Mark 6:21-44

But an opportune time [finally] came [for Herodias]. Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his officials (nobles, courtiers) and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. Now [Salome] the daughter of Herodias came in and danced [for the men]. She pleased and beguiled Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.” [Esth 5:3, 6] She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And Herodias replied, “The head of John the Baptist!” And she rushed back to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter!” The king was deeply grieved, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests [who might have regarded him as weak], he was unwilling to [break his word and] refuse her. So the king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring back John’s head. And he went and had John beheaded in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away John’s body and laid it in a tomb. The apostles [who had been sent out on a mission] gathered together with Jesus and told Him everything that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while”—for there were many [people who were continually] coming and going, and they could not even find time to eat. And they went away by themselves in the boat to a secluded place. [Matt 14:13-21; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13] Many [people] saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the [surrounding] cities, and got there ahead of them. When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd [waiting], and He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd [lacking guidance]; and He began to teach them many things. When the day was nearly gone, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it is already late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But He replied, “You give them something to eat!” And they asked Him, “Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” [2 Kin 4:42-44] He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five [loaves], and two fish.” Then Jesus commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties [so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots]. Taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing [of praise and thanksgiving to the Father]. Then He broke the loaves and [repeatedly] gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and He divided up the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces [of the loaves], and of the fish. Those who ate the loaves were five thousand men [not counting the women and children].