Parashat Beshalach

¹⁷ After Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, although that was nearby, for God said, “The people might change their minds if they see war and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Sea of Reeds, and Bnei-Yisrael went up out of the land of Egypt armed.

¹⁹ Moses also took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made Bnei-Yisrael swear an oath saying, “God will surely remember you, and then you are to carry my bones away with you.”^[a]

²⁰ So they journeyed from Succoth and encamped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ Adonai went before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead the way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light. So they could travel both day and night. ^{[b] 22} The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never departed from the people.

Sea of Reeds Showdown

14 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael, so that they turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to camp by the sea, opposite Baal-zephon. ³ Pharaoh will say concerning Bnei-Yisrael, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land—the wilderness has shut them in!’ ⁴ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so he will follow after them. Then I will be glorified over Pharaoh along with all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Adonai.” So they did so.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ So he prepared his chariots and took his people with him. ⁷ He took 600 of the finest chariots, along with all other chariots of Egypt, and captains over them. ⁸ Adonai hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so he pursued Bnei-Yisrael, for Bnei-Yisrael went out with a high hand. ⁹ But the Egyptians pursued them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, as well as his charioteers and his army, and overtook them as they were encamped by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth opposite Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh drew near, Bnei-Yisrael lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them! So they were terrified, and Bnei-Yisrael cried out to Adonai. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why have you dealt this way with us, to bring us out of Egypt? ¹² Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone, so that we may serve the Egyptians?’ It was better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!”

¹³ But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and see the salvation of Adonai, which He will perform for you today. You have seen the Egyptians today, but you will never see them again, ever! ¹⁴ Adonai will fight for you, while you hold your peace.”

¹⁵ Then Adonai said to Moses, “Why are you crying to Me? Tell Bnei-Yisrael to go forward. ¹⁶ Lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. Then Bnei-Yisrael will go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ Then I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in after them, so that I will be glorified over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians will know that I am Adonai, when I have been glorified over Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

¹⁹ Then the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. Also the pillar of cloud moved from in front and stood behind them, ²⁰ and so came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel—there was the cloud and the darkness over here, yet it gave light by night over there—neither one came near the other all night long.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. Adonai drove the sea back with a strong east wind throughout the night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided. ²² Then Bnei-Yisrael went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, while the waters were like walls to them on their right and on their left.^[c]

²³ But the Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen. ²⁴ Now it came about during the morning watch that Adonai looked at the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and caused the army of the Egyptians to panic. ²⁵ He took off their chariot wheels and caused them to drive heavily, so that the Egyptians said, “Get away from the presence of Israel! For Adonai fights for them against the Egyptians!”

²⁶ Then Adonai said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters come back upon the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” ²⁷ So Moses stretched his hand out over the waters, and the sea returned to its strength at the break of dawn. The Egyptians were fleeing from it, but Adonai overthrew them in the midst of the sea. ^{[d] 28} The waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen and the entire army of Pharaoh that went after them into the sea. Not one of them remained.

²⁹ But Bnei-Yisrael had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were like walls to them on their right hand and on their left. ³⁰ So Adonai saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ When Israel saw the great work that Adonai did over the Egyptians, the people feared Adonai, and they believed in Adonai and in His servant Moses.

Song of Moses and Miriam

15 Then Moses and Bnei-Yisrael sang this song to Adonai:^[e]

¹⁹ For Pharaoh’s horses with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, but Adonai brought the waters of the sea back over them. Yet Bnei-Yisrael walked in the midst of the sea on dry ground. ²⁰ Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing, ²¹ as Miriam sang to them:

Bitter Waters Made Sweet

²² Then Moses led Israel onward from the Sea of Reeds. They went out into the wilderness of Shur. But they travelled three days in the wilderness and found no water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink from the waters because they were bitter. On account of this it was called Marah. ²⁴ So the people complained to Moses saying, “What are we going to drink?”

²⁵ So he cried out to Adonai, and Adonai showed him a tree. When he threw it into the waters, they were made sweet.

There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them. ²⁶ He said, “If you diligently listen to the voice of Adonai your God, do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His mitzvot, and keep all His decrees, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians. For I am Adonai who heals you.”

²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. So they camped there by the waters.

Manna From Heaven

16 They journeyed on from Elim, and the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving the land of Egypt. ² But the whole congregation of Bnei-Yisrael murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ Bnei-Yisrael said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of Adonai in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full. But you have brought us into the wilderness, to kill this entire congregation with hunger.”

