Luke 9:6-21

⁶They departed and went throughout the villages, preaching the Good News and healing everywhere.

⁷Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,

⁸and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.

⁹Herod said, “I beheaded John, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” He sought to see him.

¹⁰The apostles, when they had returned, told him what things they had done. He took them and withdrew apart to a desert region of a city called Bethsaida.

¹¹But the multitudes, perceiving it, followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them of God’s Kingdom, and he cured those who needed healing.

¹²The day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and farms and lodge and get food, for we are here in a deserted place.”

¹³But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we should go and buy food for all these people.”

¹⁴For they were about five thousand men. He said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

¹⁵They did so, and made them all sit down.

¹⁶He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to the sky, he blessed them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.

¹⁷They ate and were all filled. They gathered up twelve baskets of broken pieces that were left over.

¹⁸As he was praying alone, the disciples were near him, and he asked them, “Who do the multitudes say that I am?”

¹⁹They answered, “‘John the Baptizer,’ but others say, ‘Elijah,’ and others, that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

²⁰He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

²¹But he warned them and commanded them to tell this to no one,