Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

8About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them,

2"I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat.

3If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance."

4His disciples replied, "How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?"

5Jesus asked, "How much bread do you have?" "Seven loaves," they replied.

6So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd.

7A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.

8They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.

9There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten.

10Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.

Pharisees Demand a Miraculous Sign

11When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

12When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign."

13So he got back into the boat and left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.

Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

14But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat.

15As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, "Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod."

16At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn't brought any bread.

17Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, "Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don't you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in?

18`You have eyes?can't you see? You have ears?can't you hear?'[1] Don't you remember anything at all?

19When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?" "Twelve," they said.

20"And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?" "Seven," they said.

21"Don't you understand yet?" he asked them.

Jesus Heals a Blind Man

22When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him.

23Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man's eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, "Can you see anything now?"

24The man looked around. "Yes," he said, "I see people, but I can't see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around."

25Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.

26Jesus sent him away, saying, "Don't go back into the village on your way home."

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

27Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"

28"Well," they replied, "some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets."

29Then he asked them, "But who do you say I am?" Peter replied, "You are the Messiah[2]."

30But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Predicts His Death

31Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man[3] must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.

32As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things[4].

33Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. "Get away from me, Satan!" he said. "You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's."

34Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.

35If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.

36And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?[5]

37Is anything worth more than your soul?

38If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."