Ezekiel 16-18

New King James Version

God’s Love for Jerusalem

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, ^(A)cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, ³and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: “Your ^[a]birth ^(B)and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; ^(C)your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ⁴As for your nativity, ^(D)on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. ⁵No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were ^[b]loathed on the day you were born.

⁶“And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ ⁷^(E)I made you ^[c]thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

⁸“When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; ^(F)so I spread ^[d]My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I ^(G)swore an oath to you and entered into a ^(H)covenant with you, and ^(I)you became Mine,” says the Lord God.

⁹“Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil. ¹⁰I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of ^[e]badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹I adorned you with ornaments, ^(J)put bracelets on your wrists, ^(K)and a chain on your neck. ¹²And I put a ^[f]jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. ^(L)You ate pastry of fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly ^(M)beautiful, and succeeded to royalty. ¹⁴^(N)Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,” says the Lord God.

Jerusalem’s Harlotry

¹⁵^(O)“But you trusted in your own beauty, ^(P)played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it. ¹⁶^(Q)You took some of your garments and adorned multicolored ^[g]high places for yourself, and played the harlot on them. Such things should not happen, nor be. ¹⁷You have also taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images and played the harlot with them. ¹⁸You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense before them. ¹⁹Also ^(R)My food which I gave you—the pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you—you set it before them as ^[h]sweet incense; and so it was,” says the Lord God.

²⁰^(S)“Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter, ²¹that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the ^(T)fire? ²²And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your ^(U)youth, ^(V)when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood.

²³“Then it was so, after all your wickedness—‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God— ²⁴that ^(W)you also built for yourself a shrine, and ^(X)made a ^[i]high place for yourself in every street. ²⁵You built your high places ^(Y)at the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry. ²⁶You also committed harlotry with ^(Z)the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to ^(AA)provoke Me to anger.

²⁷“Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your ^[j]allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, ^(AB)the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. ²⁸You also played the harlot with the ^(AC)Assyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. ²⁹Moreover you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, ^(AD)Chaldea; and even then you were not satisfied.

³⁰“How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord God, “seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot.

Jerusalem’s Adultery

³¹^(AE)“You erected your shrine at the head of every road, and built your ^[k]high place in every street. Yet you were not like a harlot, because you scorned ^(AF)payment. ³²You are an adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband. ³³Men make payment to all harlots, but ^(AG)you made your payments to all your lovers, and ^[l]hired them to come to you from all around for your harlotry. ³⁴You are the opposite of other women in your harlotry, because no one solicited you to be a harlot. In that you gave payment but no payment was given you, therefore you are the opposite.”

Jerusalem’s Lovers Will Abuse Her

³⁵‘Now then, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord! ³⁶Thus says the Lord God: “Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotry with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of ^(AH)the blood of your children which you gave to them, ³⁷surely, therefore, ^(AI)I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. ³⁸And I will judge you as ^(AJ)women who break wedlock or ^(AK)shed blood are judged; I will bring blood upon you in fury and jealousy. ³⁹I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your shrines and break down ^(AL)your ^[m]high places. ^(AM)They shall also strip you of your clothes, take your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.

⁴⁰^(AN)“They shall also bring up an assembly against you, ^(AO)and they shall stone you with stones and thrust you through with their swords. ⁴¹They shall ^(AP)burn your houses with fire, and ^(AQ)execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will make you ^(AR)cease playing the harlot, and you shall no longer hire lovers. ⁴²So ^(AS)I will lay to rest My fury toward you, and My jealousy shall depart from you. I will be quiet, and be angry no more. ⁴³Because ^(AT)you did not remember the days of your youth, but ^[n]agitated Me with all these things, surely ^(AU)I will also recompense your ^[o]deeds on your own head,” says the Lord God. “And you shall not commit lewdness in addition to all your abominations.

More Wicked than Samaria and Sodom

⁴⁴“Indeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: ‘Like mother, like daughter!’ ⁴⁵You are your mother’s daughter, ^[p]loathing husband and children; and you are the ^(AV)sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children; ^(AW)your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

⁴⁶“Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of you; and ^(AX)your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her daughters. ⁴⁷You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, ^(AY)you became more corrupt than they in all your ways.

