John 6:41-71

English Standard Version

⁴¹So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ^(A)“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They said, ^(B)“Is not this Jesus, ^(C)the son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^(D)we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me ^(E)draws him. And ^(F)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets, ^(G)‘And they will all be ^(H)taught by God.’ ^(I)Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ⁴⁶^(J)not that anyone has seen the Father except ^(K)he who is from God; he ^(L)has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(M)whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸^(N)I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹^(O)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and ^(P)they died. ⁵⁰^(Q)This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it ^(R)and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread ^(S)that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ^(T)for the life of the world is ^(U)my flesh.”

⁵²The Jews then ^(V)disputed among themselves, saying, ^(W)“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of ^(X)the Son of Man and drink his blood, you ^(Y)have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ^(Z)has eternal life, and ^(AA)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ^(AB)abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As ^(AC)the living Father ^(AD)sent me, and ^(AE)I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ⁵⁸^(AF)This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread^[a] the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹Jesus^[b] said these things in the synagogue, as he taught ^(AG)at Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

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

⁶⁶^(AT)After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus said to ^(AU)the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(AV)the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹and ^(AW)we have believed, and have come to know, that ^(AX)you are ^(AY)the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰Jesus answered them, ^(AZ)“Did I not choose you, ^(BA)the twelve? And yet one of you is ^(BB)a devil.” ⁷¹He spoke of Judas ^(BC)the son of Simon Iscariot, for ^(BD)he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.