John 6

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

1 After thist Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias).s2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick.3 So Jesus went on up the mountainsides and sat down there with his disciples.4 (Now the Jewish feast of the Passovers was near.)s5 Then Jesus, when he looked upt and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?”6 (Now Jesust said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do.)s7 Philip replied,t “Two hundred silver coins wortht of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.”8 One of Jesus’ disciples,t Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,

9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what goodt are these for so many people?”
10 Jesus said, “Havet the people sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.)s So the ment sat down, about five thousand in number.11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish,t as much as they wanted.12 When they were all satisfied, Jesust said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.”

13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loavess left over by the people who had eaten.
14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesust performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophetswho is to come into the world.”s

15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone.s

Walking on Water

16 Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,t17 got into a boat, and started to cross the laket to Capernaum.s (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.)s18 By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea was getting rough.19 Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles,ts they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake,t approaching the boat, and they were frightened.20 But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”

21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land where they had been heading.
22 The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the laket realized that only one small boatst had been there, and that Jesus had not boardedt it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.23 But some boats from Tiberiass came to shoret near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.ss

24 So when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boatst and came to Capernaums looking for Jesus.

Jesus’ Discourse About the Bread of Life

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake,t they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”s26 Jesus replied,t “I tell you the solemn truth,t you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted.t

27 Do not work for the food that disappears,ts but for the food that remains to eternal life – the foodt which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”t
28 So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deedst God requires?”t29 Jesus replied,t “This is the deedt God requirest – to believe in the one whom het sent.”30 So they said to him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?

31 Our ancestorst ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”s
32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth,t it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven.33 For the bread of God is the one whot comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 So they said to him, “Sir,t give us this bread all the time!”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.ts36 But I told yout that you have seen mes and still do not believe.37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away.t38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all upt at the last day.

40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him upt at the last day.”s
41 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesust began complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,”42 and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”43 Jesus replied,t “Do not complain about me to one another.t44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,ts and I will raise him up at the last day.45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’s Everyone who hears and learns from the Fathert comes to me.46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God – het has seen the Father.)s47 I tell you the solemn truth,t the one who believess has eternal life.t48 I am the bread of life.t49 Your ancestorst ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.50 Thist is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a persont may eat from it and not die.

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The breadt that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesust began to argue with one another,t “How can this mant give us his flesh to eat?”53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth,t unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,s you have no lifet in yourselves.54 The one who eatst my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.s55 For my flesh is truet food, and my blood is truet drink.56 The one who eatst my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him.s57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumest me will live because of me.

58 Thist is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestorst ate, but then later died.t The one who eatst this bread will live forever.”

Many Followers Depart

59 Jesust said these things while he was teaching in the synagogues in Capernaum.s60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things,t said, “This is a difficultt saying!t Who can understand it?”t61 When Jesus was awaret that his disciples were complainingt about this, he said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended?ts62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?t63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help!t The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.t64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had already known from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)s

65 So Jesus added,t “Because of this I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has allowed him to come.”t

Peter’s Confession

66 After this many of his disciples quit following himt and did not accompany himt any longer.67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”t68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.69 Wet have come to believe and to knows that you are the Holy One of God!”ss70 Jesus replied,t “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is the devil?”t

71 (Now he said this about Judas son of Simon Iscariot,s for Judas,t one of the twelve, was going to betray him.)s

JOHN 6

Feeding Five Thousand

(Matthew 14.13-21; Mark 6.30-44; Luke 9.10-17)

1 Jesus crossed Lake Galilee, which was also known as Lake Tiberias. 2 A large crowd had seen him work miracles to heal the sick, and those people went with him.

3-4 It was almost time for the Jewish festival of Passover, and Jesus went up on a mountain with his disciples and sat down.t
5 When Jesus saw the large crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?”

