New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.
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After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias).
2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.
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A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick.
3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
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When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples.
4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.
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It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.
5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?"
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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?"
6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
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He said this to stretch Philip's faith. He already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."
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Philip answered, "Two hundred silver pieces wouldn't be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece."
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,
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One of the disciples - it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter - said,
9 "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?"
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"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."
10 Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all.
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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.
11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.
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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.
12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost."
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When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted."
13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
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They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.
14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."
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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!"
15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
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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.
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
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In the evening his disciples went down to the sea,
17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
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got in the boat, and headed back across the water to Capernaum. It had grown quite dark and Jesus had not yet returned.
18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
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A huge wind blew up, churning the sea.
19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
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They were maybe three or four miles out when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, quite near the boat. They were scared senseless,
20 But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
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but he reassured them, "It's me. It's all right. Don't be afraid."
21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
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So they took him on board. In no time they reached land - the exact spot they were headed to.
22 The 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 got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.
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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.
23 Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
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By now boats from Tiberias had pulled up near where they had eaten the bread blessed by the Master.
24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
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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.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"
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When they found him back across the sea, they said, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26 Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
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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.
27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal."
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"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."
28 Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?"
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To that they said, "Well, what do we do then to get in on God's works?"
29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."
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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."
30 So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?
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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.
31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "
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Moses fed our ancestors with bread in the desert. It says so in the Scriptures: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
32 Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
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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.
33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
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The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world."
34 They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."
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They jumped at that: "Master, give us this bread, now and forever!"
35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
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Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.
36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
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I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don't really believe me.
37 Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away;
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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.
38 for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
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I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
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"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.
40 This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day."
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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."
41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."
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At this, because he said, "I am the Bread that came down from heaven," the Jews started arguing over him:
42 They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven'?"
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"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?"
43 Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves.
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Jesus said, "Don't bicker among yourselves over me.
44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.
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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.
45 It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
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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.
46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.
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No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father - and you can see me.
47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.
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"I'm telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life.
48 I am the bread of life.
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I am the Bread of Life.
49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
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Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died.
50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
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But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
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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."
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
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At this, the Jews started fighting among themselves: "How can this man serve up his flesh for a meal?"
53 So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
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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.
54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;
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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.
55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
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My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.
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By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you.
57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.
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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.
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."
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This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always."
59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
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He said these things while teaching in the meeting place in Capernaum.
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?"
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Many among his disciples heard this and said, "This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow."
61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you?
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Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, "Does this throw you completely?
62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
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What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from?
63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
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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.
64 But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.
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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.)
65 And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father."
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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."
66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.
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After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him.
67 So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?"
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Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: "Do you also want to leave?"
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.
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Peter replied, "Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life.
69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
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We've already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God."
70 Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil."
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Jesus responded, "Haven't I handpicked you, the Twelve? Still, one of you is a devil!"
71 He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
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He was referring to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. This man - one from the Twelve! - was even then getting ready to betray him.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.