Feeding the 5,000
The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is found in all four Gospels. The version of the story
most often repeated is the one found in the Gospel of John.
John 6: 1-14
2 A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.
3 Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.
5 Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?"
6 This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.
7 Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denari worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little."
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him,
9 "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?"
10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.
12 When they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost."
13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."
Matthew 14: 14-23
15 When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."
16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!"
17 They said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."
18 And He said, "Bring them here to Me."
19 Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds,
20 and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets.
21 There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
Mark 6: 33-44
34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.
35 When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and it is already quite late;
36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
37 But He answered them, "You give them something to eat!" And they said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?"
38 And He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they said, "Five, and two fish."
39 And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.
40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.
41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.
42 They all ate and were satisfied,
43 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.
44 There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.
Luke 9: 12-17
13 But He said to them, "You give them something to eat!" And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people."
14 (For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, "Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each."
15 They did so, and had them all sit down.
16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people.
17 And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.
