30
The apostles gathered around Jesus. They reported to him everything they had done and taught.
31
So he said to them, "Let's go to a place where we can be alone to rest for a while." Many people were coming and going, and Jesus and the apostles didn't even have a chance to eat.
32
So they went away in a boat to a place where they could be alone.
33
But many people saw them leave and recognized them. The people ran from all the cities and arrived ahead of them.
34
When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd and felt sorry for them. They were like sheep without a shepherd. So he spent a lot of time teaching them.
35
When it was late, his disciples came to him. They said, "No one lives around here, and it's already late.
36
Send the people to the closest farms and villages to buy themselves something to eat."
37
Jesus replied, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Should we go and spend about a year's wages on bread to feed them?"
38
He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." When they found out, they told him, "Five loaves of bread and two fish."
39
Then he ordered all of them to sit down in groups on the green grass.
40
They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
41
After he took the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed the food. He broke the loaves apart and kept giving them to the disciples to give to the people. He also gave pieces of the two fish to everyone.
42
All of them ate as much as they wanted.
43
When they picked up the leftover pieces, they filled twelve baskets with bread and fish.
44
There were 5,000 men who had eaten the bread.
45
Jesus quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him while he sent the people away.
46
After saying goodbye to them, he went up a mountain to pray.
47
When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land.
48
Jesus saw that they were in a lot of trouble as they rowed, because they were going against the wind. Between three and six o'clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. He wanted to pass by them.
49
When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought, "It's a ghost!" and they began to scream.
50
All of them saw him and were terrified. Immediately, he said, "Calm down! It's me. Don't be afraid!"
51
He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped blowing. The disciples were astounded.
52
(They didn't understand what had happened with the loaves of bread. Instead, their minds were closed.)