³⁰Meanwhile, the apostles gathered around Jesus and brought Him news of all they had done and taught. ³¹And He said to them, “Come with Me privately to a solitary place, and let us rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. ³²So they went away in a boat by themselves to a solitary place. ³³But many people saw them leaving and recognized them. They ran together on foot from all the towns and arrived before them. ³⁴When Jesus stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things. ³⁵By now the hour was already late. So the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. ³⁶Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” ³⁸“Go and see how many loaves you have,” He told them. ³⁹Then Jesus directed them to have the people sit in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus spoke a blessing and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And He divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴And there were five thousand men who had eaten the loaves.