⁴⁸“As I live,” says the Lord God, “neither ^(AZ)your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, ^(BA)fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. ⁵⁰And they were haughty and ^(BB)committed abomination before Me; therefore ^(BC)I took them away as ^[q]I saw fit.

⁵¹“Samaria did not commit ^(BD)half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and ^(BE)have justified your sisters by all the abominations which you have done. ⁵²You who judged your sisters, bear your own shame also, because the sins which you committed were more abominable than theirs; they are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced also, and bear your own shame, because you justified your sisters.

⁵³^(BF)“When I bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back ^(BG)the captives of your captivity among them, ⁵⁴that you may bear your own shame and be disgraced by all that you did when ^(BH)you comforted them. ⁵⁵When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state. ⁵⁶For your sister Sodom was not a byword in your mouth in the days of your pride, ⁵⁷before your wickedness was uncovered. It was like the time of the ^(BI)reproach of the daughters of ^[r]Syria and all those around her, and of ^(BJ)the daughters of the Philistines, who despise you everywhere. ⁵⁸^(BK)You have paid for your lewdness and your abominations,” says the Lord. ⁵⁹For thus says the Lord God: “I will deal with you as you have done, who ^(BL)despised ^(BM)the oath by breaking the covenant.

An Everlasting Covenant

⁶⁰“Nevertheless I will ^(BN)remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish ^(BO)an everlasting covenant with you. ⁶¹Then ^(BP)you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and your younger sisters; for I will give them to you for ^(BQ)daughters, ^(BR)but not because of My covenant with you. ⁶²^(BS)And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, ⁶³that you may ^(BT)remember and be ashamed, ^(BU)and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord God.’ ”

The Eagles and the Vine

17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a ^(BV)parable to the house of Israel, ³and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

^(BW)“A great eagle with large wings and long pinions,
Full of feathers of various colors,
Came to Lebanon
And ^(BX)took from the cedar the highest branch.
⁴He cropped off its topmost young twig
And carried it to a land of trade;
He set it in a city of merchants.
⁵Then he took some of the seed of the land
And planted it in ^(BY)a fertile field;
He placed it by abundant waters
And set it ^(BZ)like a willow tree.
⁶And it grew and became a spreading vine ^(CA)of low stature;
Its branches turned toward him,
But its roots were under it.
So it became a vine,
Brought forth branches,
And put forth shoots.

⁷“But there was ^[s]another great eagle with large wings and many feathers;
And behold, ^(CB)this vine bent its roots toward him,
And stretched its branches toward him,
From the garden terrace where it had been planted,
That he might water it.
⁸It was planted in ^[t]good soil by many waters,
To bring forth branches, bear fruit,
And become a majestic vine.” ’

⁹“Say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“Will it thrive?
^(CC)Will he not pull up its roots,
Cut off its fruit,
And leave it to wither?
All of its spring leaves will wither,
And no great power or many people
Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.
¹⁰Behold, it is planted,
Will it thrive?
^(CD)Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it?
It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.” ’ ”

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹²“Say now to ^(CE)the rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Indeed ^(CF)the king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its king and princes, and led them with him to Babylon. ¹³^(CG)And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, ^(CH)and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, ¹⁴that the kingdom might be ^(CI)brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. ¹⁵But ^(CJ)he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, ^(CK)that they might give him horses and many people. ^(CL)Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?

¹⁶‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely ^(CM)in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke—with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. ¹⁷^(CN)Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, ^(CO)when they heap up a siege mound and build a ^[u]wall to cut off many persons. ¹⁸Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact ^(CP)gave^[v] his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.’ ”

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head. ²⁰I will ^(CQ)spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and ^(CR)try him there for the ^[w]treason which he committed against Me. ²¹^(CS)All his ^[x]fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be ^(CT)scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Israel Exalted at Last^(CU)

²²Thus says the Lord God: “I will take also one of the highest ^(CV)branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs ^(CW)a tender one, and will ^(CX)plant it on a high and prominent mountain. ²³^(CY)On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. ^(CZ)Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell. ²⁴And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, ^(DA)have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; ^(DB)I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it.”

