Feeding the Five Thousand^(A)

6 After ^(B)these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of ^(C)Tiberias. ² Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were ^(D)diseased.^{[a] 3} And 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?” ⁶ But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

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

⁸ One 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?”

¹⁰ Then 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. ¹¹ And 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. ¹² So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” ¹³ Therefore 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. ¹⁴ Then 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)

¹⁵ Therefore 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, ¹⁷ got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. ¹⁸ Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. ¹⁹ So 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. ²⁰ But He said to them, ^(P)“It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹ Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

The Bread from Heaven

²² On 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— ²³ however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks— ²⁴ when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, ^(Q)seeking Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

²⁶ Jesus 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.”

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

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

³⁰ Therefore 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.’ ”

³² Then 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. ³³ For 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.”

³⁵ And 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. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, ^(AH)not to do My own will, ^(AI)but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This 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. ⁴⁰ And 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

⁴¹ The Jews then ^[g]complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴² And 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’?”

⁴³ Jesus 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. ⁴⁵ It 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. ⁴⁷ Most 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. ⁵¹ I 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.”

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

⁵³ Then 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. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is ^[k]food indeed, and My blood is ^[l]drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^(BB)abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As 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.”

⁵⁹ These 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?”

⁶¹ When 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. ⁶⁴ But ^(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. ⁶⁵ And 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. ⁶⁷ Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

⁶⁸ But 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.”

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

Dangerous Promises

The Folly of Indolence

The Wicked Man

Beware of Adultery

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? ^(A)Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who ^(B)died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that ^(C)as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus ^(D)were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were ^(E)buried with Him through baptism into death, that ^(F)just as Christ was raised from the dead by ^(G)the glory of the Father, ^(H)even so we also should walk in newness of life.

^5 (I)For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that ^(J)our old man was crucified with Him, that ^(K)the body of sin might be ^[a]done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For ^(L)he who has died has been ^[b]freed from sin. ⁸ Now ^(M)if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that ^(N)Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, ^(O)He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, ^(P)He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, ^[c]reckon yourselves to be ^(Q)dead indeed to sin, but ^(R)alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

^12 (S)Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. ¹³ And do not present your ^(T)members as ^[d]instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but ^(U)present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴ For ^(V)sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin ^(W)because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Do you not know that ^(X)to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart ^(Y)that form of doctrine to which you were ^[e]delivered. ¹⁸ And ^(Z)having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness ^[f]for holiness.

²⁰ For when you were ^(AA)slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ^21 (AB)What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For ^(AC)the end of those things is death. ²² But now ^(AD)having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit ^[g]to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. ²³ For ^(AE)the wages of sin is death, but ^(AF)the ^[h]gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Greeting

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

^2 (A)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s Final Judgment and Glory

³ We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, ⁴ so that ^(B)we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God ^(C)for your patience and faith ^(D)in all your persecutions and ^[a]tribulations that you endure, ⁵ which is ^(E)manifest^[b] evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, ^(F)for which you also suffer; ^6 (G)since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with ^[c]tribulation those who trouble you, ⁷ and to give you who are troubled ^(H)rest with us when ^(I)the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, ⁸ in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^9 (J)These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and ^(K)from the glory of His power, ¹⁰ when He comes, in that Day, ^(L)to be ^(M)glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who ^[d]believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

¹¹ Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would ^(N)count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and ^(O)the work of faith with power, ^12 (P)that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.