Messianic devotional
Beshalach
בְּשַׁלַּח
Shabbat · January 23, 2027
Torah: Exodus 13:17–17:16 · Haftarah: Judges 4:4–5:31 · Brit Hadashah: John 6:15-71
✦ The portion this week
Portion summary
Pharaoh's army corners Israel at the edge of the Yam Suph, and the LORD splits the sea so His people cross on dry ground while the pursuing Egyptians are swallowed by the returning waters. Moses and Miriam lead Israel in song, but within days the redeemed nation is grumbling — at bitter water in Marah, at hunger in the wilderness, at thirst in Rephidim. God answers each complaint with provision: sweetened water, manna from heaven, water from the rock — and then Israel faces Amalek, defeating them only as Moses' hands stay lifted.
The thread of the parashah
Beshalach is built on a rhythm: crisis, cry, and provision. Israel is delivered at the sea not by their own strength but by standing still while the LORD fights (Exodus 14:14), and that same pattern repeats at Marah, in the wilderness of Sin, and at Rephidim. Each need — thirst, hunger, thirst again — becomes an occasion for God to reveal a name or an attribute: "I am the LORD who heals you" (Exodus 15:26), the giver of daily mannah, the rock that yields water. The Shabbat itself is introduced here not as an abstract law but as trust made visible in a jar of bread that does not spoil — a weekly rehearsal of dependence.
The portion ends with war, and the lesson does not change. Israel does not prevail against Amalek by the sword alone but by Moses' hands lifted toward heaven, sustained by Aaron and Hur when they grow heavy. The deliverance at the sea and the victory at Rephidim are the same deliverance: not self-sufficiency, but leaning on the One who fights.
The haftarah
Judges 4–5 answers the parashah with its own reversal at water and its own song afterward. Sisera's nine hundred chariots are undone at the River Kishon much as Pharaoh's six hundred were undone at the sea — an army trusting in iron and horses is swallowed by a battlefield God has already prepared. Deborah's song, like Miriam's, praises the LORD who "marched" and made "the earth tremble" (Judges 5:4), and Barak's need for hands to be strengthened alongside him — Deborah beside him, Jael finishing what the army could not reach — echoes Moses needing Aaron and Hur simply to keep his arms raised. Victory again belongs to the LORD, given through unlikely, unarmed hands.
Messiah in the portion
When Israel asked for the sign their fathers received — bread from heaven — Yeshua did not point them backward to the jar preserved before the Testimony but forward to Himself: "I am the bread of life... your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died" (John 6:48–49). The manna sustained bodies for a day; He gives Himself as bread "for the life of the world" (John 6:33) that does not run out. And just as the pillar of cloud and fire went before Israel through the sea, so Yeshua comes to His disciples across the agitated water saying, "It is I; do not be afraid" (John 6:20) — the same word spoken to a frightened people staring at an army behind them and a sea in front.
For the week
Where you are met this week with a Marah — bitterness before provision — resist the reflex to grumble before you have asked. Practice one deliberate act of Shabbat rest, gathering enough for the day and trusting the seventh without gathering more, as a small rehearsal of the trust Israel was still learning at Rephidim.
AI-generated Messianic devotional reflection on the portion texts, checkable against the cited readings.
✦ Toraheach verse number opens its Hebrew interlinear
Aliyah 1 · Exodus 13:17–14:8
13:17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “ If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 13:18 So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle. 13:19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear a solemn oath when he said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones with you from this place.” 13:20 They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 13:21 And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night. 13:22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place before the people. 14:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 14:2 “ Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon. 14:3 For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘ They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’ 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh ’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did. 14:5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “ What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.” 14:6 So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him. 14:7 He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 14:8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.
