Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

6 Some time after this, Jesus crossed over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. It is also called the Sea of Tiberias. ² A large crowd of people followed him. They had seen the signs he had done by healing sick people. ³ Then Jesus went up on a mountainside. There he sat down with his disciples. ⁴ The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

⁵ Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him. So he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test Philip. He already knew what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered him, “Suppose we were able to buy enough bread for each person to have just a bite. That would take more than half a year’s pay!”

⁸ Another of his disciples spoke up. It was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He said, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small loaves of barley bread. He also has two small fish. But how far will that go in such a large crowd?”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down. About 5,000 men were there. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks. He handed out the bread to those who were seated. He gave them as much as they wanted. And he did the same with the fish.

¹² When all of them had enough to eat, Jesus spoke to his disciples. “Gather the leftover pieces,” he said. “Don’t waste anything.” ¹³ So they gathered what was left over from the five barley loaves. They filled 12 baskets with the pieces left by those who had eaten.

¹⁴ The people saw the sign that Jesus did. Then they began to say, “This must be the Prophet who is supposed to come into the world.”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You are not looking for me because you saw the signs I did. You are looking for me because you ate the loaves until you were full. ²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils. Work for food that lasts forever. That is the food the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”

²⁸ Then they asked him, “What does God want from us? What works does he want us to do?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “God’s work is to believe in the one he has sent.”

³⁰ So they asked him, “What sign will you give us? What will you do so we can see it and believe you? ³¹ Long ago our people ate the manna in the desert. It is written in Scripture, ‘The Lord gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” (Exodus 16:4; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalm 78:24,25)

³² Jesus said to them, “What I’m about to tell you is true. It is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven. It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ The bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven. He gives life to the world.”

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

³⁵ Then Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But it is just as I told you. You have seen me, and you still do not believe. ³⁷ Everyone the Father gives me will come to me. I will never send away anyone who comes to me. ³⁸ I have not come down from heaven to do what I want to do. I have come to do what the one who sent me wants me to do. ³⁹ The one who sent me doesn’t want me to lose anyone he has given me. He wants me to raise them up on the last day. ⁴⁰ My Father wants all who look to the Son and believe in him to have eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day.”

⁴¹ Then the Jews there began to complain about Jesus. That was because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father and mother? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ “Stop complaining among yourselves,” Jesus answered. ⁴⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me brings them. Then I will raise them up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ‘God will teach all of them.’ (Isaiah 54:13) Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. ⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the one who has come from God. Only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ What I’m about to tell you is true. Everyone who believes has life forever. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Long ago your people ate the manna in the desert, and they still died. ⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven. A person can eat it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Everyone who eats some of this bread will live forever. This bread is my body. I will give it for the life of the world.”