1THERE WAS ANOTHER OCCASION about this time when a huge crowd had collected, and, as they had no food, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, 2'I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them home unfed, they will turn faint on the way; some of them have come from a distance.' 4The disciples answered, 'How can anyone provide all these people with bread in this lonely place?' 5'How many loaves have you?' he asked; and they answered, 'Seven.' 6So he ordered the people to sit down on the ground; then he took the seven loaves, and, after giving thanks to God, he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples to distribute; and they served it out to the people. 7They had also a few small fishes, which she blessed and ordered them to distribute. 8They all ate to their hearts' content, and seven baskets were filled with the scraps that were left. 9The people numbered about four thousand. 10Then he dismissed them; and, without delay, got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
11Then the Pharisees came out and engaged him in discussion. 12To test him they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply to himself and said, 'Why does this generation ask for a sign? I tell you this: no sign shall be given to this generation.' 13With that he left them, re-embarked, and went off to the other side of the lake.
14Now they had forgotten to take bread with them; they had no more than one loaf in the boat. 15He began to warn them: 'Beware,' he said, 'be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.' 16They said among themselves, 'It is because we have no bread.' 17Knowing what was in their minds, he asked them, 'Why do you talk about having no bread? Have you no inkling yet? Do you still not understand? Are your minds closed? 18 [ Is.6.9-10. ] You have eyes: can you not see? You have ears: can you not hear? Have you forgotten? 19When I broke the five loaves among five thousand, how many basketfuls of scraps did you pick up?' 'Twelve', they said. 20'And how many when I broke the seven loaves among four thousand?' 21They answered, 'Seven.' He said, 'Do you still not understand?'
22They arrived at Bethsaida. There the people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. 23He took the blind man by the hand and led him away out of the village. Then he spat on his eyes, laid his hands upon him, and asked whether he could see anything. 24The man's sight began to come back, and he said, 'I see men; they look like trees, but they are walking about.' 25Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; he looked hard, and now he was cured so that he saw everything clearly. 26Then Jesus sent him home, saying, 'Do not tell anyone in the village.'
27JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, 'Who do men say I am?' 28They answered, 'Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others one of the prophets.' 29'And you,' he asked, 'who do you say I am?' Peter replied: 'You are the Messiah.' 30Then he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.
31And he began to teach them that the Son of Man had to undergo great sufferings, and to be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and doctors of the law; to be put to death, and to rise again three days afterwards. 32He spoke about it plainly. At this Peter took him by the arm and began to rebuke him. 33But Jesus turned round, and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter. 'Away with you, Satan,' he said; 'you think as men think, not as God thinks.'
34Then he called the people to him, as well as his disciples, and said to them, 'Anyone who wishes to be a follower of mine must leave self behind; he must take up his cross, and come with me. 35Whoever cares for his own safety is lost; but if a man will let himself be lost for my sake and for the Gospel, that man is safe. 36What does a man gain by winning the whole world at the cost of his true self? 37What can he give to buy that self back? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and mine
in this wicked and godless age, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father and of the holy angels.'
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