1 IN those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called together his disciples and said to them,

2 "I have compassion on the crowd because they have already spent three days with me and they have nothing to eat.

3 If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way. Some of them are from a long way off."

4 His disciples answered, "Where will any one be able to get bread to supply these people here in the uninhabited country?"

5 He asked them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven."

6 He told the people to recline on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and, after giving thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed to the people.

7 They had also a few small fishes. These he blessed and told the disciples to distribute them.

8 All ate and were satisfied, and they picked up of the fragments that were left over seven basketfuls.

9 There were about four thousand men. Then he dismissed them.