out of the boat, the people saw Jesus. They knew who he was. ⁵⁵The people ran [to tell other people] everywhere in that area [that Jesus was there]. The people brought sick people on beds to every place Jesus went. ⁵⁶Jesus went into towns and cities and farms around that area. And every place Jesus went, the people brought sick people to the market places. They begged Jesus to let them touch any part of his coat. And all the people that touched him were healed.

apostles The men Jesus chose to be his special helpers.