A False Proverb Refuted

18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, ²“What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:

‘The ^(DC)fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

³“As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.

⁴“Behold, all souls are ^(DD)Mine;
The soul of the father
As well as the soul of the son is Mine;
^(DE)The soul who sins shall die.
⁵But if a man is just
And does what is lawful and right;
⁶^(DF)If he has not eaten ^[y]on the mountains,
Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor ^(DG)defiled his neighbor’s wife,
Nor approached ^(DH)a woman during her impurity;
⁷If he has not ^(DI)oppressed anyone,
But has restored to the debtor his ^(DJ)pledge;
Has robbed no one by violence,
But has ^(DK)given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with ^(DL)clothing;
⁸If he has not ^[z]exacted ^(DM)usury
Nor taken any increase,
But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity
And ^(DN)executed true ^[aa]judgment between man and man;
⁹If he has walked in My statutes
And kept My judgments faithfully—
He is just;
He shall surely ^(DO)live!”
Says the Lord God.

¹⁰“If he begets a son who is a robber
Or ^(DP)a shedder of blood,
Who does any of these things
¹¹And does none of those duties,
But has eaten ^[ab]on the mountains
Or defiled his neighbor’s wife;
¹²If he has oppressed the poor and needy,
Robbed by violence,
Not restored the pledge,
Lifted his eyes to the idols,
Or ^(DQ)committed abomination;
¹³If he has exacted usury
Or taken increase—
Shall he then live?
He shall not live!
If he has done any of these abominations,
He shall surely die;
^(DR)His blood shall be upon him.

¹⁴“If, however, he begets a son
Who sees all the sins which his father has done,
And considers but does not do likewise;
¹⁵^(DS)Who has not eaten ^[ac]on the mountains,
Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife;
¹⁶Has not oppressed anyone,
Nor withheld a pledge,
Nor robbed by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
¹⁷Who has withdrawn his hand from ^[ad]the poor
And not received usury or increase,
But has executed My judgments
And walked in My statutes—
He shall not die for the iniquity of his father;
He shall surely live!

¹⁸“As for his father,
Because he cruelly oppressed,
Robbed his brother by violence,
And did what is not good among his people,
Behold, ^(DT)he shall die for his iniquity.

Turn and Live

¹⁹“Yet you say, ‘Why ^(DU)should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. ²⁰^(DV)The soul who sins shall die. ^(DW)The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. ^(DX)The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, ^(DY)and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

²¹“But ^(DZ)if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²²^(EA)None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall ^(EB)live. ²³^(EC)Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?

²⁴“But ^(ED)when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? ^(EE)All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

²⁵“Yet you say, ^(EF)‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? ²⁶^(EG)When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. ²⁷Again, ^(EH)when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. ²⁸Because he ^(EI)considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²⁹^(EJ)Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?

³⁰^(EK)“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. ^(EL)“Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. ³¹^(EM)Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a ^(EN)new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? ³²For ^(EO)I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and ^(EP)live!”

Footnotes

Ezekiel 16:3 origin and your birth
Ezekiel 16:5 abhorred
Ezekiel 16:7 Lit. a myriad
Ezekiel 16:8 Or the corner of My garment
Ezekiel 16:10 Or dolphin or dugong
Ezekiel 16:12 Lit. ring
Ezekiel 16:16 Places for pagan worship
Ezekiel 16:19 Or a sweet aroma
Ezekiel 16:24 Place for pagan worship
Ezekiel 16:27 Allowance of food
Ezekiel 16:31 Place for pagan worship
Ezekiel 16:33 Or bribed
Ezekiel 16:39 Places for pagan worship
Ezekiel 16:43 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT were agitated with Me
Ezekiel 16:43 Lit. way
Ezekiel 16:45 Or despising
Ezekiel 16:50 Vg. you saw; LXX he saw; Tg. as was revealed to Me
Ezekiel 16:57 Heb. Aram; so with MT, LXX, Tg., Vg.; many Heb. mss., Syr. Edom
Ezekiel 17:7 So with LXX, Syr., Vg.; MT, Tg. one
Ezekiel 17:8 Lit. a good field
Ezekiel 17:17 Or siege wall
Ezekiel 17:18 Took an oath
Ezekiel 17:20 Lit. unfaithful act
Ezekiel 17:21 So with MT, Vg.; many Heb. mss., Syr. choice men; Tg. mighty men; LXX omits All his fugitives
Ezekiel 18:6 At the mountain shrines
Ezekiel 18:8 Lent money at interest
Ezekiel 18:8 justice
Ezekiel 18:11 At the mountain shrines
Ezekiel 18:15 At the mountain shrines
Ezekiel 18:17 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX iniquity (cf. v. 8)

