²⁶ Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles,^[a] but because you ate all the food you wanted. ^27 (A) Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”

²⁸ “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked.

²⁹ Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”

³⁰ They replied, “What miracle will you work, so that we can have faith in you? What will you do? ^31 (B) For example, when our ancestors were in the desert, they were given manna^[b] to eat. It happened just as the Scriptures say, ‘God gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

³² Jesus then told them, “I tell you for certain that Moses wasn't the one who gave you bread from heaven. My Father is the one who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ And the bread that God gives is the one who came down from heaven to give life to the world.”

³⁴ The people said, “Sir, give us this bread and don't ever stop!”

³⁵ Jesus replied:

I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty. ³⁶ I have told you already that you have seen me and still do not have faith in me. ³⁷ Everything and everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I won't turn any of them away.

³⁸ I didn't come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, ³⁹ and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost. Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day.^{[c] 40} My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.

⁴¹ The people started grumbling because Jesus had said he was the bread that had come down from heaven. ⁴² They were asking each other, “Isn't he Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don't we know his father and mother? How can he say that he has come down from heaven?”

⁴³ Jesus told them:

Stop grumbling! ⁴⁴ No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me makes them want to come. But if they do come, I will raise them to life on the last day. ^45 (C) One of the prophets wrote, “God will teach all of them.” And so everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him will come to me.

⁴⁶ The only one who has seen the Father is the one who has come from him. No one else has ever seen the Father. ⁴⁷ I tell you for certain that everyone who has faith in me has eternal life.

⁴⁸ I am the bread that gives life! ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate manna^[d] in the desert, and later they died. ⁵⁰ But the bread from heaven has come down, so that no one who eats it will ever die. ⁵¹ I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live forever. My flesh is the life-giving bread I give to the people of this world.

⁵² They started arguing with each other and asked, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³ Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that you won't live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. ⁵⁴ But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day. ⁵⁵ My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. ⁵⁶ If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.

⁵⁷ The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me. ⁵⁸ The bread that comes down from heaven isn't like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.

⁵⁹ Jesus was teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum when he said these things.

^16 (A) When we drink from the cup we ask God to bless, isn't that sharing in the blood of Christ? When we eat the bread we break, isn't that sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ By sharing in the same loaf of bread, we become one body, even though there are many of us.