The Words of Eternal Life

60 (A)When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, (B)knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see (C)the Son of Man (D)ascending to (E)where he was before? 63 (F)It is the Spirit who gives life; (G)the flesh is no help at all. (H)The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But (I)there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus (J)knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and (K)who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you (L)that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

66 (M)After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to (N)the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have (O)the words of eternal life, 69 and (P)we have believed, and have come to know, that (Q)you are (R)the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, (S)“Did I not choose you, (T)the twelve? And yet one of you is (U)a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas (V)the son of Simon Iscariot, for (W)he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

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Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples(A) said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”(B)

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?(C) 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man(D) ascend to where he was before!(E) 63 The Spirit gives life;(F) the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[a] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known(G) from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.(H) 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”(I)

66 From this time many of his disciples(J) turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.(K)

68 Simon Peter answered him,(L) “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.(M) 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”(N)

70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you,(O) the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”(P) 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot,(Q) who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)(R)

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Footnotes

  1. John 6:63 Or are Spirit; or are spirit

Others

Where has your beloved gone,
    O (A)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
    that we may seek him with you?

Together in the Garden of Love

She

My beloved has gone down to his (B)garden
    to (C)the beds of spices,
to (D)graze[a] in the gardens
    and to gather (E)lilies.
(F)I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine;
    he grazes among the lilies.

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

You are beautiful as (G)Tirzah, (H)my love,
    (I)lovely as (J)Jerusalem,
    (K)awesome as an army with banners.
Turn away your eyes from me,
    for they overwhelm me—
(L)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
(M)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
    that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins;
    not one among them has lost its young.
(N)Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    behind your veil.
There are (O)sixty (P)queens and eighty (Q)concubines,
    and (R)virgins without number.
My (S)dove, my (T)perfect one, is the only one,
    the only one of her mother,
    pure to (U)her who bore her.
(V)The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    (W)the queens and (X)concubines also, and they praised her.

10 (Y)“Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
    beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
    (Z)awesome as an army with banners?”

She

11 I went down to the nut orchard
    to look at (AA)the blossoms of the valley,
(AB)to see whether the vines had budded,
    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 (AC)Before I was aware, my desire set me
    among (AD)the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.[b]

Others

13 [c] Return, return, O (AE)Shulammite,
    return, return, that we may look upon you.

He

Why should you look upon (AF)the Shulammite,
    as upon (AG)a dance before (AH)two armies?[d]

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 6:2 Or to pasture his flock; also verse 3
  2. Song of Solomon 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib
  3. Song of Solomon 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Hebrew
  4. Song of Solomon 6:13 Or dance of Mahanaim

Friends

Where has your beloved(A) gone,
    most beautiful of women?(B)
Which way did your beloved turn,
    that we may look for him with you?

She

My beloved has gone(C) down to his garden,(D)
    to the beds of spices,(E)
to browse in the gardens
    and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;(F)
    he browses among the lilies.(G)

He

You are as beautiful as Tirzah,(H) my darling,
    as lovely as Jerusalem,(I)
    as majestic as troops with banners.(J)
Turn your eyes from me;
    they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from Gilead.(K)
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
    not one of them is missing.(L)
Your temples behind your veil(M)
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.(N)
Sixty queens(O) there may be,
    and eighty concubines,(P)
    and virgins beyond number;
but my dove,(Q) my perfect one,(R) is unique,
    the only daughter of her mother,
    the favorite of the one who bore her.(S)
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    the queens and concubines praised her.

Friends

10 Who is this that appears like the dawn,
    fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
    majestic as the stars in procession?

He

11 I went down to the grove of nut trees
    to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
    or the pomegranates were in bloom.(T)
12 Before I realized it,
    my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.[a]

Friends

13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
    come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!

He

Why would you gaze on the Shulammite
    as on the dance(U) of Mahanaim?[b]

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 6:12 Or among the chariots of Amminadab; or among the chariots of the people of the prince
  2. Song of Songs 6:13 In Hebrew texts this verse (6:13) is numbered 7:1.