6.

1 After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias.

2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick.

3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him.

4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.)

5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, "Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?"

6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip replied, "Even if we worked for months, we wouldn't have enough money to feed them!"

8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up.

9 "There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?"

10 "Tell everyone to sit down," Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. 

11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.

12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, "Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted."

13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

14 When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, "Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!"

15 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.

16 That evening Jesus' disciples went down to the shore to wait for him.

17 But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn't come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum.

18 Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough.

19 They had rowed three or four miles when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified,

20 but he called out to them, "Don't be afraid. I am here!"

21 Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them.

23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten.

24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him.

25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

26 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.

27 But don't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval."

28 They replied, "We want to perform God's works, too. What should we do?"

29 Jesus told them, "This is the only work God wants from you： Believe in the one he has sent."

30 They answered, "Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do?

31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, 'Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

32 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, Moses didn't give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven.

33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

34 "Sir," they said, "give us that bread every day."

35 Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

36 But you haven't believed in me even though you have seen me.

37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.

38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.

39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.

40 For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day."

41 Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

42 They said, "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, 'I came down from heaven'?"

43 But Jesus replied, "Stop complaining about what I said.

44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.

45 As it is written in the Scriptures, 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)

47 "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.

48 Yes, I am the bread of life!

49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died.

50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh."

52 Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" they asked.

53 So Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you.

54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day.

55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me.

58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever."

59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 Many of his disciples said, "This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?"

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, "Does this offend you?

62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again?

63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

64 But some of you do not believe me." (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn't believe, and he knew who would betray him.)

65 Then he said, "That is why I said that people can't come to me unless the Father gives them to me."

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.

67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, "Are you also going to leave?"

68 Simon Peter replied, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.

69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God."

70 Then Jesus said, "I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil."

71 He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.

7.

1 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death.

2 But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters,

3 and Jesus' brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles!

4 You can't become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!"

5 For even his brothers didn't believe in him.

6 Jesus replied, "Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime.

7 The world can't hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil.

8 You go on. I'm not going to this festival, because my time has not yet come."

9 After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee.

10 But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view.

11 The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him.

12 There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some argued, "He's a good man," but others said, "He's nothing but a fraud who deceives the people."

13 But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.

14 Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach.

15 The people were surprised when they heard him. "How does he know so much when he hasn't been trained?" they asked.

16 So Jesus told them, "My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me.

17 Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.

18 Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.

19 Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me."

20 The crowd replied, "You're demon possessed! Who's trying to kill you?"

21 Jesus replied, "I did one miracle on the Sabbath, and you were amazed.

22 But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses' law of circumcision. 

23 For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath?

24 Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly."

25 Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each other, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill?

26 But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing to him. Could our leaders possibly believe that he is the Messiah?

27 But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from."

28 While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I'm not here on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don't know him.

29 But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you."

30 Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.

31 Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. "After all," they said, "would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?"

32 When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest Jesus.

33 But Jesus told them, "I will be with you only a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me.

34 You will search for me but not find me. And you cannot go where I am going."

35 The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement. "Where is he planning to go?" they asked. "Is he thinking of leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands? Maybe he will even teach the Greeks!

36 What does he mean when he says, 'You will search for me but not find me,' and 'You cannot go where I am going'?"

37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!

38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'"

39 (When he said "living water," he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)

40 When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, "Surely this man is the Prophet we've been expecting."

41 Others said, "He is the Messiah." Still others said, "But he can't be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee?

42 For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born."

43 So the crowd was divided about him.

44 Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.

45 When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, "Why didn't you bring him in?"

46 "We have never heard anyone speak like this!" the guards responded.

47 "Have you been led astray, too?" the Pharisees mocked.

48 "Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him?

49 This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God's curse is on them!"

50 Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up.

51 "Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?" he asked.

52 They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself?no prophet ever comes from Galilee!"

53 [The most ancient Greek manuscripts do not include John 7.53-8.11.] Then the meeting broke up, and everybody went home.