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Jesus Feeds More Than 4000^(a)

¹ Another time there were many people with Jesus. The people had nothing to eat. So he called his followers to him and said, ² "I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. ³ I should not send them home hungry. If they leave without eating, they will faint on the way home. Some of them live a long way from here."

⁴ Jesus' followers answered, "But we are far away from any towns. Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people?"

⁵ Then Jesus asked them, "How many loaves of bread do you have?"

They answered, "We have seven loaves of bread."

⁶ Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and gave thanks to God. He broke the bread into pieces and gave them to his followers. He told them to give the bread to the people, and they did as he said. ⁷ The followers also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for the fish and told them to give the fish to the people.

⁸ They all ate until they were full. Then the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were left. ⁹ There were about 4000 men who ate. After they ate, Jesus told them to go home. ¹⁰ Then he went in a boat with his followers to the area of Dalmanutha.

Some People Doubt Jesus' Authority^(b)

¹¹ The Pharisees came to Jesus and asked him questions. They wanted to test him. So they asked him to do a miracle as a sign from God. ¹² Jesus sighed deeply and said, "Why do you people ask to see a miracle as a sign? I want you to know that no miracle will be done to prove anything to you." ¹³ Then Jesus left them and went in the boat to the other side of the lake.

Jesus' Followers Misunderstand Him^(c)

¹⁴ The followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. They forgot to bring more bread. ¹⁵ Jesus warned them, "Be careful! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod."

¹⁶ The followers discussed the meaning of this. They said, "He said this because we have no bread."

¹⁷ Jesus knew that the followers were talking about this. So he asked them, "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are you not able to understand? ¹⁸ Do you have eyes that can't see? Do you have ears that can't hear? Remember what I did before, when we did not have enough bread? ¹⁹ I divided five loaves of bread for 5000 people. Remember how many baskets you filled with pieces of food that were not eaten?"

The followers answered, "We filled twelve baskets."

²⁰ "And when I divided seven loaves of bread for 4000 people, how many baskets did you fill with the leftover pieces?"

They answered, "We filled seven baskets."

²¹ Then he said to them, "You remember these things I did, but you still don't understand?"

Jesus Heals a Blind Man in Bethsaida

²² Jesus and his followers came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch the man. ²³ So Jesus held the blind man's hand and led him out of the village. Then he spit on the man's eyes. He laid his hands on him and asked, "Can you see now?"

²⁴ The man looked up and said, "Yes, I see people. They look like trees walking around."

²⁵ Again Jesus laid his hands on the man's eyes, and the man opened them wide. His eyes were healed, and he was able to see everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus told him to go home. He said, "Don't go into the town."

Peter Says Jesus Is the Messiah^(d)

²⁷ Jesus and his followers went to the towns in the area of Caesarea Philippi. While they were traveling, Jesus asked the followers, "Who do people say I am?"

²⁸ They answered, "Some people say you are John the Baptizer. Others say you are Elijah. And others say you are one of the prophets."

²⁹ Then Jesus asked, "Who do you say I am?"

Peter answered, "You are the Messiah."

³⁰ Jesus told the followers, "Don't tell anyone who I am."

Jesus Says He Must Die^(e)

³¹ Then Jesus began to teach his followers that the Son of Man must suffer many things. He taught that the Son of Man would not be accepted by the older Jewish leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. He said that the Son of Man must be killed and then rise from death after three days. ³² Jesus told them everything that would happen. He did not keep anything secret.

Peter took Jesus away from the other followers to talk to him alone. Peter criticized him for saying these things. ³³ But Jesus turned and looked at his followers. Then he criticized Peter. He said to Peter, "Get away from me, Satan^[a]! You don't care about the same things God does. You care only about things that people think are important."

³⁴ Then Jesus called the crowd and his followers to him. He said, "Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me. ³⁵ Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me and for the Good News will save it. ³⁶ It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are lost. ³⁷ You could never pay enough to buy back your life. ³⁸ People today are so sinful. They have not been faithful to God. As you live among them, don't be ashamed of me and my teaching. If that happens, I^[b] will be ashamed of you when I come with the glory of my Father and the holy angels."