John 6
Disciples’ Literal New Testament
Jesus Returns To Galilee And Feeds The 5000
6 After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee— of Tiberias[a]. 2 And a large crowd was following Him, because they were seeing the signs which He was doing on the ones being sick. 3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and was sitting there with His disciples. 4 And the Passover, the Feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus, having lifted-up His eyes and seen that a large crowd was coming to Him, says to Philip, “From where may we buy bread in order that these ones may eat?” 6 Now He was saying this testing him. For He Himself knew what He was going to do. 7 Philip answered Him, “Loaves worth two-hundred denarii[b] are not enough for them, in order that each one may receive a little bit”. 8 One of His disciples— Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter— says to Him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people fall-back [to eat]”. And there was much grass in the place. So the men— about five-thousand as to the number— fell back [to eat]. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves. And having given-thanks, He distributed them to the ones reclining-back [to eat]— likewise also from the fish— as much as they were wanting. 12 And when they were filled, He says to His disciples, “Gather the left-over fragments so that nothing may be lost”. 13 So they gathered, and filled twelve baskets of fragments from the five barley loaves, which were left over by the ones having eaten. 14 Therefore the people, having seen the sign which He did, were saying that “This One is truly the Prophet[c] coming into the world”. 15 Then Jesus, having known that they were about to come and take Him away-by-force in order that they might make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain, Himself alone.
Jesus Walks On Water To Capernaum
16 Now when it became evening, His disciples went down to the sea. 17 And having gotten into a boat, they were going to the other side of the sea, to Capernaum. And darkness already had come, and Jesus had not-yet come to them. 18 And the sea was becoming aroused from a great wind blowing. 19 So having rowed about twenty five or thirty stades[d], they see Jesus walking on the sea and becoming near the boat. And they became afraid. 20 But the One says to them, “I am[e] the One. Do not be afraid”. 21 So they were willing to take Him into the boat. And immediately the boat came-to-be at the land to which they were going.
The Crowd Follows Him There
22 On the next day the crowd standing on the other side of the sea saw that there had not been another small boat there except [the] one, and that Jesus had not entered into the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other[f] small-boats came from Tiberias near the place where they ate the bread, the Lord having given-thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they got into the small boats, and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus.
Jesus Says, Work For The Food Leading To Eternal Life, Which The Son Will Give You
25 And having found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when have You come here?” 26 Jesus responded to them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you— you are seeking Me not because you saw signs[g], but because you ate of the loaves-of-bread and were filled-to-satisfaction. 27 Do not be working for the food which is perishing, but for the food which is remaining to[h] eternal life— which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father certified[i] this One”.
The Work God Requires of You Is To Believe In The One Sent Forth By God
28 So they said to Him, “What may we be doing in order that we may be working the works of God?” 29 Jesus responded and said to them, “This is the work of God: that you be believing in the One Whom that One sent-forth”.
My Father Is Giving You The True Bread From Heaven, Which Came To Give Life
30 So they said to Him, “What then do You do as a sign, in order that we may see it and believe You? What thing do you work? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it has been written [in Ps 78:24]: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’”. 32 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not 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 coming[j] down from heaven and giving life to the world”.
I Am The Bread of Life Come From Heaven. He Who Believes In Me Has Eternal Life
34 So they said to Him, “Master, give us this bread always”. 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one coming to Me will never hunger, and the one believing in Me will never ever[k] thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me[l], and you are not believing. 37 All that the Father gives to Me will come to Me, and I will never[m] throw outside the one coming to Me. 38 Because I have come down from heaven not in order that I may be doing My will, but the will of the One having sent Me. 39 And this is the will of the One having sent Me: that as to all that He has given to Me, I will not lose anything from it, but I will raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father: that everyone seeing the Son and believing in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day”.
I Am The Living Bread From Heaven: Eat And Live Forever. The Bread Is My Flesh
41 Then the Jews were grumbling about Him because He said, “I am the bread having come down from heaven”. 42 And they were saying, “Is this One not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say that ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus responded and said to them, “Do not be grumbling with one another. 44 No one is able to come to Me unless the Father having sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It has been written in the prophets [in Isa 54:13]: ‘and they shall all be taught ones of God’. Everyone having heard from the Father and having learned, comes to Me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One being from God; this One has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you— the one believing has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died. 50 This is the bread coming down from heaven in order that anyone may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread having come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And indeed the bread which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh”.
My Flesh Is True Food; My Blood Is True Drink. Partake And Live Forever
52 Then the Jews were fighting with one another, saying, “How can this One give us His flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless[n] you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54 The one eating My flesh and drinking My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true[o] food, and My blood is true drink. 56 The one eating My flesh and drinking My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent Me forth, and I live because of the Father, indeed the one eating Me— that one also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread having come down from heaven; not as the manna the fathers ate and died. The one eating this bread will live forever”. 59 He said these things in a synagogue while teaching in Capernaum.
These Words Are Spirit And Life. But Some of You Disciples Do Not Believe
60 Then many of His disciples, having heard, said, “This statement is hard[p]. Who can hear[q] it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples are grumbling about this, said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man going up where He was formerly? 63 The Spirit is the One giving-life. The flesh profits nothing. The words which I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe”. For Jesus knew from the beginning who the ones not believing were, and who the one who will hand Him over was. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you that no one is able to come to Me unless it has been granted to him from the Father”.
From This Time, Many of His Disciples No Longer Followed Him
66 From this time, many of His disciples went back, and were no longer walking with Him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You also are not wanting to go-away, are you?” 68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 And we have believed, and have come-to-know that You are the Holy One of God”. 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is the devil?” 71 Now He was speaking-of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. For this one, one of the twelve, was going to hand Him over.