6 He said this to test Philip, since he already knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered, “Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wagest just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?”
8 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples. He spoke up and said,

9 “There is a boy here who has five small loavest of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people?”
10 The ground was covered with grass, and Jesus told his disciples to tell everyone to sit down. About 5,000 men were in the crowd.

11 Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the people, and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.
12 The people ate all they wanted, and Jesus told his disciples to gather up the leftovers, so that nothing would be wasted.

13 The disciples gathered them up and filled twelve large baskets with what was left over from the five barley loaves.
14 After the people had seen Jesus work this miracle, t they began saying, “This must be the Prophett who is to come into the world!”

15 Jesus realized that they would try to force him to be their king. So he went up on a mountain, where he could be alone.

Jesus Walks on the Water

(Matthew 14.22-27; Mark 6.45-52)

18 and a strong wind was making the water rough.
19 When the disciples had rowed for five or six kilometers , they saw Jesus walking on the water. He kept coming closer to the boat, and they were terrified. 20 But he said, “I am Jesus!t Don't be afraid!”

21 The disciples wanted to take him into the boat, but suddenly the boat reached the shore where they were headed.

The Bread That Gives Life

25 They found him on the west side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles, t but because you ate all the food you wanted.

27 t Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”

28 “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked.

29 Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”
30 They replied, “What miracle will you work, so that we can have faith in you? What will you do?

31 t For example, when our ancestors were in the desert, they were given mannat to eat. It happened just as the Scriptures say, ‘God gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
32 Jesus then told them, “I tell you for certain that Moses wasn't the one who gave you bread from heaven. My Father is the one who gives you the true bread from heaven.

33 And the bread that God gives is the one who came down from heaven to give life to the world.”

34 The people said, “Sir, give us this bread and don't ever stop!”

35 Jesus replied:
I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty. 36 I have told you already that you have seen me and still do not have faith in me.

37 Everything and everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I won't turn any of them away.
38 I didn't come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, 39 and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost. Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day.t

40 My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.
41 The people started grumbling because Jesus had said he was the bread that had come down from heaven.

42 They were asking each other, “Isn't he Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don't we know his father and mother? How can he say that he has come down from heaven?”

43 Jesus told them:
Stop grumbling! 44 No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me makes them want to come. But if they do come, I will raise them to life on the last day.

45 t One of the prophets wrote, “God will teach all of them.” And so everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him will come to me.
46 The only one who has seen the Father is the one who has come from him. No one else has ever seen the Father.

47 I tell you for certain that everyone who has faith in me has eternal life.
48 I am the bread that gives life! 49 Your ancestors ate mannat in the desert, and later they died. 50 But the bread from heaven has come down, so that no one who eats it will ever die.

51 I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live forever. My flesh is the life-giving bread I give to the people of this world.

52 They started arguing with each other and asked, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus answered:
I tell you for certain that you won't live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. 54 But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day. 55 My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink.

56 If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.
57 The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me.

58 The bread that comes down from heaven isn't like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.

59 Jesus was teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum when he said these things.

The Words of Eternal Life

60 Many of Jesus' disciples heard him and said, “This is too hard for anyone to understand.”
61 Jesus knew that his disciples were grumbling. So he asked, “Does this bother you? 62 What if you should see the Son of Man go up to heaven where he came from? 63 t The Spirit is the one who gives life! Human strength can do nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are from that life-giving Spirit.

64 But some of you refuse to have faith in me.” Jesus said this, because from the beginning he knew who would have faith in him. He also knew which one would betray him.

65 Then Jesus said, “You cannot come to me, unless the Father makes you want to come. That is why I have told these things to all of you.”
66 Because of what Jesus said, many of his disciples turned their backs on him and stopped following him. 67 Jesus then asked his twelve disciples if they also were going to leave him. 68 t Simon Peter answered, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life.

69 We have faith in you, and we are sure that you are God's Holy One.”
70 Jesus told his disciples, “I chose all twelve of you, but one of you is a demon!” 71 Jesus was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.t He would later betray Jesus, even though he was one of the twelve disciples.