Aliyah 2 · Exodus 14:9-14
14:9 The Egyptians — all Pharaoh ’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops — pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon. 14:10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 14:11 They said to Moses, “ Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 14:12 Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘ Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians ’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 14:13 But Moses told the people, “ Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD ’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14:14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Parting the Red Sea
Aliyah 3 · Exodus 14:15-25
14:15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. 14:16 And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 14:17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen. 14:18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” 14:19 And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them, 14:20 so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other. 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided, 14:22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. 14:23 And the Egyptians chased after them — all Pharaoh ’s horses, chariots, and horsemen — and followed them into the sea. 14:24 At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion. 14:25 He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “ for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”
Aliyah 4 · Exodus 14:26–15:26
14:26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 14:27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea. 14:28 The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen — the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. 14:29 But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. 14:30 That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore. 14:31 When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses. 15:1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “ I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea. 15:2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. 15:3 The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name. 15:4 Pharaoh ’s chariots and army He has cast into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 15:5 The depths have covered them; they sank there like a stone. 15:6 Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy. 15:7 You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble. 15:8 At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. 15:9 The enemy declared, ‘ I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’ 15:10 But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 15:11 Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You —majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders? 15:12 You stretched out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them up. 15:13 With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling. 15:14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia. 15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away, 15:16 and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by. 15:17 You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance — the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established. 15:18 The LORD will reign forever and ever!” 15:19 For when Pharaoh ’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 15:20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing. 15:21 And Miriam sang back to them: “ Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.” The Waters of Marah 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water. 15:23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. ( That is why it was named Marah.) 15:24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “ What are we to drink?” 15:25 And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them, 15:26 saying, “ If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
Aliyah 5 · Exodus 15:27–16:10
15:27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters. 16:1 On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. 16:2 And there in the desert they all grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 16:3 “ If only we had died by the LORD ’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “ There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!” 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions. 16:5 Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” 16:6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “ This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 16:7 and in the morning you will see the LORD ’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we that you should grumble against us?” 16:8 And Moses added, “ The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.” 16:9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “ Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘ Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’” 16:10 And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared.
Aliyah 6 · Exodus 16:11-36
16:11 Then the LORD said to Moses, 16:12 “ I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘ At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’” 16:13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 16:14 When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground. 16:15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “ What is it?” For they did not know what it was. So Moses told them, “ It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. 16:16 This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘ Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’” 16:17 So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less. 16:18 When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat. 16:19 Then Moses said to them, “ No one may keep any of it until morning.” 16:20 But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. 16:21 Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. The Sabbath Observed (Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:1–11) 16:22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food — two omers per person — and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses. 16:23 He told them, “ This is what the LORD has said: ‘ Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’” 16:24 So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots. 16:25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “ because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field. 16:26 For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.” 16:27 Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything. 16:28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions? 16:29 Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.” 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day. The Jar of Manna 16:31 Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 16:32 Moses said, “ This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘ Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 16:33 So Moses told Aaron, “ Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.” 16:34 And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 16:35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. 16:36 (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)
Aliyah 7 · Exodus 17:1-16
17:1 Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 17:2 So the people contended with Moses, “ Give us water to drink.” “ Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “ Why do you test the LORD?” 17:3 But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “ Why have you brought us out of Egypt — to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” 17:4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “ What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!” 17:5 And the LORD said to Moses, “ Walk on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take along in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 17:6 Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 17:7 He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “ Is the LORD among us or not?” The Defeat of the Amalekites 17:8 After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 17:9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.” 17:10 Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 17:11 As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. 17:12 When Moses ’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. 17:13 So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword. 17:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 17:15 And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner. 17:16 “ Indeed,” he said, “ a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”
✦ Haftarah (Prophets)
