13. When Jesus heard what happened to John, he left in a boat. He went alone to a place where no one lived. But the people heard that Jesus had left. So they left their towns and followed him. They went by land to the same place he went.
14. When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd of people. He felt sorry for them, and he healed the ones who were sick.
15. Late that afternoon, the followers came to Jesus and said, “No one lives in this place. And it is already late. Send the people away so they can go to the towns and buy food for themselves.”
16. Jesus said, “The people don’t need to go away. You give them some food to eat.”
17. The followers answered, “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18. Jesus said, “Bring the bread and the fish to me.”
19. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked into the sky and thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces, which he gave to the followers, and they gave the food to the people.
20. Everyone ate until they were full. When they finished eating, the followers filled twelve baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten.
21. There were about 5000 men there who ate. There were also women and children who ate.
22. Then Jesus made the followers get into the boat. He told them to go to the other side of the lake. He said he would come later. He stayed there to tell everyone they could go home.
23. After Jesus said goodbye to the people, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. It was late, and he was there alone.
24. By this time the boat was already a long way from shore. Since the wind was blowing against it, the boat was having trouble because of the waves.
25. Between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus’ followers were still in the boat. Jesus came to them. He was walking on the water.
26. When they saw him walking on the water, it scared them. “It’s a ghost!” they said, screaming in fear.
27. But Jesus quickly spoke to them. He said, “Don’t worry! It’s me! Don’t be afraid.”
28. Peter said, “Lord, if that is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.”