John 6:1-15

The Feeding of Five Thousand

1 After these [things] Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee (that is, Tiberias).

2 And a large crowd was following him because they were observing the signs that he was doing on those who were sick.

3 So Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.

4 (Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.)

5 {Then Jesus, when he looked up} 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.)

7 Philip replied to him, "Two hundred denarii [worth of] bread would not be enough for them, in order that each one could receive a little."

8 One 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]?"

10 Jesus said, "Make the people recline." (Now [there] was a lot of grass in the place.) So the men reclined, approximately five thousand [in] number.

11 Then 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.

12 And when they were satisfied, he said to his disciples, "Gather the remaining fragments so that nothing is lost."

13 So they gathered [them], and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

14 Now [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!"

15 Then 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "then Jesus lifting up the eyes"
• [b]. *Here "[when]" in the translation is supplied as a component of the participle "lifting up" which is understood as temporal
• [c]. *Here "[after]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("had given thanks") which is understood as temporal
• [d]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [e]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
• [f]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("saw") which is understood as temporal
• [g]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to say")
• [h]. *Here "[because]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("knew") which is understood as causal
• [i]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation