14. When Jesus arrived, he saw a large crowd. He felt sorry for them and healed those who were sick.
15. Late that afternoon, his followers came to Jesus and said, “No one lives in this place. And it is already late. Send the people away so they can go to the towns and buy food for themselves.”
16. Jesus answered, “They don’t need to go away. You give them some food to eat.”
17. The followers answered, “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18. Jesus said, “Bring the bread and the fish to me.”
19. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. Then he looked to heaven and thanked God for the food. Jesus divided the loaves of bread. He gave them to his followers, and they gave the bread to the people.
20. All the people ate and were satisfied. After they finished eating, the followers filled 12 baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten.
21. There were about 5,000 men there who ate, as well as women and children.
22. Then Jesus made his followers get into the boat. He told them to go ahead of him to the other side of the lake. Jesus stayed there to tell the people they could go home.
23. After he said good-bye to them, he went alone up into the hills to pray. It was late, and Jesus was there alone.