In those days, ^awhen there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned His disciples and *said to them, 2 “^aI feel compassion for the ¹people because they have remained with Me for three days already and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” 4 And His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough ¹bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” 6 And He *directed the ¹people to recline on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve, and they served them to the ²people. 7 They also had a few small fish; and ^aafter He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these as well. 8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large ^abaskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. 9 About four thousand ¹men were there; and He dismissed them. 10 And immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region of ^aDalmanutha.

11 ^aAnd the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, ^bdemanding from Him a ¹sign from heaven, ²to test Him. 12 ^aSighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation demand a ¹sign? Truly I say to you, ^2bno ³sign will be given to this generation!” 13 And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.

14 And the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, “^aWatch out! Beware of the ¹leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of ^bHerod.” 16 And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, *said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? ^aDo you not yet comprehend or understand? Do you still have your heart ¹hardened? 18 ^aHAVING EYES, DO YOU NOT SEE? AND HAVING EARS, DO YOU NOT HEAR? And do you not remember, 19 when I broke ^athe five loaves for the five thousand, how many ^bbaskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They *said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “When I broke ^athe seven for the four thousand, how many large ^bbaskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they *said to Him, “Seven.” 21 And He was saying to them, “^aDo you not yet understand?”

22 And they *came to ^aBethsaida. And some people *brought a man who was blind to ¹Jesus and *begged Him to ^btouch him. 23 Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He ^abrought him out of the village; and after ^bspitting in his eyes and ^claying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he ¹looked up and said, “I see people, for I see them like trees, walking around.” 25 Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. 26 And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter ^athe village.”

27 ^aJesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of ^bCaesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 ^aThey told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” ^aPeter answered and *said to Him, “You are the ¹Christ.” 30 And ^aHe ¹warned them to tell no one about Him.

31 ^aAnd He began to teach them that ^bthe Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. 32 And He was stating the matter ^aplainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, ^aSatan; for you are not setting your mind on ¹God’s purposes, but on man’s.”

34 And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^atake up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For ^awhoever wants to save his ¹life will lose it, but whoever loses his ²life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? 38 For ^awhoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, ^bthe Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He ^ccomes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”