John 6
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
After this aJesus went away to the other side of bthe Sea of Galilee, which is cthe Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on athe mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now athe Passover, the bfeast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 aLifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to bPhilip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 aPhilip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, aAndrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five abarley loaves and two fish, but awhat are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” aNow there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and awhen he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, a“This is indeed bthe Prophet cwho is to come into the world!”
15 aPerceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus bwithdrew again to cthe mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on Water
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 aBut he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
I Am the Bread of Life
22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only aone boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord ahad given thanks. 24 aSo when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and bwent to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, a“Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ayou are seeking me, not because you saw bsigns, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 aDo not work for the food that perishes, but for bthe food that endures to eternal life, which cthe Son of Man will give to you. For on dhim God the Father has eset his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing athe works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, athat you believe in him whom bhe has sent.” 30 So they said to him, a“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 aOur fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, b‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is ahe who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, a“Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, a“I am the bread of life; bwhoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 aAll that bthe Father gives me will come to me, and cwhoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For aI have come down from heaven, not to do bmy own will but bthe will of him cwho sent me. 39 And athis is the will of him who sent me, bthat I should lose nothing of call that he has given me, but draise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who alooks on the Son and bbelieves in him cshould have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, a“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, a“Is not this Jesus, bthe son of Joseph, whose father and mother cwe know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me adraws him. And bI will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, a‘And they will all be btaught by God.’ cEveryone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 anot that anyone has seen the Father except bhe who is from God; he chas seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, awhoever believes has eternal life. 48 aI am the bread of life. 49 aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and bthey died. 50 aThis is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it band not die. 51 I am the living bread athat came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give bfor the life of the world is cmy flesh.”
52 The Jews then adisputed among themselves, saying, b“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 athe Son of Man and drink his blood, you bhave no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ahas eternal life, and bI will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood aabides in me, and I in him. 57 As athe living Father bsent me, and cI live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 aThis is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught aat Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 aWhen many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, aknowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see athe Son of Man bascending to cwhere he was before? 63 aIt is the Spirit who gives life; bthe flesh is no help at all. cThe words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But athere are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus bknew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and cwho it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you athat no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66 aAfter this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to athe twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have athe words of eternal life, 69 and awe have believed, and have come to know, that byou are cthe Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, a“Did I not choose you, bthe twelve? And yet one of you is ca devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas athe son of Simon Iscariot, for bhe, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.