This translation is from the New American Bible. The bolded hyperlinks will take you to additional translations. The entire chapter is included to provide context.
Information about the meaning the original Hebrew or Greek of what seem to be key words is provided in blue. That information is provided beneath the specific reading the words are contained in.
Excerpts collected in yellow at the end of this post tell us something about God’s nature or our relationship to Him.
Excerpts collected in green at the end of this post tell us about something God wants us to do.
Excerpts collected in red at the end of this post tell us about something God does not want us to do.
Reading I
Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death saying: “This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again, but the angel of the LORD came back a second time, touched him, and ordered, “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!”
He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
strengthened =כֹּחַ= kōaḥ
power, might; produce, wealth (of soil); to be firm; vigor, literally (force, in a good or a bad sense) or figuratively (capacity, means, produce); hardiness;fruits, might, power(-ful), strength, substance, wealth; ability, efficiency;
Responsorial Psalm
R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me, let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is; blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Taste=טָעַם = ṭāʿam
to taste, perceive, eat; perceive by the taste or flavor
see = רָאָה= rā'â
to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider; learn about, observe, watch, look upon, look out, find out; consider, look at, give attention to, discern, distinguish; gaze at;enjoy, have experience, take heed; indeed; spy, stare; enjoy the light; be pleased with the sight; provide or care for, go to see
goodness, good = טוֹב = ṭôḇ
pleasant, agreeable (to the senses); pleasant (to the higher nature); excellent (of its kind); rich, valuable in estimation; appropriate, becoming; better (comparative); glad, happy, prosperous (of man's sensuous nature);understanding (of man's intellectual nature); kind, benign;right (ethical); good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease; fine; glad; graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness; loving, merry, kind; pleasant, pleaseth, pleasure, precious, prosperity, ready, sweet, wealth, welfare, (be) well(-favoured);giving pleasure, happiness, prosperity;advantageous;fruitful, fertile; goodly, valuable; appropriate, becoming; kind, benign; welfare, prosperity, happiness; blessing; bounty; fair, beautiful; well off; distinguished, great, excelling; cheerful, merry.
Similar in concept to Wisdom 7:22-23. See also Wisdom Principles: God’s Ways Give Security
sought = דָּרַשׁ= darash
to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require; to seek deity in prayer and worship; to practice, study, follow, seek with application; to follow (for pursuit or search); diligently, inquire, make inquisition; to learn, to study: frequent; apply oneself; to take care for
look = נָבַט= nāḇaṭ
Regard; pay attention to, consider; to scan, i.e. look intently at; by implication, to regard with pleasure, favor or care:—(cause to) behold, consider, look (down), regard, have respect, see
called = קָרָא= qara'
to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim;to summon, invite, call for, call and commission, appoint, call and endow;to be ... summoned; be called out, be chosen, bidden; invite
Refuge = חָסָה = ḥāsâ
flee for protection; to put trust in (God), confide or hope in (God); to confide in:—have hope, make refuge, (put) trust
See also Wisdom Principles—God is a Refuge for Those Who Love Him
Reading II
Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
kind = χρηστός = chrēstos
able to be used; good, virtuous, mild, pleasant; kind, gracious; manageable; benevolent; useful
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
useful, good of its kind, serviceable; wholesome, benefit; pleasant; auspicious; happy; good for its purpose, effective; valiant, true; good, honest, worthy; useful; propitious, merciful, bestowing health or wealth
compassionate = εὔσπλαγχνος = eusplagchnos
tenderheartedness, good heartedness; well compassioned, i.e. sympathetic
forgiving, forgiven =χαρίζομαι = charizomai
to show favor, grant, bestow; to gratify, to do what is pleasing to anyone; to bestow a favor unconditionally; to show favor or kindness; to do something pleasant or agreeable (to one), to do a favour to, gratify; to show one's self gracious, kind, benevolent; to grant forgiveness, to pardon; to give graciously, give freely, bestow; graciously to restore one to another; to preserve for one a person in peril; to grant as a favor, i.e. gratuitously, in kindness, pardon or rescue
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
say or do something agreeable to a person, show him favour or kindness, oblige, gratify; to oblige, humour; gratify or indulge; give graciously or cheerfully; allow, give freely; give up as a favour
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
eat = φάγω = phágō
devour, consume; to take food, eat a meal;
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
ration-strength; consume; devour
Gospel
The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God.Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Came = καταβαίνω = katabainō
To come down; to descend; fall, fell; to go down, come down, descend
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
go or come down from; condescend
bread = ἄρτος = artos
a small loaf or cake, composed of flour and water, and baked, in shape either oblong or round, and about as thick as the thumb; food composed of flour mixed with water and baked;food of any kind; to take food, to eat
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
cake or loaf of wheat-bread
murmured, murmuring = γογγύζω = gongyzō
to mutter; grumble, say anything against in a low tone;confer secretly together; discontentedly complain
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
mutter, grumble
come = ἔρχομαι = erchomai
denoting either "to come, or to go," signifies the act, in contrast with heko, which stresses the arrival; to come from one place to another; to come into being, arise, come forth, show itself, find place or influence; to come to a thing; to go
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
start, set out; come or go; to go a journey; any kind of motion
heard = ἀκούω = akouō
Harkin to; to attend to, consider what is or has been said; to understand, perceive the sense of what is said; to give ear to a teaching or a teacher; to comprehend; to perceive anyone's voice; to yield to, hear and obey; have regard to; to perceive the distinct words of a voice; to yield obedience to the voice; to perceive in the soul
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
hearken, give ear; listen to; obey; hear and understand
learned = μανθάνω = manthanō
to increase one's knowledge; to learn by inquiry, or observation; to ascertain; to learn by use and practice, to acquire the habit of, be accustomed to; be informed; to understand
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
learn, esp. by study (but also, by practice, experience); earn by heart; acquire a habit of; perceive, remark, notice; understand
eat = φάγω = phágō
devour, consume; to take food, eat a meal
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
ration-strength; consume; devour
What these readings tell us about God/his ways:
the goodness of the Lord
the goodness of the Lord
he answered me and delivered me from all my fears
the goodness of the Lord
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy
When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard
from all his distress he saved him
the goodness of the Lord
how good the LORD is
Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
I am the living bread that came down from heaven
whoever eats this bread will live forever
I am the bread that came down from heaven
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him
I will raise him on the last day
whoever believeshas eternal life
I am the bread of life
one may eat it and not die
I am the living bread that came down from heaven
whoever eats this bread will live forever
the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world
What these readings tell us to do:
Taste
see
bless the LORD at all times
his praise shall be ever in my mouth
Taste
see
Glorify the LORD with me
together extol his name
sought the LORD
Taste
see
Look to him
called out
Taste
see
fear him
Taste
see
takes refuge in him
Taste
see
be kind to one another
compassionate
forgiving one another as God has forgiven
be imitators of God, as beloved children
live in love, as Christ loved us
eats this bread
listens to my Father
learns from himcomes to me
believes
What these readings tell us not to do:
grieve the Holy Spirit
bitterness
fury
anger
shouting
reviling
malice
murmuring among yourselves
