John 6:1–24

The Feeding of Five Thousand

6After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee (that is, Tiberias). ²And a large crowd was following him because they were observing the signs that he was doing on those who were sick. ³So Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴(Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.) ⁵Then Jesus, when he looked up^{a *} and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people can eat?” ⁶(Now he said this to test him, because he knew what he was going to do.) ⁷Philip replied to him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for them, in order that each one could receive a little.” ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, ⁹“Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” ¹⁰Jesus said, “Make the people recline.” (Now there was a lot of grass in the place.) So the men reclined, approximately five thousand in number. ¹¹Then Jesus took the bread, and after he^* had given thanks, he distributed it^* to those who were reclining—likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²And when they were satisfied, he said to his disciples, “Gather the remaining fragments so that nothing is lost.” ¹³So they gathered them,^* and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴Now when^* the people saw the sign that he performed, they began to say,^* “This one is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world!” ¹⁵Then Jesus, because he^* knew that they were about to come and seize him in order to make him^* king, withdrew again up the mountain by himself alone.

Jesus Walks on the Water

¹⁶Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea. ¹⁷And getting into a boat, they began to go^* to the other side of the sea, to Capernaum. And it had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸And the sea began to be stirred up^* because^* a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹Then when they^* had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia,^b they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were afraid. ²⁰But he said to them, “It is I! Do not be afraid!” ²¹So they were wanting to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land to which they were going.

Discourse About the Bread of Life

²²On the next day, the crowd that was on the other side of the sea saw that other boats were not there (except one), and that Jesus had not entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had departed alone. ²³Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after^* the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.