Jesus miraculously fed more than 5,000 people.

1Some time later, when Jesus was in Galilee district, near the time of the Jewish Passover celebration, Jesus went with us disciples by boat and crossed to another place along Galilee Lake. This lake is also called Tiberias Lake.

2A large crowd of people kept following Jesus on land because they had been seeing the miracles he performed by healing sick people.

3Jesus went up on the hillside and sat down with us disciples to teach us.

4Then he looked up and saw a great crowd of people coming toward him.

5He said to Philip, “Where will we buy food for all these people to eat?”

6He asked this only to find out if Philip believed what Jesus could do, because Jesus already knew what he himself was going to do.

7Philip replied to him, “Even if we had the amount of money a man earns in eight months, that would not be enough to buy bread so that each person could have a little bit!”

8Another one of us disciples, Andrew, who was Simon Peter’s younger brother, said to Jesus,

9“There is a boy here who has five small barley loaves and two cooked fish. But ◄they will not help much among so many people!/what good will that do among so many people?► [RHQ]”

10Jesus said, “Tell the people to sit down!” There was plenty of grass there, so they all sat down comfortably. There were about 5,000 men among the crowd.

11Then Jesus took the small loaves and the fish and thanked God for them. Then he gave them to us, and we distributed the small loaves and the fish to all the people sitting on the ground. Because God caused the food to keep increasing, everyone ate as much as they wanted.

12When everyone had all the food they wanted, he said to us disciples, “Gather up the pieces that are left over. Do not let anything be wasted!”

13So we gathered up the pieces of the small loaves that were left over by those who had eaten. We filled twelve baskets with those pieces!

14After the people saw that miracle that Jesus had performed, many of them started to say, “Surely this is the prophet like Moses that God promised to send to the world!”

15So, because Jesus realized that they were about to come and seize him to make him their king, he left them again and went up into the hills by himself.

Jesus miraculously walked on the water.

16When it was evening, we disciples went down to Galilee Lake.

17When it became dark and Jesus had still not joined us, we got into a boat and went across the lake towards Capernaum city.

18A strong wind started to blow and caused the water ◄to become very rough/to have high waves►.

19After we had rowed ◄three or four miles/five or six kilometers►, we saw Jesus coming near the boat; he was walking on the water! So we were terrified!

20But he said to us, “Do not be afraid! It is I!”

21We were glad to take him into the boat. As soon as we did that, the boat reached the shore where we were going!

22The next day the crowd of people that had stayed on the other side of the lake were perplexed about how Jesus had left that area. They knew that there had been only one boat there the previous day. They knew that we had gone away in it by ourselves. They knew that Jesus had not gone with us.

23Then some men came from Tiberias city in boats. They were hoping to take some of the crowd back to Tiberias. They arrived near the place where the people had eaten the food after Jesus had given thanks and caused it to multiply.

24When the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor we disciples were there, some of them got into those boats and they sailed to Capernaum to find Jesus.

Jesus taught them figuratively of the need for them to take for themselves the benefits of his sacrificing himself and shedding his blood to atone for their sins.

25When they found him in Capernaum further around the lake, they asked him, “Teacher, since you(sg) did not come in a boat, when and how did you get here?”

26Jesus replied to them, “Listen to this carefully: Do you know why you are looking for me? It is not because you saw me perform miracles and as a result have realized who I really am. No! You are looking for me only because you had plenty of bread to eat after I provided it for you by performing a miracle.

27Stop desiring food that will soon spoil! Instead, desire to get spiritual food that will last forever! Yearn for eternal life! That is what I, the one who came from heaven, will give you. God my Father has shown that he approves of me enabling me to do that.”

28Then the people asked him, “What things should we do to please God?”

29Jesus replied, “What God wants you to do is this: He wants you to believe that I am the one he has sent.”

30So they said to him, “Then perform another miracle so that we may see it and believe that you came from God. What miracle would you like to perform?

31Our ancestors ate the food called manna that God provided for them by a miracle in the desolate area. This is written {The Psalmist wrote this} in the Scriptures about what Moses caused to happen: ‘He gave them food from heaven to eat.’ Will you perform a miracle like that?”

32So Jesus said to them, “The truth is that it was not Moses who gave your ancestors that food from heaven. No, it was my Father who gave it to them. And my Father is the one who gives you the true food from heaven.

33The true bread from God came down from heaven, and he is the one who will give eternal life to the people of the world [MTY].”

34Not understanding what he meant, they said to him, “Sir, give us that kind of bread all the time!”

35Jesus said to them, “Just like food [MET] sustains physical life, I am the one who enables you to have spiritual life. Those who eat ordinary food and drinks will later be hungry and thirsty. But those who come to me to receive that life will never again lack anything spiritually.

36I told you before that you have seen my miracles, but after seeing them, instead of understanding who I am, you have not believed in me.

37All the people that my Father entrusts to me will come to me, and I will certainly ◄welcome/never send away► [LIT] anyone who comes to me.

