So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”
Parallel translations
- WEB When they were filled, he said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces which are left over, that nothing be lost.”
- KJV When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
- BSB And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”
- NASB And when they had eaten their fill, He *said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.”
- NLT After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
After everyone is full, Jesus tells the disciples to gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted. It shows that God's abundance is never careless and that He values every fragment.
Overview
The command to lose nothing reflects both prudence and a deeper theme in John, where Jesus loses none whom the Father gives Him (6:39; 17:12). Even in overflowing provision, there is purposeful care. The gathered fragments will testify to the reality and scale of the miracle.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Luke 1:53He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty.
- Neh 9:25They took fortified cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, and olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
- Luke 9:17They ate, and were all filled. They gathered up twelve baskets of broken pieces that were left over.
- Mark 6:42–44They all ate, and were filled.
- Neh 8:10Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength.”
- Matt 14:20–21They all ate, and were filled. They took up twelve baskets full of that which remained left over from the broken pieces.
- Matt 15:37–38They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.
- Mark 8:8–9They ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets of broken pieces that were left over.
- Prov 18:9One who is slack in his work is brother to him who is a master of destruction.
- Luke 15:13Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
- Luke 16:1He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
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Original language
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