John 6:16-21

When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea,

embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.

When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid.

But he said to them, "It is I.  Do not be afraid."

They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.

John 6:1-15

After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (of Tiberias).

A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.

Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.

The Jewish feast of Passover was near.

When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"

He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little (bit)."

One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,

"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?"

Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted.

When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted."

So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.

When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."

Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

Psalm 51

For the leader. A psalm of David,

when Nathan the prophet came to him after his affair with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense.

Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.

For I know my offense; my sin is always before me.

Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight That you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn.

True, I was born guilty, a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.

Still, you insist on sincerity of heart; in my inmost being teach me wisdom.

Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow.

Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt.

A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit.

Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me your holy spirit.

Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit.

I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you.

Rescue me from death, God, my saving God, that my tongue may praise your healing power.

Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise.

For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept.

My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.

Make Zion prosper in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifice, burnt offerings and holocausts; then bullocks will be offered on your altar.

John 5:1-15

After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep (Gate) a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.

In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. 

One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be well?"

The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me."

Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk."

Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked. Now that day was a sabbath.

So the Jews said to the man who was cured, "It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat."

He answered them, "The man who made me well told me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'"

They asked him, "Who is the man who told you, 'Take it up and walk'?"

The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.

After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, "Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you."

The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well.

Psalm 113

Hallelujah!  Praise, you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord both now and forever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting let the name of the Lord be praised.
High above all nations is the Lord; above the heavens God's glory.
Who is like the Lord,  our God enthroned on high,
looking down on heaven and earth?
The Lord raises the needy from the dust, lifts the poor from the ash heap,
Seats them with princes, the princes of the people,
Gives the childless wife a home, the joyful mother of children.  Hallelujah!

Psalm 8

For the leader; "upon the gittith." A psalm of David.

O LORD, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth! You have set your majesty above the heavens!

Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have drawn a defense against your foes, to silence enemy and avenger.

When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place--

What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor.

You have given them rule over the works of your hands, put all things at their feet:

All sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field,

The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatever swims the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth!

Psalm 1

Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers,
Rather, the law of the Lord is their joy; God's law they study day and night.
They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season; Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers.
But not the wicked! They are like chaff driven by the wind.
Therefore the wicked will not survive judgment, nor will sinners in the assembly of the just.
The Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.