John 6:4-31

⁴The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

⁵Jesus looked up, and saw that a great multitude was coming to Him, so He asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread, so that these may eat?”

⁶He said this to test him, for He knew what He would do.

⁷Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t even be enough for everyone to receive a little!”

⁸One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,

⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what is that among so many people?”

¹⁰Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, so the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

¹¹Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down. He did likewise with the fish, as much as they wanted.

¹²When they were filled, He told His disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces, so that nothing may be wasted.”

¹³Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴When the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵When Jesus perceived that they meant to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.

¹⁶When evening came, Jesus’ disciples went down to the sea,

¹⁷got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.

¹⁸The sea arose because a great wind was blowing.

¹⁹When they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat. They were terrified,

²⁰but He told them, “It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

²¹Then they willingly took Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

²²The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not gone in the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone.

²³Then some other boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

²⁴When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

²⁵When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

²⁷Don’t labor for perishable food, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

²⁸Then they asked Him, “What must we do to do God’s works?”

²⁹Jesus answered them, “This is God’s work, that you believe in Him who He has sent.”

³⁰Therefore they asked Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?

³¹Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness. As it’s written, ‘He gave them bread from Heaven to eat.’”