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Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

After these things (A)Jesus went away to the other side of (B)the Sea of Galilee (or (C)Tiberias). Now a large crowd was following Him, because they were seeing the [a](D)signs which He was doing on those who were sick. Then (E)Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He was sitting down with His disciples. Now (F)the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to (G)Philip, “Where should we buy bread, so that these people may eat?” And this He was saying to (H)test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. (I)Philip answered Him, “(J)Two hundred [b]denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” One of His (K)disciples, (L)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two (M)fish, but what are these for so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people [c]sit down.” Now there was (N)much grass in the place. So the men [d]sat down, in number about (O)five thousand. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and (P)having given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated; likewise also of the (Q)fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they were filled, He *said to His (R)disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve (S)baskets with pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 14 Therefore when the people saw the [e]sign which He had done, they were saying, “This is truly the (T)Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Sea

15 So Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force (U)to make Him king, (V)withdrew again to (W)the mountain by Himself alone.

16 Now when evening came, His (X)disciples went down to the sea, 17 and after getting into a boat, they began to cross the sea (Y)to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 And the sea *was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. 19 Then, when they had rowed about [f]twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. 20 But He *said to them, [g]“It is I; [h](Z)do not be afraid.” 21 So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

22 On the next day, (AA)the crowd which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus (AB)had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other small boats came from (AC)Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the (AD)Lord (AE)had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and (AF)came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “(AG)Rabbi, when did You come here?”

I Am the Bread of Life

26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you (AH)seek Me, not because you saw (AI)signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not (AJ)work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to (AK)eternal life, which (AL)the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, (AM)set His seal.” 28 Therefore they said to Him, “What should we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is (AN)the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He (AO)has sent.” 30 So they said to Him, “(AP)What then do You do for a (AQ)sign so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? 31 (AR)Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘(AS)He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is [i]that which (AT)comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always (AU)give us this bread.”

35 Jesus said to them, (AV)I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me (AW)will never thirst. 36 But (AX)I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 (AY)All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. 38 For (AZ)I have come down from heaven, (BA)not to do My own will, but (BB)the will of Him who (BC)sent Me. 39 Now this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of (BD)all that He has given Me I (BE)lose nothing, but (BF)raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who (BG)sees the Son and (BH)believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will (BI)raise him up on the last day.”

Words to the Jews

41 (BJ)Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that (BK)came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “(BL)Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother (BM)we know? How does He now say, (BN)I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me (BO)draws him; and I will (BP)raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written (BQ)in the prophets, ‘(BR)And they shall all be (BS)taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 (BT)Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes (BU)has eternal life. 48 (BV)I am the bread of life. 49 (BW)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which (BX)comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and (BY)not die. 51 (BZ)I am the living bread that (CA)came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, (CB)he will live forever; and also the bread which I will give (CC)for the life of the world is (CD)My flesh.”

52 (CE)Then the Jews (CF)began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of (CG)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 (CH)raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood (CI)abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the (CJ)living Father (CK)sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which (CL)came down out of heaven, not as (CM)the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread (CN)will live forever.”

Words to the Disciples

59 These things He said (CO)in the synagogue as He taught (CP)in Capernaum.

60 Therefore many of His (CQ)disciples, when they heard this said, “(CR)This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, (CS)knowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling at this, said to them, “Does this (CT)cause you to stumble? 62 What then if you see (CU)the Son of Man (CV)ascending to where He was before? 63 (CW)The Spirit is the One who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; (CX)the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are (CY)some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus (CZ)knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and (DA)who it was that would [j]betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have (DB)said to you, that no one can come to Me unless (DC)it has been granted him from the Father.”

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

66 As a result of this many of His (DD)disciples [k](DE)went away and were not walking with Him anymore. 67 So Jesus said to (DF)the twelve, “Do you also want to go?” 68 (DG)Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have (DH)words of eternal life. 69 And we have believed and have come to know that You are (DI)the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, (DJ)Did I Myself not choose you, (DK)the twelve, and yet one of you is (DL)a devil?” 71 Now He was speaking of Judas (DM)the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, (DN)one of (DO)the twelve, [l]was going to betray Him.