38When I came down from heaven, it was not to do what I want. Instead, I came to do what ◄God/my Father►, who sent me, wants.

39What the one who sent me wants is that I ◄keep forever all/never lose any► [LIT] of those whom he has entrusted to me. He wants me to cause all of them to become alive again ◄on the last day/on the day when I judge everyone► [MTY].

40Long ago in the desolate area when those who were bitten by snakes looked at the bronze replica of a snake, they were healed [MET]. What my Father wants is that similarly everyone who looks at what I have done and believes in me will have eternal life. I will cause them to become alive again ◄on the last day/on the day when I judge everyone► [MTY].”

41The Jewish leaders [SYN] began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the one who is like true bread who came down from heaven.”

42They said, “◄This man is Jesus, the son of Joseph!/Isn’t this man the son of Joseph?► [RHQ] We know the names of both his father and his mother. He certainly did not come from heaven, so ◄he is lying by saying ‘I came from heaven.’/why is he now saying, ‘I came from heaven?’► [RHQ]”

43Jesus replied to them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves about what I just said!

44My Father, who sent me, makes people want to come to me. No others will come to me to receive eternal life. Those who come to me are the only ones who will believe in me. I will ◄cause them to be alive again/raise them from the dead► ◄on the last day/on the judgment day►.

45It was written ◄by one of the prophets/by the prophet Isaiah► {◄One of the prophets/The prophet Isaiah► wrote} about all those who will trust in me, ‘God will teach them all.’ Everyone who listens to what my Father says and learns from him will ◄come to/believe in► me.

46I came from God. I am the only one who has seen my Father. No one else has seen him.

47Listen to this carefully: Everyone who believes ◄my message/in me► has eternal life.

48Just like food [MET] sustains your physical life, I am the one who enables you to have spiritual life.

49Even though your ancestors ate the manna while they were traveling in the desolate area, they died anyway.

50But the bread I am talking about is something that came down from heaven. If people eat that bread, their spirits will never die.

51I am the one who came down from heaven to enable people to have spiritual life. If people take what I will give them, they will live forever. What I will give them is my flesh, which I will give to all the people in [MTY] the world in order that they may have spiritual life.”

52Then the Jewish leaders [SYN] began to argue among themselves. They said, “◄There is no way this man can give us his flesh to eat!/How can this man give us his flesh to eat?►” [RHQ]

53So, speaking figuratively of the need for them to accept for themselves the benefits of his sacrificing himself and shedding his blood to atone for their sins [MET], Jesus said to them, “Listen carefully to this: Although I am the one who came from heaven, if you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have eternal life.

54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will cause them to become alive again at ◄the last day/the judgment day►,

55because my flesh and my blood are truly spiritual food.

56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood will have a close relationship with me, and I will have a close relationship with them.

57My Father, who is the source of everything that lives, sent me, and I live because my Father has given me life. Similarly those who eat my flesh will live eternally because of what I do for them.

58I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Although our ancestors ate manna, they later died anyway. But those who eat this bread will live forever.”

59He said this while he was teaching people in ◄the synagogue/the Jewish meeting place► in Capernaum.

Some of Jesus’ disciples left him because of this teaching.

60After they heard him say that, many of his disciples said, “What he is teaching is hard to understand; ◄it is very difficult for anyone to accept it!/how can anyone accept it?► [RHQ]”

61Jesus was aware that his disciples were grumbling about it, so he said to them, “◄I am sorry that this is offending you./Is this offending you?► [RHQ]

62◄Perhaps you will believe my message if you see me, the one who came from heaven, ascending there to where I was before!/(What will you think if you see me, the one who came from heaven, ascending there to where I was before)?► [RHQ]

63God’s Spirit is the one who gives people eternal life. Human efforts are no help at all for giving people eternal life. The message I have spoken to you gives spiritual life (OR, comes from God’s Spirit and gives eternal life.)

64But there are some of you who do not believe my message.” Jesus said that because he knew from the time he started [MTY] his ministry which of them would not believe his message. He also knew who would ◄betray him/enable his enemies to seize him►.

65Then he continued by saying, “That is why I told you that only those whom my Father has enabled to believe in me will come to me and receive eternal life.”

66From that time, many of his disciples left him and no longer went with him.

67So he said to us twelve apostles, “You do not want to leave me also, do you?”

68Simon Peter replied to him, “Lord, we will not leave you, because ◄there is no other person like you to whom we can go!/what other person is there like you to whom we can go?► [RHQ] You have the message about eternal life!

69We have come to believe for certain that you are the holy one who has come from God!”

70Then Jesus replied to us, “You are saying that as though all you twelve men whom I have chosen [RHQ] believe that. But one of you is under the control of Satan!”

71He was talking about Judas, the son of Simon, from Kerioth village. Even though Judas was one of us twelve apostles, he was about ◄to betray Jesus/to enable Jesus’ enemies to seize him►.