⁴ Then Adonai said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.^[h] The people will go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I can test them to find out whether they will walk according to My Torah or not. ⁵ So on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather day by day.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all Bnei-Yisrael, “In the evening you will know that Adonai has brought you out from the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning, then you will see the glory of Adonai. For He heard your complaining against Him. What are we? You complain against us?” ⁸ Then Moses said, “Adonai will give you meat to eat in the evening and enough bread to fill you in the morning, since Adonai hears your complaints that you mutter against Him, what are we? Your complaining is not against us, but against Adonai!”

⁹ Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of Bnei-Yisrael, ‘Come near before Adonai, because He has heard your complaining.’”

¹⁰ Then, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of Bnei-Yisrael, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of Adonai appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ¹² “I have heard the complaining of Bnei-Yisrael. Speak to them saying, ‘At dusk you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am Adonai your God.’”

¹³ So when evening fell, quails came up and covered the camp. Moreover, in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. ¹⁴ When the layer of dew was gone, on the surface of the desert was a thin, flake-like frost, as fine as the frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When Bnei-Yisrael saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?”^[i] For they did not know what it was. Then Moses said to them, “It is the bread that Adonai has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is the word that Adonai has commanded. Every man is to gather according to his needs, an omer^[j] per person, according to the number of people per household. Each man is to take it for those who are in his tent.”

¹⁷ Bnei-Yisrael did so, and some gathered more, some less. ¹⁸ When they measured it with an omer, those who gathered more had nothing left over, and those that gathered less did not lack at all. Every man gathered according to his appetite.

¹⁹ Also Moses said to them, “Let no one save any of it until the morning.”

²⁰ However, they did not listen to Moses. Some of them preserved it until the morning—but it bred worms and rotted. So Moses was angry with them.

²¹ So they gathered it morning by morning, each man according to his needs, and as the sun became hot it melted. ²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each individual. So all the leaders of the community came and informed Moses. ²³ But he said to them, “This is what Adonai has said. Tomorrow is a Shabbat rest, a holy Shabbat to Adonai. Bake whatever you would bake, and boil what you would boil. Store up for yourselves everything that remains, to be kept until the morning.”

²⁴ So they set it aside until the morning, just as Moses instructed, and it did not rot nor were there any worms. ²⁵ Then Moses said, “Eat that today, because today is a Shabbat to Adonai. Today you will not find it in the field. ²⁶ You are to gather it for six days, but the seventh day is the Shabbat, and there will be none.”

²⁷ Yet on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather and they found none. ²⁸ Adonai said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My mitzvot and My Torah? ²⁹ See, Adonai has given you the Shabbat, so on the sixth day He gives you the bread of two days. Let every man stay in his place, and let no man go out on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹ The house of Israel named it manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. ³² Then Moses said, “This is what Adonai has commanded. Let a full omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.”

³³ Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put a full omer of manna inside. Store it up before Adonai, to be kept throughout your generations.”

³⁴ Just as Adonai commanded Moses, Aaron stored it up in front of the Testimony, to be preserved. ³⁵ Bnei-Yisrael ate the manna for 40 years. They ate the manna until they came to an inhabited land, when they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.^[k]

Test and Quarreling

17 All the congregation of Bnei-Yisrael journeyed from the wilderness of Sin in stages, according to the command of Adonai, and camped in Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Adonai?”

³ But the people thirsted for water there, and they complained against Moses and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? To kill us with thirst, along with our children and cattle?”

⁴ So Moses cried out to Adonai saying, “What am I to do for these people? They are about ready to stone me.”

⁵ Adonai said to Moses, “Walk before the people, and take of the elders of Israel with you, along with your staff with which you struck the river. Take it in your hand and go. ⁶ Behold, I will stand before you, there upon the rock in Horeb. You are to strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people can drink.” Then Moses did just so in the eyes of the elders of Israel. ⁷ The name of the place was called Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of Bnei-Yisrael, and because they tested Adonai saying, “Is Adonai among us, or not?”

War Against Amalek

⁸ Then the Amalekites came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men, go out, and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses said, and fought the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. But when he let down his hand, the Amalekites prevailed. ¹² Moses’ hands grew heavy, so they took a stone, put it under him, and he sat down. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands were steady until the sun went down. ¹³ So Joshua overpowered the Amalekites and his army with the edge of the sword.

¹⁴ Adonai said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the hearing of Joshua, for I will utterly blot out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.”

¹⁵ Then Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Adonai-Nissi. ^{[l] 16} Then he said, “By the hand upon the throne of Adonai, Adonai will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

⁴ Now Deborah, a woman who was a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵ She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and Bnei-Yisrael came up to her for judgment. ⁶ Now she sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “Hasn’t Adonai, God of Israel, commanded, ‘Go, march to Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun? ⁷ Then at the Kishon torrent, I will draw out to you Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army with his chariots and his multitude, and I will give him into your hand.’”

⁸ But Barak said to her, “If you are going with me, then I will go. But if you aren’t going with me, I won’t go.”

