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Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

¹ In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, ^(C1)Jesus called His disciples and ^(*)said to them,² "^(C1)I feel compassion for the crowd because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat.³ "And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance."⁴ And His disciples answered Him, "Where will anyone be able to find enough ^(F1)bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?"⁵ And He was asking them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven."⁶ And He ^(*)directed the crowd to ^(F1)sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them. And He kept giving them to His disciples to ^(F2)serve to them, and they served them to the crowd.⁷ And they also had a few small fish; and ^(C1)after He blessed them, He ordered these to be ^(F1)served as well.⁸ And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large ^(C1)baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.⁹ Now about four thousand were there, and He sent them away.¹⁰ And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of ^(C1)Dalmanutha.

^11 (C1)And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, ^(C2)seeking from Him ^(F1)a sign from heaven, testing Him.^12 (C1)And sighing deeply ^(F1)in His spirit, He ^(*)said, "Why does this generation seek ^(F2)a sign? Truly I say to you, ^(F3)(C2)no ^(F4)sign will be given to this generation."¹³ And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.

¹⁴ And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them.¹⁵ And He was giving orders to them, saying, "^(C1)Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of ^(C2)Herod."¹⁶ And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.¹⁷ And Jesus, aware of this, ^(*)said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? ^(C1)Do you not yet perceive or understand? Do you have a hardened heart?¹⁸ "^(C1)HAVING EYES, DO YOU NOT SEE? AND HAVING EARS, DO YOU NOT HEAR? And do you not remember,¹⁹ when I broke ^(C1)the five loaves for the five thousand, how many ^(C2)baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?" They ^(*)said to Him, "Twelve."²⁰ "When I broke ^(C1)the seven for the four thousand, how many large ^(C2)baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" And they ^(*)said to Him, "Seven."²¹ And He was saying to them, "^(C1)Do you not yet understand?"

²² And they ^(*)came to ^(C1)Bethsaida. And they ^(*)brought a blind man to Jesus and ^(*)pleaded with Him to ^(C2)touch him.²³ And taking the blind man by the hand, He ^(C1)brought him out of the village; and after ^(C1)spitting on his eyes and ^(C2)laying His hands on him, He was asking him, "Do you see anything?"²⁴ And he ^(F1)looked up and was saying, "I see men, for ^(F2)I see them like trees, walking around."²⁵ Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly.²⁶ And He sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter ^(C1)the village."

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

^27 (C1)And Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of ^(C2)Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He was asking His disciples, saying to them, "Who do people say that I am?"^28 (C1)And they told Him, saying, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets."²⁹ And He continued asking them, "But who do you say that I am?" ^(C1)Peter ^(*)answered and ^(*)said to Him, "You are the ^(F1)Christ."³⁰ And ^(C1)He ^(F1)warned them to tell no one about Him.

^31 (C1)And He began to teach them that ^(C2)the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.³² And He was stating the matter ^(C1)openly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.³³ But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and ^(*)said, "Get behind Me, ^(C1)Satan! For you are not setting your mind on ^(F1)God's interests, but man's."

Take Up Your Cross

³⁴ And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to ^(F1)come after Me, he must deny himself, and ^(C1)take up his cross and follow Me.³⁵ "For ^(C1)whoever wishes to save his ^(F1)life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^(F1)life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.³⁶ "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?³⁷ "For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?³⁸ "For ^(C1)whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, ^(C2)the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He ^(C3)comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."