John 6

New King James Version

Feeding the Five Thousand^(A)

6 After ^(B)these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of ^(C)Tiberias. ²Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were ^(D)diseased.^[a] ³And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

⁴^(E)Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵^(F)Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to ^(G)Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” ⁶But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

⁷Philip answered Him, ^(H)“Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

⁸One of His disciples, ^(I)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ⁹“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, ^(J)but what are they among so many?”

¹⁰Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. ¹¹And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them ^[b]to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” ¹³Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly ^(K)the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Sea^(L)

¹⁵Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him ^(M)king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

¹⁶^(N)Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. ¹⁸Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. ¹⁹So when they had rowed about ^[c]three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were ^(O)afraid. ²⁰But He said to them, ^(P)“It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

The Bread from Heaven

²²On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except ^[d]that one ^[e]which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone— ²³however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks— ²⁴when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, ^(Q)seeking Jesus. ²⁵And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷^(R)Do not labor for the food which perishes, but ^(S)for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, ^(T)because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

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

²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, ^(U)“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

³⁰Therefore they said to Him, ^(V)“What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? ³¹^(W)Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ^(X)‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

³²Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but ^(Y)My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴^(Z)Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

³⁵And Jesus said to them, ^(AA)“I am the bread of life. ^(AB)He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never ^(AC)thirst. ³⁶^(AD)But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet ^(AE)do not believe. ³⁷^(AF)All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and ^(AG)the one who comes to Me I will ^[f]by no means cast out. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, ^(AH)not to do My own will, ^(AI)but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹This is the will of the Father who sent Me, ^(AJ)that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰And this is the will of Him who sent Me, ^(AK)that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Rejected by His Own

⁴¹The Jews then ^[g]complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴²And they said, ^(AL)“Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³Jesus therefore answered and said to them, ^[h]“Do not murmur among yourselves. ⁴⁴^(AM)No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me ^(AN)draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, ^(AO)‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ ^(AP)Therefore everyone who ^[i]has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. ⁴⁶^(AQ)Not that anyone has seen the Father, ^(AR)except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(AS)he who believes ^[j]in Me has everlasting life. ⁴⁸^(AT)I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹^(AU)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰^(AV)This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread ^(AW)which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and ^(AX)the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

⁵²The Jews therefore ^(AY)quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless ^(AZ)you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴^(BA)Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For My flesh is ^[k]food indeed, and My blood is ^[l]drink indeed. ⁵⁶He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^(BB)abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸^(BC)This is the bread which came down from heaven—not ^(BD)as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Turn Away

⁶⁰^(BE)Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a ^[m]hard saying; who can understand it?”

⁶¹When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples ^[n]complained about this, He said to them, “Does this ^[o]offend you? ⁶²^(BF)What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? ⁶³^(BG)It is the Spirit who gives life; the ^(BH)flesh profits nothing. The ^(BI)words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴But ^(BJ)there are some of you who do not believe.” For ^(BK)Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵And He said, “Therefore ^(BL)I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

⁶⁶^(BM)From that time many of His disciples went ^[p]back and walked with Him no more. ⁶⁷Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

⁶⁸But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(BN)the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹^(BO)Also we have come to believe and know that You are the ^[q]Christ, the Son of the living God.”

⁷⁰Jesus answered them, ^(BP)“Did I not choose you, the twelve, ^(BQ)and one of you is a devil?” ⁷¹He spoke of ^(BR)Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would ^(BS)betray Him, being one of the twelve.