⁹ “Surely I will go with you,” she said. “However, no honor will be yours on the way that you are about to go—for Adonai will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ Then Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh, and 10,000 men marched up after him, and Deborah went up with him.

¹¹ Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

¹² They told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. ¹³ So Sisera ordered all his chariots—900 iron chariots—and all the troops that were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goyim to the Kishon.

¹⁴ Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise! For this is the day in which Adonai will deliver Sisera into your hand. Has Adonai not gone out before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. ¹⁵ Adonai threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into confusion before Barak with the edge of the sword. Then Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. ¹⁶ But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-ha-goyim. The whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not one was left.

¹⁷ Meanwhile Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Yael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸ So Yael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me! Don’t be afraid!” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

¹⁹ He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and made him drink some, and covered him. ²⁰ Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you saying, ‘Is there a man here?’ then you will say, ‘There’s no one.’”

²¹ Then Yael, Heber’s wife, took a tent pin and got a hammer in her hand, approached him stealthily and drove the pin into his temple until it pierced through into the ground—for he was exhausted and in a deep sleep. So he died. ²² Now behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Yael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he entered with her, and behold, Sisera was lying dead, with a tent-pin in his temple!

²³ So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before Bnei-Yisrael. ²⁴ The hand of Bnei-Yisrael pressed hard on King Jabin of Canaan until they had cut off King Jabin of Canaan.

Deborah’s Song

5 Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day saying:

Then the land had peace for 40 years.

Rebellion and Return

20 On the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year, some of the elders of Israel came to seek Adonai. They sat before me. ² The word of Adonai came to me saying: ³ “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel. Say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live’—it is a declaration of Adonai—‘I will not be inquired of by you.’

⁴ “Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Make them know the detestable practices of their fathers. ⁵ Say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: On the day I chose Israel, I lifted up My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I lifted up My hand to them saying, ‘I am Adonai your God.’ ⁶ On that day I lifted up My hand to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had sought out for them, flowing with milk and honey, the splendor of all lands. ⁷ I said to them, ‘Each of you must throw away every detestable thing from his eyes, and not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Adonai your God.’

⁸ “But they rebelled against Me and were unwilling to listen to Me. None of them cast away the detestable things that were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My fury upon them, to expend My anger upon them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹ But I acted, for the sake of My Name, to keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations, where they were, in whose sight I made Myself known to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ So I led them out from the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them My laws and taught them My judgments, which if a man does, he will live by them. ¹² I also gave them My Shabbatot, as a sign between Me and them, so that they would know that I am Adonai who made them holy.

¹³ “But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes. They rejected My judgments, which if a man does, he will live by them. They greatly profaned My Shabbatot. Then I resolved to pour out My fury on them in the wilderness to consume them. ¹⁴ But for the sake of My Name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Yet I also lifted My hand to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the splendor of all lands. ¹⁶ For they rejected My laws, did not walk in My rulings and profaned My Shabbatot—for their heart went after their idols. ¹⁷ Nevertheless, My eye spared them from destruction, so I did not make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ “I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, do not keep their ordinances, do not defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹ I am Adonai your God. Walk in My statutes, keep My ordinances and do them. ²⁰ Keep My Shabbatot holy, so they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Adonai your God.’

²¹ “But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes. They did not keep My ordinances to do them, which if a man does, he will live by them; they profaned My Shabbatot. Then I resolved to pour out My fury on them, to expend My anger on them in the wilderness. ²² Nevertheless, I withheld My hand. For the sake of My Name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³ I also lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, to scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries. ²⁴ For they had not obeyed My ordinances, but had rejected My statutes and profaned My Shabbatot. Their eyes went after their fathers’ idols. ²⁵ I also gave them statutes that were not good, ordinances by which they could not live. ²⁶ I let them become polluted in their own gifts, when they offered up all that opened the womb to pass through the fire, so that I might make them desolate, so that they would know that I am Adonai.

²⁷ “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Again your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they dealt faithlessly with Me. ²⁸ When I brought them into the land, which I lifted up My hand to give to them, they saw every high hill and every leafy tree. There they slaughtered their sacrifices and presented their offensive offering. There they made their soothing aroma and poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹ So I asked them, ‘What is the high place where you are going?’ So the name of it is called Bamah^[a] to this day. ³⁰ Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says Adonai Elohim: Will you pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go after their abominations? ³¹ When offering your gifts, making your sons pass through the fire, you keep polluting yourselves with all your idols, up to this day. So should I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“I will not be inquired of by you. ³² What comes up in your mind will not happen at all, when you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the families of the countries, worshiping wood and stone.’ ³³ As I live,”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out, I will be king over you. ³⁴ I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with fury poured out. ³⁵ I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples. I will judge you there face to face. ³⁶ Just as I judged your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

³⁷ “I will make you pass under the rod and bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸ I will purge out the rebels from among you and those who transgress against Me. I will bring them out from the land where they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. So you will know that I am Adonai.

