Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand^(A)(B)

¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.

Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place^(A)

³⁵ Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.^{(B) 36} Simon and his companions went to look for him, ³⁷ and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

³⁸ Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”^(C)

⁴⁵ Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.^(A) Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.^(B)

³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat,^(A) he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

³² So they went away by themselves in a boat^(B) to a solitary place.

¹² Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”