John 6-7

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Feeding the Five Thousand

6 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.^{[a] 2} A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³ Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴ Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵ When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”^{(A) 6} He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷ Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” ⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they^[b] sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.^{(B) 12} When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴ When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”^(C)

¹⁵ When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.^(D)

Jesus Walks on the 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 terrified. ²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I;^[c] do not be afraid.” ²¹ Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

The Bread from Heaven

²² The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not gotten into the boat with his disciples but that his disciples had gone away alone.^{(E) 23} But some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.^{(F) 24} So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.^(G)

²⁵ 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, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves.^{(H) 27} Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”^{(I) 28} Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”^{(J) 30} So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us, then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?^{(K) 31} Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”^{(L) 32} Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave 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 that which^[d] comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”^{(M) 34} They said to him, “Sir,^[e] give us this bread always.”^(N)

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.^{(O) 36} But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.^{(P) 37} Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away,^{(Q) 38} for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.^{(R) 39} And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day.^{(S) 40} This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.”^(T)

⁴¹ Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”^{(U) 43} Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day.^{(V) 45} It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.^{(W) 46} Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.^{(X) 47} Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.^{(Y) 48} I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”^(Z)

⁵² The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”^{(AA) 53} So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.^{(AB) 54} Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day,^{(AC) 55} for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them.^{(AD) 57} Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which the ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said these things while he was teaching in a synagogue at Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

⁶⁰ When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you?^{(AE) 62} Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?^{(AF) 63} It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴ But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who were the ones who did not believe and who was the one who would betray him.^{(AG) 65} And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”^(AH)

⁶⁶ Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”^{[f](AI) 70} Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.”^{(AJ) 71} He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot,^[g] for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

The Unbelief of Jesus’s Brothers

7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him.^{(AK) 2} Now the Jewish Festival of Booths^[h] was near.^{(AL) 3} So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing,^{(AM) 4} for no one who wants^[i] to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ (For not even his brothers believed in him.)^{(AN) 6} Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.^{(AO) 7} The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil.^{(AP) 8} Go to the festival yourselves. I am not^[j] going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

Jesus at the Festival of Booths

¹⁰ But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but, as it were,^[k] in secret. ¹¹ The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.”^{(AQ) 13} Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.^(AR)

¹⁴ About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?”^{(AS) 16} Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me.^{(AT) 17} Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.^{(AU) 18} Those who speak on their own seek their own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing unjust in him.^(AV)

¹⁹ “Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?”^{(AW) 20} The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?”^{(AX) 21} Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. ²² Because of this Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.^{(AY) 23} If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?^{(AZ) 24} Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”^(BA)

Is This the Christ?

²⁵ Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?^{[l] 27} Yet we know where this man is from, but when the Messiah^[m] comes no one will know where he is from.”^{(BB) 28} Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him.^{(BC) 29} I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”^{(BD) 30} Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him because his hour had not yet come.^{(BE) 31} Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Messiah^[n] comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?”^[o](BF)

Officers Are Sent to Arrest Jesus

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. ³³ Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.^{(BG) 34} You will search for me, but you will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come.”^{(BH) 35} The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?^{(BI) 36} What does he mean by saying, ‘You will search for me, but you will not find me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

³⁷ On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,^{(BJ) 38} and let the one who believes in me drink. As^[p] the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart^[q] shall flow rivers of living water.’ ”^{(BK) 39} Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit^[r] because Jesus was not yet glorified.^(BL)

Division among the People

⁴⁰ When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is the Messiah.”^[s] But some asked, “Surely the Messiah^[t] does not come from Galilee, does he?^{(BM) 42} Has not the scripture said that the Messiah^[u] is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”^{(BN) 43} So there was a division in the crowd because of him. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The Unbelief of Those in Authority

⁴⁵ Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” ⁴⁶ The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” ⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived, too, have you? ⁴⁸ Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him?^{(BO) 49} But this crowd, which does not know the law, they are accursed.” ⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus^[v] before and who was one of them, asked, ⁵¹ “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?”^{(BP) 52} They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”

The Woman Caught in Adultery

[[⁵³ Then each of them went home,