John 6:1-24

1After this, Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Sea of Tiberias).

2A large crowd was following Him because they had seen the signs (attesting miracles) which He continually performed on those who were sick.

3And Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down there with His disciples.

4Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was approaching.

5Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward Him, and He said to Philip, “Where will we buy bread for these people to eat?”

6But He said this to test Philip, because He knew what He was about to do.

7Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii (200 days’ wages) worth of bread is not enough for each one to receive even a little.”

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

9“There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many people?”

10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down [to eat].” Now [the ground] there was [covered with] an abundance of grass, so the men sat down, about 5,000 in number.

11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated; the same also with the fish, as much as they wanted.

12When they had eaten enough, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.”

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

14When the people saw the sign (attesting miracle) that He had done, they began saying, “This is without a doubt the promised Prophet who is to come into the world!”

15Then Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountainside by Himself.

16When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,

17and they got into a boat and started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had still not come [back] to them.

18The sea was getting rough and rising high because a strong wind was blowing.

19Then, when they had rowed three or four miles [and were near the center of the sea], they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat; and they were [terribly] frightened.

20But Jesus said to them, “It is I (I AM); do not be afraid.”

21Then they were willing to take Him on board the boat, and immediately the boat reached the [shore of the] land to which they were going.

22The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea realized that there had been only one small boat there, and that Jesus had not boarded the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone.

23[Now some] other small boats from Tiberias had come in near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they boarded the small boats themselves and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.