February 7th, 2026

The season of Epiphany continues, and this Sunday is the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. And this year being Series A, this Sunday’s Gospel Reading is from the Gospel according to Matthew (5:13-20), and the reading continues on, following immediately after last week’s text.

In the Gospel Reading of the previous week, Jesus went up on a mountain and sat down. With the writings of this website, we are currently going through the Gospel according to John, and we are now currently in what is usually called the sixth chapter of that account. And in this text as well, Jesus is also described as going up a mountain and sitting down. Repetition is certainly helpful when dealing with sinful and easily distracted human beings.

We also are not skipping over any of the text of the Gospel according to John, but we are taking a short section each week, one right after the previous text. And the goal is to get to the end of this account before the end of the church year in November.

If you have been to this website in the past and are familiar with the type of translation that is below, you may skip this and the following paragraph. It should be said, first of all, that there are VERY numerous ways to translate. The translation below may be described as EXTREMELY literal. It is designed to help the reader give a new perspective on a text, and it is one that may work well with another translation of the bible or study bible that the reader also uses.

The first thing to mention regarding the description of being “extremely” literal is that, other than in the introduction, the verse numbers will not be included. These were added later and may be somewhat distracting from the overall message of the text. Secondly, it should be noted that the words with hyphens occur when more than one English word is used to describe a single word of the ancient Greek. And the particular words chosen below are meant to point out the close connection that sometimes occurs between the English and Greek languages. Hopefully that is not too confusing as well. Also important to mention is that the order of the words below is also the same order that is in the ancient Greek. This may help to show the important words, especially when another word besides the verb is first in the sentence. The exception to this translation order is that there are just a small number of words (such as “therefore”, “for”, and “now”) that are usually second or third in a sentence that are meant to be first when translated. One more thing to mention is that the verbs in capital letters are called HISTORICAL PRESENTS, and in the Gospel according to John, they basically remind us that some small things are very important to God. It may also be said that the living creature that is connected to this Gospel account is the eagle, and the eagle can see the small but important things rather easily.

What follows is what was promised, an EXTREMELY literal translation of John 6:1-23. This chapter is one of the longer chapters, and a lot of things are going on here. This particular section of this chapter will end with something special, that Jesus is called the Lord once again. When the beginning of chapter four was being discussed, the title was connected to baptism. The text below connected that special title with some special food that is being received.

Although many have pointed out that the Gospel according to John does not have the institution of the Lord’s Supper within it, one should not think of the Passover being described as “near” to be a coincidence when an amazing gift will soon be discussed. Eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood is truly an incredible gift. Here is the translation:

After  these-things,  he-came-away,  the  Jesus,  to-the-other-side-of  the  Sea  of-the  Galilee,  of-the  Tiberias.  Now  it-was-following  him,  a-crowd,  a-great-one,  because  they-were-beholding  the  signs  which  he-was-doing  upon  the  without-strength-ones.  Now  he-came-up  into  the  mountain,  Jesus,  and  there  he-was-sitting  with  the  disciples  of-him.
Now  It-was  near,  the  Pascha,  the  Feast  of-the  Jews.  Therefore,  having-lifted-up  the  eyes,  the  Jesus,  and  having-beheld  that  a-great  crowd  is-coming  toward  him,  HE-SAYS  toward  Philip,  “From-where  may-we-agora  breads,  in-order-that  they-may-eat,  these?”  Now  this  he-was-saying,  testing  him;  for  he,  he-knew  what  he-was-about  to-do.

He-answered  him,  the  Philip,  “Of-two-hundred  denarii,  breads  not  they-are-enough  for-them,  in-order-that  each,  a-little,  it  he-may-receive.”

HE-SAYS  to-him,  one  out-of  the  disciples  of-him,  Andreas,  the  brother  of-Simon  Peter,  “He-is  a-lad  here  who  he-has  five  breads,  barley,  and  duo  fish;  but-on-the-contrary,  these,  what  is-it  into  so-many?”

He-said,  the  Jesus,  “Make  the  people  to-recline.”  Now  It-was  grass,  great,  in  the  place.  Therefore,  they-reclined,  the  men,  the  arithmetic  as  five-thousand.  Therefore,  he-took  the  breads,  the  Jesus,  and  having-eucharistic,  he-gave-out  to-the-ones  reclining,  likewise  also  out-of  the  fishes,  as-much-as  they-were-wanting.  Now  as  they-were-filled-in,  HE-SAYS  to-the  disciples  of-him,  “Synagogue  the  having-overflowed  fragments,  in-order-that  not  anything  is-lost.” 

Therefore,  they-synagogued,  and  they-filled  twelve  [Jewish-]baskets  of-fragments  out-of  the  five  breads  of-the  barley  which  they-overflowed  to-the-ones  having-eaten.  Therefore,  the  people,  having-seen  the-thing  he-did,  a-sign,  they-were-saying  that,  “This  is  truly  the  Prophet,  the-one  coming  into  the  world.”  Therefore,  Jesus,  knowing  that  they-were-about  to-come  and  to-seize  him  in-order-that  they-might-make  a-king,  he-withdrew  again  into  the  mountain,  himself,  mono. 

Now  as  evening  happened,  they-went-down,  the  disciples  of-him,  upon  the  sea,  and  having-embarked  into  a-boat,  they-were-coming  to-the-other-side-of  the  sea,  into  Capernaum.  And  darkness  already  it-had-happened,  and  not-yet  he-had-come  toward  them,  the  Jesus;  and  the  sea,  a-wind,  mega,  blowing,  it-was-raised-thoroughly.

Therefore,  having-rowed  as  stadia,  twenty  five  or  thirty,  THEY-BEHOLD  the  Jesus,  walking-around  upon  the  sea,  and  near  the  boat  happening,  and  they-feared.  Now  the-one  HE-SAYS  to-them,  “I,  I-am;  not  do-fear.”  Therefore  they-were-wanting  to-take  him  into  the  boat,  and  immediately  it-happened,  the  boat,  upon  the  land  into  which  they-were-going.

On-the  succeeding,  the  crowd,  the-one  having-stood  the-other-side-of  the  sea,  they-saw  that  small-boat,  another,  not  was  there,  if  not  one,  and  that  not  he-did-come-into-with  the  disciples  of-him,  the  Jesus,  into  the  boat,  but-on-the-contrary,  mono,  the  disciples  of-him,  they-came-away;  other  it-came,  small-boats,  out-of  Tiberias,  near  the  place  where  they-ate  the  bread,  having-eucharistic,  the  Lord.

If you have read the writing until this point, it should first of all be said that congratulations are in order. Just one more thing that could also be said is that you may have noticed that the word “Jewish” was added to the word “basket” in the above translation. (Congratulations are also in order if you caught that addition.)

Like so many other things in a particular culture, something that is very common may have more than one word to describe it. The words of “car” and “automobile” are an example for our culture. And think of how helpful it was to have a basket to transport things, no matter the culture to which it was connected. The last thing that could be said is that the so-called feeding of the FOUR thousand had baskets connected to Gentiles rather than Jews. That may be something to keep in mind when going over these accounts again.