Chapter 6

¹After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, or Tiberias, and a great crowd followed him, ²because they could see the signs he showed in what he did for the sick. ³But Jesus went up on the hill, and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Jewish festival of the Passover was coming. ⁵So Jesus, raising his eyes and seeing that a great crowd was coming up to him, said to Philip,

“Where can we buy food for these people to eat?”

⁶Now he said this to test him, for he knew what he meant to do. ⁷Philip answered,

“Forty dollars’ worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to have even a little.”

⁸Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, another of his disciples, said to him,

⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and a couple of fish, but what is that among so many people?”

¹⁰Jesus said,

“Make the people sit down.”

There was plenty of grass there, so the men threw themselves down, about five thousand of them. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and gave thanks, and distributed them among the people who were resting on the ground, and in the same way as much of the fish as they wanted. ¹²When they were satisfied, he said to his disciples,

“Pick up the pieces that are left, so that nothing may be wasted.”

¹³So they picked them up, and they filled twelve baskets with pieces of the five barley loaves that were left after the people had eaten.

¹⁴When the people saw the signs that he showed, they said,

“This is really the Prophet who was to come into the world!”

¹⁵So Jesus, seeing that they meant to come and carry him off to make him king, retired again to the hill by himself.

¹⁶But in the evening his disciples went down to the sea ¹⁷and got into a boat and started across the sea for Capernaum. By this time it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them; ¹⁸a strong wind was blowing and the sea was growing rough.

¹⁹When they had rowed three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat, and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them,

“It is I; do not be afraid!”

²¹Then as soon as they consented to take him into the boat, the boat was at the shore they had been trying to reach.

²²Next day the people who had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not embarked in it with his disciples, but that the disciples had gone away by themselves. ²³But some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where they had eaten the bread after Jesus had given thanks for it. ²⁴So when the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were any longer there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of him. ²⁵And when they had crossed the sea and found him, they said to him,

“When did you get here, Master?” ²⁶Jesus answered,

“I tell you, it is not because of the signs you have seen that you have come in search of me, but because you ate that bread and had all you wanted of it. ²⁷You must not work for the food that perishes, but for that which lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for God the Father has authorized him to do so.”

²⁸Then they said to him,

“What must we do to carry out God’s work?”

²⁹Jesus answered them,

“The work God has for you is to believe in the messenger that he has sent to you.”

³⁰Then they said to him,

“Then what sign do you show for us to see and so come to believe you? What work are you doing? ³¹Our forefathers in the desert had manna to eat; as the Scripture says, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat!’ ”

³²Jesus said to them,

“I tell you, Moses did not give you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the bread out of heaven, ³³for it is God’s bread that comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴Then they said to him,

“Give us that bread always, sir!”

³⁵Jesus said to them,

“I am the bread that gives life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty. ³⁶But as I have told you, although you have seen me, you will not believe. ³⁷All that my Father gives to me will come to me, and I will never refuse anyone who comes to me, ³⁸for I have come down from heaven not to do what I please but what pleases him who has sent me. ³⁹And the purpose of him who has sent me is this, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but should raise them to life on the Last Day. ⁴⁰For it is the purpose of my Father that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him to life on the Last Day.”

⁴¹The Jews complained of him for saying, “I am the bread that has come out of heaven,” ⁴²and they said,

“Is he not Joseph’s son, Jesus, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

⁴³Jesus answered,

“Do not complain to one another. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him to me; then I myself will raise him to life on the Last Day. ⁴⁵In the prophets it is written, ‘And all men will be taught by God!’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him will come to me. ⁴⁶Not that anyone has ever seen the Father, except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷I tell you, whoever believes already possesses eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread that gives life. ⁴⁹Your forefathers in the desert ate the manna and yet they died. ⁵⁰But here is bread that comes down out of heaven, and no one who eats it will ever die. ⁵¹I am this living bread that has come down out of heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the world’s life is my own flesh!”

⁵²This led the Jews to dispute with one another. They said,

“How can he give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³Then Jesus said to them,

“I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no self-existent life. ⁵⁴Whoever lives on my flesh and drinks my blood possesses eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the Last Day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever lives on my flesh and drinks my blood remains united to me and I remain united to him. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father has sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who lives on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that has come down out of heaven—not like that which your forefathers ate and yet died. Whoever lives on this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹Jesus said all this while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

⁶⁰Many of his disciples on hearing it said,

“This is a harsh teaching! Who can listen to it?”

⁶¹But Jesus, knowing that his disciples were complaining about this, said to them,

“Does this stagger you? ⁶²Then what if you see the Son of Man go up where he was before? ⁶³The Spirit is what gives life; flesh is of no use at all. The things that I have said to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴Yet there are some of you who will not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who would not believe, and who was going to betray him. ⁶⁵And he added,

“This is why I said to you, ‘No one can come to me unless he is enabled to do so by the Father.’ ”

⁶⁶In consequence of this many of his disciples drew back and would not go about with him any longer. ⁶⁷So Jesus said to the Twelve,

“Do you mean to go away too?”

⁶⁸Simon Peter answered,

“To whom can we go, sir? You have a message of eternal life, ⁶⁹and we believe and are satisfied that you are the Holy One of God.”

⁷⁰Jesus answered them,

“Did I not myself select all twelve of you? And even of you, one is an informer.” ⁷¹He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though he was one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.