John 6 - Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The Fourth Sign: Feeding 5,000

6 After^(A) this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee^(B) (or Tiberias^(C)). ² And a huge crowd was following Him because they saw the signs that He was performing by healing the sick. ³ So Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with His disciples.

⁴ Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. ⁵ Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him,^(D) He asked Philip,^(E) “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” ⁶ He asked this to test him,^(F) for He Himself knew what He was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii^(G) worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

⁸ One of His disciples, Andrew,^(H) Simon^(I) Peter’s^(J) brother, said to Him, ⁹ “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000.^{(K) 11} Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.^(L)

¹² When they were full, He told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.”^{(M) 13} So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴ When the people saw the sign^[a] He had done, they said, “This really is the Prophet^(N) who was to come^(O) into the world!”^{(P) 15} Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king,^(Q) He withdrew again^[b] to the mountain by Himself.

The Fifth Sign: Walking on Water

¹⁶ When^(R) evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷ got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum.^(S) Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸ Then a high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. ¹⁹ After they had rowed about three or four miles,^[c] they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.

²⁰ But He said to them, “It is I.^[d](T) Don’t be afraid!” ²¹ Then they were willing to take Him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

The Bread of Life

²² The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea knew there had been only one boat.^[e](U) They also knew that Jesus had not boarded the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone off alone. ²³ Some boats from Tiberias^(V) came near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord gave thanks. ²⁴ When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

²⁵ When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi,^(W) when did You get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “I assure you: You are looking for Me, not because you saw^[f] the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Don’t work for the food that perishes^(X) but for the food that lasts for eternal life,^(Y) which the Son of Man^(Z) will give you, because God the Father^(AA) has set His seal of approval on Him.”

²⁸ “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

²⁹ Jesus replied, “This is the work^(AB) of God—that you believe in the One He has sent.”^(AC)

³⁰ “What sign then are You going to do so we may see and believe You?” they asked. “What are You going to perform? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna^(AD) in the wilderness,^(AE) just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”^[g](AF)[h]

³² Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Moses^(AG) didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the real bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always!”

³⁵ “I am^(AH) the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me^(AI) will ever be hungry,^(AJ) and no one who believes in Me^(AK) will ever be thirsty^(AL) again. ³⁶ But as I told you, you’ve seen Me,^[i] and yet you do not believe. ³⁷ Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out.^{(AM) 38} For I have come down from heaven,^(AN) not to do My will, but the will of Him^(AO) who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of Him who sent Me: that I should lose none of those He has given Me but should raise^(AP) them up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father:^(AQ) that everyone who sees the Son^(AR) and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise^(AS) him up on the last day.”

⁴¹ Therefore the Jews started complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph,^(AT) whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws^[j] him, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets:^(AU) And they will all be taught by God.^(AV)[k] Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father^(AW) comes to Me— ⁴⁶ not that anyone has seen the Father^(AX) except the One who is from God.^(AY) He has seen the Father.^(AZ)

⁴⁷ “I assure you: Anyone who believes^[l] has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna^(BA) in the wilderness,^(BB) and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die.^{(BC) 51} I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live^(BD) forever.^(BE) The bread that I will give for the life^(BF) of the world is My flesh.”^(BG)

⁵² At that, the Jews argued^(BH) among themselves,^(BI) “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man^(BJ) and drink His blood,^(BK) you do not have life in yourselves. ⁵⁴ Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood^(BL) has eternal life, and I will raise^(BM) him up on the last day, ⁵⁵ because My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me, and I in him.^{(BN) 57} Just as the living^(BO) Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live^(BP) because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna^[m] your fathers ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”^(BQ)

⁵⁹ He said these things while teaching in the synagogue^(BR) in Capernaum.^(BS)

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

⁶⁰ Therefore, when many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard! Who can accept^[n] it?”

⁶¹ Jesus, knowing in Himself^(BT) that His disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man^(BU) ascending^(BV) to where He was before? ⁶³ The Spirit^(BW) is the One who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning^(BX) those who would not^[o] believe and the one who would betray^(BY) Him.) ⁶⁵ He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me^(BZ) unless it is granted to him by the Father.”

⁶⁶ From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. ⁶⁷ Therefore Jesus said to the Twelve,^(CA) “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

⁶⁸ Simon Peter^(CB) answered, “Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God!”^[p](CC)

⁷⁰ Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve?^(CD) Yet one of you is the Devil!”^{(CE) 71} He was referring to Judas,^(CF) Simon Iscariot’s son,^[q][r] one of the Twelve, because he was going to betray^(CG) Him.

