Mark 6:30-53

30The apostles all came to Jesus. They told him about all the things that they had done. And they told him what they had taught.

31Many people were coming to Jesus and then going away. Jesus and his disciples were too busy even to eat. So Jesus said to them, ‘Come with me to a place where there are no other people. We should be alone together. Then we can rest for a short time.’

32So they left all the people behind. They went away in a boat together to a quiet place.

33But many people saw that they were leaving the town. Those people recognized them. So they ran out from all the towns around there. They went on land and reached the place before Jesus and the disciples.

34Jesus got out of the boat and he saw a large crowd. He felt sorry for them. He thought to himself, ‘These people are like sheep that have nobody to take care of them.’ So he began to teach them many things.

35When it was almost evening time, Jesus' disciples came and said to him, ‘We are in a place where there are no houses. Soon it will be dark.

36The people do not have anything to eat. So send them away now. Tell them to go to the farms and villages that are near here. Then they can buy some food for themselves to eat.’

37‘You should give them some food to eat,’ Jesus replied. But the disciples said, ‘We cannot go to buy bread for all these people. A man must work for eight months to get the 200 coins that we would need for that. We cannot get enough food to give to these people.’

38Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.’ When they had looked, they told Jesus, ‘We have five loaves and two fish.’

39Then Jesus told all the people to sit down on the green grass. He wanted them to sit in large groups.

40So the people sat down in groups. Each group had 50 or 100 people in it.

41Then Jesus took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and he thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave the pieces of bread to the disciples, and they gave the bread to the people. Jesus also broke the two fish into pieces for all the people.

42Everyone ate and they all had enough food. They were not hungry any more.

43Jesus' disciples then picked up all the bits of food that people had not eaten. They filled 12 baskets with little bits of bread and fish.

44There were 5,000 men in the crowd that ate the food there.

45Immediately after this, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Get into the boat and sail across the lake to Bethsaida.’ Jesus said that he would first send the crowd away. Then he would also leave.

46So he said ‘goodbye’ to the crowd. Then he went up on a mountain to pray.

47That evening, the boat with the disciples in it was in the middle of the lake. Jesus was still alone on the land.

48But he could see his disciples. They were trying to make the boat move along. But it was very difficult for them because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. Then, when it was nearly dawn, Jesus walked on the water towards his disciples. He seemed to be going on past them.

49But they saw that he was walking on the water. They thought, ‘It is a spirit.’ And they screamed out.

50They all saw him and they were very afraid. But immediately, Jesus said to them, ‘Be brave. It is I. Do not be afraid.’

51Then Jesus got into the boat to be with them. The strong wind stopped. The disciples were completely surprised about what had happened.

52They did not understand what Jesus had done with the loaves of bread. They were not ready to learn.

53They sailed across the lake. They reached the shore at Gennesaret and they tied the boat there.