Footnotes
- John 6:1 This is the Roman name for this Sea.
- John 6:7 One denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer.
- John 6:14 See 1:21.
- John 6:19 That is, 2.9 to 3.5 miles or 4.6 to 5.6 kilometers; about half way across.
- John 6:20 That is, It is I.
- John 6:23 Or, However, small-boats.
- John 6:26 That is, saw signs and want to know what they signify. They merely want the earthly benefit.
- John 6:27 Or, into, for.
- John 6:27 Or, attested, set His seal on. This is the meaning of the signs.
- John 6:33 Jesus is referring to Himself. But grammatically this can also mean ‘the bread coming’, which is how the hearers took it, as seen next.
- John 6:35 Or, at-any-time.
- John 6:36 That is, seen Me in action, seen God certify Me by signs, v 27.
- John 6:37 Or, by-no-means.
- John 6:53 Rather than soften or explain v 51b, Jesus emboldens it. He makes no attempt to resolve their fighting, but inflames it even more. A more shocking, repugnant, and Law-violating phrase for a Jew can hardly be imagined. In response to their desire to force Him to be king (v 15), Jesus is forcing them to a decision concerning His true nature and mission.
- John 6:55 Or, genuine, real. It produces true life.
- John 6:60 Not hard to understand, but hard to accept, offensive, harsh, objectionable.
- John 6:60 That is, accept and obey.
John 6
New Century Version
More than Five Thousand Fed
6 After this, Jesus went across Lake Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias). 2 Many people followed him because they saw the miracles he did to heal the sick. 3 Jesus went up on a hill and sat down there with his followers. 4 It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover Feast.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?” 6 (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him, because Jesus already knew what he planned to do.)
7 Philip answered, “Someone would have to work almost a year to buy enough bread for each person to have only a little piece.”
8 Another one of his followers, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, 9 “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but that is not enough for so many people.”
10 Jesus said, “Tell the people to sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, thanked God for them, and gave them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, Jesus said to his followers, “Gather the leftover pieces of fish and bread so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they gathered up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left from the five barley loaves.
14 When the people saw this miracle that Jesus did, they said, “He must truly be the Prophet[a] who is coming into the world.”
15 Jesus knew that the people planned to come and take him by force and make him their king, so he left and went into the hills alone.
Jesus Walks on the Water
16 That evening Jesus’ followers went down to Lake Galilee. 17 It was dark now, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The followers got into a boat and started across the lake to Capernaum. 18 By now a strong wind was blowing, and the waves on the lake were getting bigger. 19 When they had rowed the boat about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the water, coming toward the boat. The followers were afraid, 20 but Jesus said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat. At once the boat came to land at the place where they wanted to go.
The People Seek Jesus
22 The next day the people who had stayed on the other side of the lake knew that Jesus had not gone in the boat with his followers but that they had left without him. And they knew that only one boat had been there. 23 But then some boats came from Tiberias and landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the people saw that Jesus and his followers were not there now, they got into boats and went to Capernaum to find Jesus.
Jesus, the Bread of Life
25 When the people found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Teacher, when did you come here?”
26 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you aren’t looking for me because you saw me do miracles. You are looking for me because you ate the bread and were satisfied. 27 Don’t work for the food that spoils. Work for the food that stays good always and gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because on him God the Father has put his power.”
28 The people asked Jesus, “What are the things God wants us to do?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent.”
30 So the people asked, “What miracle will you do? If we see a miracle, we will believe you. What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the desert. This is written in the Scriptures: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”[b]
32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven; it is my Father who is giving you the true bread from heaven. 33 God’s bread is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 The people said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Then Jesus said, “I am the bread that gives life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you before, you have seen me and still don’t believe. 37 The Father gives me the people who are mine. Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them. 38 I came down from heaven to do what God wants me to do, not what I want to do. 39 Here is what the One who sent me wants me to do: I must not lose even one whom God gave me, but I must raise them all on the last day. 40 Those who see the Son and believe in him have eternal life, and I will raise them on the last day. This is what my Father wants.”
41 Some people began to complain about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that comes down from heaven.” 42 They said, “This is Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 But Jesus answered, “Stop complaining to each other. 44 The Father is the One who sent me. No one can come to me unless the Father draws him to me, and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’[c] Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread that gives life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but still they died. 50 Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give up so that the world may have life.”
52 Then the evil people began to argue among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, you must eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. Otherwise, you won’t have real life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. 55 My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57 The living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father. So whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 I am not like the bread your ancestors ate. They ate that bread and still died. I am the bread that came down from heaven, and whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said all these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 When the followers of Jesus heard this, many of them said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?”
61 Knowing that his followers were complaining about this, Jesus said, “Does this teaching bother you? 62 Then will it also bother you to see the Son of Man going back to the place where he came from? 63 It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh doesn’t give life. The words I told you are spirit, and they give life. 64 But some of you don’t believe.” (Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would turn against him.) 65 Jesus said, “That is the reason I said, ‘If the Father does not bring a person to me, that one cannot come.’”
66 After Jesus said this, many of his followers left him and stopped following him.
67 Jesus asked the twelve followers, “Do you want to leave, too?”
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, who would we go to? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One from God.”
70 Then Jesus answered, “I chose all twelve of you, but one of you is a devil.”
71 Jesus was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Judas was one of the twelve, but later he was going to turn against Jesus.
Footnotes
- 6:14 Prophet They probably meant the prophet that God told Moses he would send (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
- 6:31 ‘He gave . . . eat.’ Quotation from Psalm 78:24.
- 6:45 ‘They . . . God.’ Quotation from Isaiah 54:13.
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