Footnotes

1. John 6:14 Other mss read signs
2. John 6:15 A previous withdrawal is mentioned in Mk 6:31-32, an event that occurred just before the feeding of the 5,000.
3. John 6:19 Lit 25 or 30 stadia; 1 stadion = 600 feet
4. John 6:20 Lit I am
5. John 6:22 Other mss add into which His disciples had entered
6. John 6:26 Or perceived
7. John 6:31 Bread miraculously provided by God for the Israelites
8. John 6:31 Ex 16:4; Ps 78:24
9. John 6:36 Other mss omit Me
10. John 6:44 Or brings, or leads; see the use of this Gk verb in Jn 12:32; 21:6; Ac 16:19; Jms 2:6.
11. John 6:45 Is 54:13
12. John 6:47 Other mss add in Me
13. John 6:58 Other mss omit the manna
14. John 6:60 Lit hear
15. John 6:64 Other mss omit not
16. John 6:69 Other mss read You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God
17. John 6:71 Other mss read Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son
18. John 6:71 Lit Judas, of Simon Iscariot

Cross references

1. 6:1-15 : Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:30-44; Lk 9:10-17
2. 6:1 : Mk 1:16
3. 6:1 : Jn 6:23; 21:1
4. 6:5 : Mk 1:45
5. 6:5 : Mk 3:18
6. 6:6 : Ex 15:25
7. 6:7 : Mt 18:28
8. 6:8 : Mt 4:18; 10:2; Mk 1:16, 29; 3:18; 13:3; Lk 6:14; Jn 1:40, 44; 12:22; Ac 1:13
9. 6:8 : Mt 16:17
10. 6:8 : Lk 6:14; Ac 10:32
11. 6:10 : Mt 14:21
12. 6:11 : 2Kg 4:42-44
13. 6:12 : Lk 15:4
14. 6:14 : Dt 18:15
15. 6:14 : Mt 11:3; Lk 7:19-20; Rm 5:14; Heb 10:37
16. 6:14 : Jn 18:37
17. 6:15 : Jn 19:21
18. 6:16-21 : Mt 14:22-36; Mk 6:45-56
19. 6:17 : Lk 10:15
20. 6:20 : Ex 3:14; Ps 45:8; Jn 8:24
21. 6:22 : Jn 21:8
22. 6:23 : Jn 6:1; 21:1
23. 6:25 : Jn 11:8
24. 6:27 : Is 55:2
25. 6:27 : Jn 12:25; Ac 13:48; 1Jn 2:25
26. 6:27 : Dn 7:13; Mk 2:10; Jn 6:53, 62
27. 6:27 : 1Co 8:6; 15:24; Eph 5:20
28. 6:29 : Jn 5:36
29. 6:29 : Mk 9:37; Jn 1:6
30. 6:31 : Ex 16:31
31. 6:31 : Rv 12:6
32. 6:31 : Ex 16:4, 15; Ps 78:24
33. 6:32 : Ps 77:20; Mt 8:4; Heb 3:2
34. 6:35 : Jn 8:24
35. 6:35 : Lk 14:26
36. 6:35 : Jn 4:14; Rv 7:16
37. 6:35 : Mt 18:6; Mk 9:42; Jn 6:35; 7:38; 11:25-26; 12:44, 46; 14:12; 16:9
38. 6:35 : Jn 7:37
39. 6:37 : Mt 24:22
40. 6:38 : Ex 3:8; Pr 30:4; Dn 4:13, 23; Mt 28:2; Jn 1:51; 3:13; Eph 4:10; Rv 10:1; 18:1; 20:1
41. 6:38 : Eph 1:9; 1Jn 2:17
42. 6:39 : Lk 18:33
43. 6:40 : Mt 11:27
44. 6:40 : Jn 5:19
45. 6:40 : Mt 16:21
46. 6:42 : Jn 1:45
47. 6:45 : Mt 2:23; Ac 7:52
48. 6:45 : Is 54:13
49. 6:45 : 1Co 2:13; 1Th 4:9; 1Jn 2:20
50. 6:46 : Ex 33:20; Jn 5:47
51. 6:46 : Jn 16:27
52. 6:46 : Lk 10:22; Jn 8:38; 14:9
53. 6:49 : Ex 16:12-36
54. 6:49 : Rv 12:6
55. 6:50 : Jn 11:26
56. 6:51 : Php 1:21
57. 6:51 : Rv 4:9
58. 6:51 : Jn 5:26; 6:53
59. 6:51 : Php 3:3; Heb 10:10
60. 6:52 : 2Tm 2:24
61. 6:52 : Jn 9:16; 10:19
62. 6:53 : Mk 2:10
63. 6:53 : Heb 9:12
64. 6:54 : Mt 26:26-29; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22:15-20; 1Co 11:23-25
65. 6:54 : Mt 16:21
66. 6:56 : Jn 15:4-5; 1Jn 3:24; 4:13-16
67. 6:57 : Mt 25:31-46; Heb 10:31
68. 6:57 : Php 1:21; 1Pt 1:18
69. 6:58 : Rv 4:9
70. 6:59 : Jms 2:2
71. 6:59 : Lk 10:15
72. 6:61 : Mk 10:32; Jn 1:47-48; 2:24-25; 4:17-18; 9:3; 11:4, 11; 13:10-11, 38
73. 6:62 : Mk 2:10
74. 6:62 : Jn 3:13; 20:17; Ac 1:9
75. 6:63 : Ps 51:11; Jn 1:33; Ac 2:4; Rm 8:9; Gl 5:25; Ti 3:5; Rv 3:22
76. 6:64 : Jn 16:30; Ac 26:4
77. 6:64 : Mt 10:4; Jn 13:21
78. 6:65 : Lk 14:26
79. 6:67 : Mk 11:11
80. 6:68 : Lk 6:14
81. 6:69 : Mk 1:24
82. 6:70 : Jn 13:18
83. 6:70 : Mt 4:1, 10; Jn 13:2, 27; Ac 13:10
84. 6:71 : Mk 3:19
85. 6:71 : Mt 10:4; Jn 13:21