The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias).
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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 followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick.
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A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick.
3 When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples.
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Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him.
4 It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.
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(It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.)
5 When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread to feed these people?"
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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 said this to stretch Philip's faith. He already knew what he was going to do.
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He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered, "Two hundred silver pieces wouldn't be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece."
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Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
8 One of the disciples - it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter - said,
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Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.
9 "There's a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that's a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this."
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“There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
10 Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them.
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“Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.)
11 Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.
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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 When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted."
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After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.”
13 They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.
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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 The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, "This is the Prophet for sure, God's Prophet right here in Galilee!"
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When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”
15 Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.
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When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.
16 In the evening his disciples went down to the sea,
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That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him.
17 got in the boat, and headed back across the water to Capernaum. It had grown quite dark and Jesus had not yet returned.
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But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum.
18 A huge wind blew up, churning the sea.
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Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough.
19 They were maybe three or four miles out when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, quite near the boat. They were scared senseless,
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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 reassured them, "It's me. It's all right. Don't be afraid."
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but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here! ”
21 So they took him on board. In no time they reached land - the exact spot they were headed to.
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Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!
22 The next day the crowd that was left behind realized that there had been only one boat, and that Jesus had not gotten into it with his disciples. They had seen them go off without him.
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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 By now boats from Tiberias had pulled up near where they had eaten the bread blessed by the Master.
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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 realized he was gone and wasn't coming back, they piled into the Tiberias boats and headed for Capernaum, looking for Jesus.
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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 When they found him back across the sea, they said, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
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They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, "You've come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs - and for free.
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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 "Don't waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last."
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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 To that they said, "Well, what do we do then to get in on God's works?"
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They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus said, "Throw your lot in with the One that God has sent. That kind of a commitment gets you in on God's works."
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Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
30 They waffled: "Why don't you give us a clue about who you are, just a hint of what's going on? When we see what's up, we'll commit ourselves. Show us what you can do.
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They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do?
31 Moses fed our ancestors with bread in the desert. It says so in the Scriptures: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
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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 responded, "The real significance of that Scripture is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread.
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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 Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world."
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The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 They jumped at that: "Master, give us this bread, now and forever!"
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“Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”
35 Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.
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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 I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don't really believe me.
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But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me.
37 Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don't let go.
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However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.
38 I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.
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For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.
39 "This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed - not a single detail missed - and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole.
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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 This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time."
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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 At this, because he said, "I am the Bread that came down from heaven," the Jews started arguing over him:
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Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
42 "Isn't this the son of Joseph? Don't we know his father? Don't we know his mother? How can he now say, 'I came down out of heaven' and expect anyone to believe him?"
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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 Jesus said, "Don't bicker among yourselves over me.
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But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said.
44 You're not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me - that's the only way you'll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End.
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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 This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, 'And then they will all be personally taught by God.' Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally - to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father.
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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 No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father - and you can see me.
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(Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)
47 "I'm telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life.
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“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.
48 I am the Bread of Life.
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Yes, I am the bread of life!
49 Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died.
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Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died.
50 But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever.
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Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.
51 I am the Bread - living Bread! - who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live - and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self."
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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 At this, the Jews started fighting among themselves: "How can this man serve up his flesh for a meal?"
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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 But Jesus didn't give an inch. "Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you.
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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 The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day.
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But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day.
55 My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
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For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
56 By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you.
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Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
57 In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me.
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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 This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always."
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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 teaching in the meeting place in Capernaum.
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He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 Many among his disciples heard this and said, "This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow."
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Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
61 Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, "Does this throw you completely?
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Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you?
62 What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from?
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Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again?
63 The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don't make anything happen. Every word I've spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making.
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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 are resisting, refusing to have any part in this." (Jesus knew from the start that some weren't going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.)
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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 He went on to say, "This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father."
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Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
66 After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him.
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At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.
67 Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: "Do you also want to leave?"
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Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
68 Peter replied, "Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life.
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Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.
69 We've already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God."
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We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God. ”
70 Jesus responded, "Haven't I handpicked you, the Twelve? Still, one of you is a devil!"
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Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.”
71 He was referring to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. This man - one from the Twelve! - was even then getting ready to betray him.
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He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.