tepped out of the boat,
thousands of people were waiting for him on the shore. Jesus had gone
away for a rest, but when he saw the people he felt sorry for them.

_They are like a flock of sheep_, he thought--_a flock of sheep with
no shepherd to look after them._

They had spoiled his holiday, but Jesus spoke to the people and said
that he was glad to see them. Then he began to teach, just as he did
in the cities and towns. All day long he taught, and if there were any
who were sick, he healed them.

The day wore on, and evening was drawing near. One or two of the
disciples pulled Jesus' sleeve, and said to him:

"Master, it is getting late. Hadn't you better send them away to find
something to eat in the towns near by? There is nothing for them out
here in the country."

Jesus answered: "There is no need for them to go away. Give them
something to eat right here!"

The disciples looked at him as if they did not know whether he was
serious or not. They said: "Do you mean that you want us to go and buy
food for all these people? Where would we get enough money for that?"

Andrew said: "There's a boy here with five loaves of bread and a
couple of fishes. But how far will that go among five thousand
people?"

Jesus only answered, "Tell them to sit down on the grass."

The disciples went among the crowd, and had the people sit down in
groups, fifty in each group.

Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes, and as he held them, he
said a prayer of thanks to God. Then he broke the loaves, and gave the
bread and the fish to the disciples and told them to pass the food
around among the crowd. They passed it here and they passed it there,
but they never ran out of food. Nobody could tell where it was coming
from, but there was enough for everyone and some left over.

The people were hungry after their long walk and the hours of standing
in the sun. They ate heartily. As they finished their meal, they began
to think about what had happened.

"Where did all this food come from?" they began to ask themselves.
"Where did Jesus get all that food?" "There were but five loaves and a
couple of fishes and yet we have all had enough and to spare!"

[Illustration]

The crowd began to talk in excited voices. "Jesus gave us this food."
"A wonderful thing! He gave us food to eat, when there wasn't
anything here!" "Why, this is just the man we have been looking for!"
"There's the man to make the Jews strong and rich--he