4:4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 4:5 And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment. 4:6 She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “ Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘ Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun. 4:7 And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin ’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’” 4:8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 4:9 “ I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “ but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh, 4:10 where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him. 4:11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh. 4:12 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor, 4:13 he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon. 4:14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “ Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 4:15 And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. 4:16 Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left. Jael Kills Sisera 4:17 Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 4:18 Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “ Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 4:19 Sisera said to her, “ Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. 4:20 “ Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “ and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘ Is there a man here?’ say, ‘ No.’” 4:21 But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber ’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died. 4:22 When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “ Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg through his temple. 4:23 On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 4:24 And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him. 5:1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: 5:2 “ When the princes take the lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, bless the LORD. 5:3 Listen, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I will sing to the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel. 5:4 O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water. 5:5 The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel. 5:6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and the travelers took the byways. 5:7 Life in the villages ceased; it ended in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel. 5:8 When they chose new gods, then war came to their gates. Not a shield or spear was found among forty thousand in Israel. 5:9 My heart is with the princes of Israel, with the volunteers among the people. Bless the LORD! 5:10 You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder 5:11 the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates: 5:12 ‘ Awake, awake, O Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, O Barak, and take hold of your captives, O son of Abinoam!’ 5:13 Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty. 5:14 Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek; Benjamin came with your people after you. The commanders came down from Machir, the bearers of the marshal’s staff from Zebulun. 5:15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, and Issachar was with Barak, rushing into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision. 5:16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision. 5:17 Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger by the ships? Asher stayed at the coast and remained in his harbors. 5:18 Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield. 5:19 Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver. 5:20 From the heavens the stars fought; from their courses they fought against Sisera. 5:21 The River Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the River Kishon. March on, O my soul, in strength! 5:22 Then the hooves of horses thundered— the mad galloping of his stallions. 5:23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’ 5:24 Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. 5:25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk. In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds. 5:26 She reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple. 5:27 At her feet he collapsed, he fell, there he lay still; at her feet he collapsed, he fell; where he collapsed, there he fell dead. 5:28 Sisera ’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice and lamented: ‘ Why is his chariot so long in coming? What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’ 5:29 Her wisest ladies answer; indeed she keeps telling herself, 5:30 ‘ Are they not finding and dividing the spoil — a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’ 5:31 So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.
✦ Brit Hadashah (Renewed Covenant)
6:15 Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself. Jesus Walks on Water (Matthew 14:22–33; Mark 6:45–52) 6:16 When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 6:17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet gone out to them. 6:18 A strong wind was blowing, and the sea grew agitated. 6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea — and they were terrified. 6:20 But Jesus spoke up: “ It is I; do not be afraid.” 6:21 Then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and at once the boat reached the shore where they were heading. Jesus the Bread of Life 6:22 The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with His disciples, but they had gone away alone. 6:23 However, some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 6:24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Him. 6:25 When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “ Rabbi, when did You get here?” 6:26 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 6:27 Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” 6:28 Then they inquired, “ What must we do to perform the works of God?” 6:29 Jesus replied, “ The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” 6:30 So they asked Him, “ What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do? 6:31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘ He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 6:32 Jesus said to them, “Truly, 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. 6:33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 6:34 “ Sir,” they said, “ give us this bread at all times.” 6:35 Jesus answered, “ I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. 6:36 But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe. 6:37 Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. 6:39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. 6:40 For it is My Father ’ s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” 6:41 At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “ I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 6:42 They were asking, “ Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘ I have come down from heaven?’” 6:43 “ Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus replied. 6:44 “ No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 6:45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘ And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me — 6:46 not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father. 6:47 Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. 6:48 I am the bread of life. 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 6:50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.” 6:52 At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “ How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “ Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. 6:54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 6:55 For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. 6:56 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. 6:57 Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.” Many Disciples Turn Back (Matthew 8:18–22; Luke 9:57–62; Luke 14:25–33) 6:59 Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 6:60 On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “ This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?” 6:61 Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “ Does this offend you? 6:62 Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 6:64 However, there are some of you who do not believe.” ( For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him.) 6:65 Then Jesus said, “ This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.” 6:66 From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. Peter’s Confession of Faith (Matthew 16:13–20; Mark 8:27–30; Luke 9:18–20) 6:67 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “ Do you want to leave too?” 6:68 Simon Peter replied, “ Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 6:69 We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.” 6:70 Jesus answered them, “ Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 6:71 He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.