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Chapter 6
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.
3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7Philip answered him, “Eight months' wagesGreek two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,
9“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on the Water
16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,
17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.
18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.
19When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,Greek rowed twenty-five or thirty stadia (about 5 or 6 kilometers) they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.
20But he said to them, “It is I; don't be afraid.”
21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.
23Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
24Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
Jesus the Bread of Life
25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’Exodus 16:4; Neh. 9:15; Psalm 78:24,25”
32Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34“Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
41At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
42They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered.
44“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
45It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’Isaiah 54:13 Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.
46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
48I am the bread of life.
49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.
50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die.
51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”
59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?
62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spiritOr Spirit and they are life.
64Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.
65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”
71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Chapter 7
Jesus Goes to the Feast of Tabernacles
1After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life.
2But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near,
3Jesus' brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.
4No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”
5For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.
7The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.
8You go to the Feast. I am not yetSome early manuscripts do not have yet. going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”
9Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.
10However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
11Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, “Where is that man?”
12Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.”
13But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
14Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.
15The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?”
16Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.
17If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
18He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
19Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20“You are demon–possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all astonished.
22Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath.
23Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?
24Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”
Is Jesus the Christ?
25At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn't this the man they are trying to kill?
26Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the ChristOr Messiah; also in verses 27, 31, 41 and 42?
27But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
28Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him,
29but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”
30At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
31Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?”
32The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me.
34You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
35The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
36What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
37On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
38Whoever believes in me, asOr / If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me. / And let him drink, 38 who believes in me. / As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41Others said, “He is the Christ.”
Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee?
42Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's familyGreek seed and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”
43Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
44Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders
45Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn't you bring him in?”
46“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared.
47“You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.
48“Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?
49No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law–there is a curse on them.”
50Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked,
51“Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?”
52They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophetTwo early manuscripts the Prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
((The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53–8:11.))
53Then each went to his own home.
Chapter 8
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group
4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
The Validity of Jesus' Testimony
12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
13The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”
14Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.
15You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.
16But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
17In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
18I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
19Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”
“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
20He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.
21Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
22This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
23But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
24I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be,Or I am he; also in verse 28 you will indeed die in your sins.”
25“Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been claiming all along,” Jesus replied.
26“I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
27They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.
28So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.
29The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”
30Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.
The Children of Abraham
31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33They answered him, “We are Abraham's descendantsGreek seed; also in verse 37 and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
35Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.
36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
37I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
38I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.Or presence. Therefore do what you have heard from the Father.”
39“Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham's children,” said Jesus, “then you wouldSome early manuscripts “If you are Abraham's children,” said Jesus, “then do the things Abraham did.
40As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.
41You are doing the things your own father does.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
The Children of the Devil
42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.
43Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.
44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
45Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!
46Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?
47He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
The Claims of Jesus About Himself
48The Jews answered him, “Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon–possessed?”
49“I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me.
50I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.
51I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52At this the Jews exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon–possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death.
53Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.
55Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word.
56Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57“You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
59At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

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