38. Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have now? Go and see.” They counted their loaves of bread. They came to Jesus and said, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”
39. Then Jesus said to them, “Tell everyone to sit in groups on the green grass.”
40. So all the people sat in groups. There were about 50 or 100 people in each group.
41. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish. He looked up to the sky and thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces, which he gave to his followers to distribute to the people. Then he divided the two fish among everyone there.
42. They all ate until they were full.
43. After they finished eating, the followers filled twelve baskets with the pieces of bread and fish that were left.
44. There were about 5000 men there who ate.
45. Then Jesus told the followers to get into the boat. He told them to go to the other side of the lake to Bethsaida. He said he would come later. He stayed there to tell everyone they could go home.
46. After he said goodbye to them, he went up into the hills to pray.
47. That night, the boat was still in the middle of the lake. Jesus was alone on the land.
48. He saw the boat far away on the lake. And he saw the followers working hard to row the boat. The wind was blowing against them. Sometime between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus went out to the boat, walking on the water. He continued walking until he was almost past the boat.
49. But the followers saw Jesus walking on the water. They thought he was a ghost, and they started screaming.
50. It scared them all to see him. But he spoke to them and said, “Don’t worry! It’s me! Don’t be afraid.”
51. When he got into the boat with the followers, the wind stopped. The followers were completely amazed.