Footnotes

  1. John 6:2 Or attesting miracles
  2. John 6:7 A Roman silver coin, approx. a laborer’s daily wage
  3. John 6:10 Lit recline(d)
  4. John 6:10 Lit recline(d)
  5. John 6:14 Or attesting miracle
  6. John 6:19 Approx. 2.8-3.5 mi. or 4.6-5.5 km; a stadion was about 607 ft. or 185 m
  7. John 6:20 Or I am He, cf. 4:26; 8:18, 24, 28; 13:19; 18:5, 6
  8. John 6:20 Or stop being afraid
  9. John 6:33 Or He who comes
  10. John 6:64 Or hand Him over
  11. John 6:66 Lit went away to what was previous
  12. John 6:71 Or was intending to

The Fourth Sign: Feeding of the Five Thousand

After(A) this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee(B) (or Tiberias(C)). A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.

Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him,(D) he asked Philip,(E) “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat?” He asked this to test him,(F) for he himself knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[a](G) worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

One of his disciples, Andrew,(H) Simon(I) Peter’s(J) brother, said to him, “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

There was plenty of grass in that place; so they sat down. The men numbered about five thousand.(K) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.(L)

12 When they were full, he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.”(M) 13 So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

14 When the people saw the sign[b] he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet(N) who is to come(O) into the world.”(P)

15 Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,(Q) he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

The Fifth Sign: Walking on Water

16 When(R) evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum.(S) Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles,[c] they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid. 20 But he said to them, “It is I.[d](T) Don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

The Bread of Life

22 The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw there had been only one boat.[e](U) They also saw that Jesus had not boarded the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone off alone. 23 Some boats from Tiberias(V) came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi,(W) when did you get here?”

26 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw[f] the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Don’t work for the food that perishes(X) but for the food that lasts for eternal life,(Y) which the Son of Man(Z) will give you, because God the Father(AA) has set his seal of approval on him.”

28 “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

29 Jesus replied, “This is the work(AB) of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”(AC)

30 “What sign, then, are you going to do so that we may see and believe you?” they asked. “What are you going to perform? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna(AD) in the wilderness,(AE) just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.[g](AF)

32 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Moses(AG) didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 “I am(AH) the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me(AI) will ever be hungry,(AJ) and no one who believes in me(AK) will ever be thirsty(AL) again. 36 But as I told you, you’ve seen me,[h] and yet you do not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.(AM) 38 For I have come down from heaven,(AN) not to do my own will, but the will of him(AO) who sent me. 39 This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise(AP) them up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father: (AQ) that everyone who sees the Son(AR) and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise(AS) him up on the last day.”

41 Therefore the Jews started grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph,(AT) whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus answered them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws[i] him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: (AU) And they will all be taught by God.[j](AV) Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father(AW) comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father(AX) except the one who is from God.(AY) He has seen the Father.(AZ)

47 “Truly I tell you, anyone who believes[k] has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna(BA) in the wilderness,(BB) and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die.(BC) 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live(BD) forever.(BE) The bread that I will give for the life(BF) of the world is my flesh.”(BG)

52 At that, the Jews argued(BH) among themselves,(BI) “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man(BJ) and drink his blood,(BK) you do not have life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood(BL) has eternal life, and I will raise(BM) him up on the last day, 55 because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.(BN) 57 Just as the living(BO) Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live(BP) because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna[l] your ancestors ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”(BQ)

59 He said these things while teaching in the synagogue(BR) in Capernaum.(BS)

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept[m] it?”

61 Jesus, knowing in himself(BT) that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man(BU) ascending(BV) to where he was before? 63 The Spirit(BW) is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning(BX) those who did not[n] believe and the one who would betray(BY) him.) 65 He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me(BZ) unless it is granted to him by the Father.”

66 From that moment[o] many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve,(CA) “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

68 Simon Peter(CB) answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”[p](CC)

70 Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve?(CD) Yet one of you is a devil.”(CE) 71 He was referring to Judas,(CF) Simon Iscariot’s son,[q] one of the Twelve, because he was going to betray(CG) him.

Footnotes

  1. 6:7 A denarius = one day’s wage
  2. 6:14 Other mss read signs
  3. 6:19 Lit twenty-five or thirty stadia; one stadion = 600 feet
  4. 6:20 Lit “I am
  5. 6:22 Other mss add into which his disciples had entered
  6. 6:26 Or perceived
  7. 6:31 Ex 16:4; Ps 78:24
  8. 6:36 Other mss omit me
  9. 6:44 Or brings, or leads
  10. 6:45 Is 54:13
  11. 6:47 Other mss add in me
  12. 6:58 Gk text lacks the manna
  13. 6:60 Lit hear
  14. 6:64 Other mss omit not
  15. 6:66 Or Because of this
  16. 6:69 Other mss read you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God
  17. 6:71 Or Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son