John 6:31–51

³¹Long ago our people ate the manna in the desert. It is written in Scripture, ‘The Lord gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

³²Jesus said to them, “What I’m about to tell you is true. It is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven. It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³The bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven. He gives life to the world.”

³⁴“Sir,” they said, “give us this bread from now on.”

³⁵Then Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever go hungry. And no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty.

³⁶“But it is just as I told you. You have seen me, and you still do not believe. ³⁷Everyone the Father gives me will come to me. I will never send away anyone who comes to me.

³⁸“I have not come down from heaven to do what I want to do. I have come to do what the One who sent me wants me to do. ³⁹The One who sent me doesn’t want me to lose anyone he has given me. He wants me to raise them up on the last day. ⁴⁰My Father wants all who look to the Son and believe in him to have eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day.”

⁴¹Then the Jews began to complain about Jesus. That was because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father and mother? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³“Stop complaining among yourselves,” Jesus answered. ⁴⁴“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me brings him. Then I will raise him up on the last day.

⁴⁵“It is written in the Prophets, ‘God will teach all of them.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

⁴⁶“No one has seen the Father except the One who has come from God. Only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷What I’m about to tell you is true. Everyone who believes has life forever.

⁴⁸“I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Long ago your people ate the manna in the desert, and they still died. ⁵⁰But here is the bread that comes down from heaven. A person can eat it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Everyone who eats some of this bread will live forever. The bread is my body. I will give it for the life of the world.”