Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand(A)

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs(B) he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside(C) and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival(D) was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip,(E) “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother,(F) spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”(G)

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks,(H) and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14 After the people saw the sign(I) Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”(J) 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king(K) by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.(L)

Jesus Walks on the Water(M)

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,[b] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water;(N) and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”(O) 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake(P) realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.(Q) 23 Then some boats from Tiberias(R) landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.(S) 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

Jesus the Bread of Life

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi,(T) when did you get here?”

26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me,(U) not because you saw the signs(V) I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures(W) to eternal life,(X) which the Son of Man(Y) will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal(Z) of approval.”

28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe(AA) in the one he has sent.”(AB)

30 So they asked him, “What sign(AC) then will you give that we may see it and believe you?(AD) What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna(AE) in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c](AF)

32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven(AG) and gives life to the world.”

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

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am(AI) the bread of life.(AJ) Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes(AK) in me will never be thirsty.(AL) 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me(AM) will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven(AN) not to do my will but to do the will(AO) of him who sent me.(AP) 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me,(AQ) but raise them up at the last day.(AR) 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son(AS) and believes in him shall have eternal life,(AT) and I will raise them up at the last day.”

41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph,(AU) whose father and mother we know?(AV) How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”(AW)

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,(AX) and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[d](AY) Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God;(AZ) only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.(BA) 48 I am the bread of life.(BB) 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.(BC) 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven,(BD) which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread(BE) that came down from heaven.(BF) Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”(BG)

52 Then the Jews(BH) began to argue sharply among themselves,(BI) “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh(BJ) of the Son of Man(BK) and drink his blood,(BL) you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.(BM) 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.(BN) 57 Just as the living Father sent me(BO) and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”(BP) 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples(BQ) said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”(BR)

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?(BS) 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man(BT) ascend to where he was before!(BU) 63 The Spirit gives life;(BV) the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known(BW) from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.(BX) 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”(BY)

66 From this time many of his disciples(BZ) turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.(CA)

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

70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you,(CE) the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”(CF) 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot,(CG) who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)(CH)

Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want[f] to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders(CI) there were looking for a way to kill him.(CJ) But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles(CK) was near, Jesus’ brothers(CL) said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him.(CM)

Therefore Jesus told them, “My time(CN) is not yet here; for you any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me(CO) because I testify that its works are evil.(CP) You go to the festival. I am not[g] going up to this festival, because my time(CQ) has not yet fully come.” After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus(CR) and asking, “Where is he?”

12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.”(CS) 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.(CT)

Jesus Teaches at the Festival

14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.(CU) 15 The Jews(CV) there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning(CW) without having been taught?”(CX)

16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.(CY) 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out(CZ) whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory,(DA) but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law?(DB) Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”(DC)

20 “You are demon-possessed,”(DD) the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle,(DE) and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision(DF) (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs),(DG) you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”(DH)

Division Over Who Jesus Is

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?(DI) 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities(DJ) really concluded that he is the Messiah?(DK) 27 But we know where this man is from;(DL) when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts,(DM) cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from.(DN) I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.(DO) You do not know him, 29 but I know him(DP) because I am from him and he sent me.”(DQ)

30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him,(DR) because his hour had not yet come.(DS) 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him.(DT) They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs(DU) than this man?”

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time,(DV) and then I am going to the one who sent me.(DW) 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”(DX)

35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered(DY) among the Greeks,(DZ) and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”(EA)

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival,(EB) Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.(EC) 38 Whoever believes(ED) in me, as Scripture has said,(EE) rivers of living water(EF) will flow from within them.”[h](EG) 39 By this he meant the Spirit,(EH) whom those who believed in him were later to receive.(EI) Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.(EJ)

40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”(EK)

41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee?(EL) 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants(EM) and from Bethlehem,(EN) the town where David lived?” 43 Thus the people were divided(EO) because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.(EP)

Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders

45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,”(EQ) the guards replied.

47 “You mean he has deceived you also?”(ER) the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?(ES) 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

50 Nicodemus,(ET) who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”(EU)


[The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.]

53 Then they all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.(EV)

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.(EW) The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.(EX) Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap,(EY) in order to have a basis for accusing him.(EZ)

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone(FA) at her.”(FB) Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”(FC) Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”(FD)


Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am(FE) the light of the world.(FF) Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”(FG)

13 The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”(FH)

14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going.(FI) But you have no idea where I come from(FJ) or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards;(FK) I pass judgment on no one.(FL) 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.(FM) 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.(FN) 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”(FO)

19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,”(FP) Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”(FQ) 20 He spoke these words while teaching(FR) in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put.(FS) Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.(FT)

Dispute Over Who Jesus Is

21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die(FU) in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”(FV)

22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.(FW) 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he,(FX) you will indeed die in your sins.”

25 “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy,(FY) and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”(FZ)

27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up[i] the Son of Man,(GA) then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.(GB) 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone,(GC) for I always do what pleases him.”(GD) 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.(GE)

Dispute Over Whose Children Jesus’ Opponents Are

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching,(GF) you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”(GG)

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants(GH) and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.(GI) 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.(GJ) 36 So if the Son sets you free,(GK) you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me,(GL) because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence,(GM) and you are doing what you have heard from your father.[j](GN)

39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,”(GO) said Jesus, “then you would[k] do what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me,(GP) a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.(GQ) Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the works of your own father.”(GR)

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”(GS)

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,(GT) for I have come here from God.(GU) I have not come on my own;(GV) God sent me.(GW) 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil,(GX) and you want to carry out your father’s desires.(GY) He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.(GZ) 45 Yet because I tell the truth,(HA) you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.(HB) The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jesus’ Claims About Himself

48 The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan(HC) and demon-possessed?”(HD)

49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself;(HE) but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”(HF)

52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed!(HG) Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham?(HH) He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself,(HI) my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.(HJ) 55 Though you do not know him,(HK) I know him.(HL) If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.(HM) 56 Your father Abraham(HN) rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it(HO) and was glad.”

57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born,(HP) I am!”(HQ) 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him,(HR) but Jesus hid himself,(HS) slipping away from the temple grounds.

Footnotes

  1. John 6:7 Greek take two hundred denarii
  2. John 6:19 Or about 5 or 6 kilometers
  3. John 6:31 Exodus 16:4; Neh. 9:15; Psalm 78:24,25
  4. John 6:45 Isaiah 54:13
  5. John 6:63 Or are Spirit; or are spirit
  6. John 7:1 Some manuscripts not have authority
  7. John 7:8 Some manuscripts not yet
  8. John 7:38 Or me. And let anyone drink 38 who believes in me.” As Scripture has said, “Out of him (or them) will flow rivers of living water.”
  9. John 8:28 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted.
  10. John 8:38 Or presence. Therefore do what you have heard from the Father.
  11. John 8:39 Some early manuscripts “If you are Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then

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