³⁹ “As for you, house of Israel,” thus says Adonai Elohim: “Go on serving your idols, all of you! Yet afterward, you will surely listen to Me. My holy Name you will no longer profane with your gifts and your idols. ⁴⁰ For in My holy mountain, Israel’s high mountain”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will take pleasure in them. There I will receive your offerings, the first of your gifts, with all your holy things. ⁴¹ With your sweet aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered. I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations. ⁴² You will know that I am Adonai, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country where I lifted up My hand to give it to your fathers. ⁴³ There you will remember your ways and all your deeds, by which you defiled yourselves. You will loathe yourselves for all your evil that you have done. ⁴⁴ Then you will know that I am Adonai, when I deal with you for My Name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt deeds, house of Israel.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Read full chapter

^{[a] 15} Realizing that they were about to come and seize Him by force to make Him king, Yeshua withdrew again to the mountain, Himself alone.

The Savior on the Sea

¹⁶ Now when evening came, Yeshua’s disciples went down to the sea. ¹⁷ Getting into a boat, they set out to cross the sea toward Capernaum. By now it had become dark, and still Yeshua had not come to them. ¹⁸ A great wind began to blow, stirring up the sea.

¹⁹ After they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia,^[b] they catch sight of Yeshua walking on the sea, approaching the boat. They were terrified! ²⁰ But Yeshua says to them, “I am. Don’t be afraid.” ^{[c] 21} Then they wanted to take Him into the boat, and right away the boat reached the shore where they were headed.

The Bread from Heaven

²² The next day, the crowd remaining on the other side of the sea realized that no other boat had been there except the one, and that Yeshua hadn’t gone into the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone. ²³ Some other boats from Tiberias came close to the place where they had eaten the bread after the Master had given thanks. ²⁴ So when the crowd realized that neither Yeshua nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and set off for Capernaum to find Him. ²⁵ When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”

²⁶ Yeshua responded to them, “Amen, amen I tell you, you seek Me not because you saw signs, but because you ate all the bread and were filled. ²⁷ Don’t work for food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him, God the Father has put the seal of approval.”

²⁸ Then they said to Him, “What shall we do to perform the works of God?”

²⁹ Yeshua answered them, “This is the work of God, to trust in the One He sent.”

³⁰ So they said to Him, “Then what sign do You perform, so that we may see and believe You? What work do You do? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘Out of heaven He gave them bread to eat.’”^[d]

³² Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen I tell you, it isn’t Moses who has given you bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the One coming down from heaven and giving life to the world.”

³⁴ So they said to Him, “Sir, give us this bread from now on!”

³⁵ Yeshua said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But I told you that you have seen Me, yet you do not believe. ³⁷ Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and anyone coming to Me I will never reject. ³⁸ 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 lose not one of all He has given Me, but raise each one on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and trusts in Him may have eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

⁴¹ Some of the Judeans^[e] started to grumble about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They were saying, “Isn’t this Yeshua the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³ Yeshua answered, “Stop grumbling among yourselves! ⁴⁴ No one can come to Me unless My Father who sent Me draws him—and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’^[f] Everyone who has listened and learned from the Father comes to Me. ⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God—He has seen the Father.

⁴⁷ “Amen, amen I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

⁵² Then the Jews began arguing with one another, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³ So Yeshua said to them, “Amen, amen I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. ⁵⁴ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

⁵⁵ “For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who eats of Me will also live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven—not like the bread your fathers ate and then died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹ He said these things while teaching at the synagogue in Capernaum.

Fallout from a Hard Teaching

⁶⁰ So when many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can listen to it?”

⁶¹ But Yeshua knew His disciples were murmuring, so He said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you see the Son of Man going back up to the place where He was before? ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no benefit. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life! ⁶⁴ Yet some of you do not trust.” Yeshua knew from the beginning who were the ones who did not trust, as well as which one would betray Him.

⁶⁵ Then He told them, “For this reason I’ve told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.”

⁶⁶ From this time, many of His disciples left and quit walking with Him. ⁶⁷ So Yeshua said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to leave also, do you?”

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life! ⁶⁹ We have trusted and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

⁷⁰ Yeshua answered them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is the adversary!” ⁷¹ Now He was speaking of Judah, the son of Simon of Kriot—for he, one of the Twelve, was about to betray Him.

Read full chapter

Warnings from History

10 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. ^{[a] 2} They all were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³ And all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink—for they were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the Rock was Messiah. ^{[b] 5} Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert.^[c]

Read full chapter