30. Great crowds came to Jesus. They brought their sick with them: the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb and many others. They put them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them.
31. The crowd was amazed when they saw that people who could not speak were able to speak again. The crippled were made strong again. Those who could not walk were able to walk again. The blind were able to see again. And they praised the God of Israel for this.
32. Jesus called his followers to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint while going home.”
33. His followers asked him, “Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people? We are far away from any town.”
34. Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”They answered, “We have seven loaves and a few small fish.”
35. Jesus told the people to sit on the ground.
36. He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God for the food. Then Jesus divided the food and gave it to his followers. They gave the food to the people.
37. All the people ate and were satisfied. After this, the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten.
38. There were about 4,000 men there who ate, besides women and children.
39. After they ate, Jesus told the people to go home. He got into the boat and went to the area of Magadan.