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John 6:26-58
New American Standard Bible
John 6:26-58
New American Standard Bible
Words to the People
26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you (A)seek Me, not because you saw [a](B)signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not (C)work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for (D)eternal life, which (E)the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, (F)has set His [b]seal.” 28 Therefore they said to Him, “What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is (G)the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He (H)has sent.” 30 So they said to Him, “(I)What then are You doing as a (J)sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing? 31 (K)Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘(L)He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 33 For the bread of God is [c]that which (M)comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always (N)give us this bread.”
35 Jesus said to them, “(O)I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me (P)will never be thirsty. 36 But (Q)I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe. 37 (R)Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. 38 For (S)I have come down from heaven, (T)not to do My own will, but (U)the will of Him who (V)sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of (W)everything that He has given Me I will (X)lose nothing, but will (Y)raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who (Z)sees the Son and (AA)believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will (AB)raise him up on the last day.”
Words to the Jews
41 (AC)So then the Jews were complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that (AD)came down out of heaven.” 42 And they were saying, “(AE)Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother (AF)we know? How does He now say, ‘(AG)I have come down out of heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me (AH)draws him; and I will (AI)raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written (AJ)in the Prophets: ‘(AK)And they shall all be (AL)taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 (AM)Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes (AN)has eternal life. 48 (AO)I am the bread of life. 49 (AP)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that (AQ)comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and (AR)not die. 51 (AS)I am the living bread that (AT)came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, (AU)he will live forever; and the bread which I will give (AV)for the life of the world also is (AW)My flesh.”
52 (AX)Then the Jews (AY)began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of (AZ)the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will (BA)raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood (BB)remains in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the (BC)living Father (BD)sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that (BE)came down out of heaven, not as (BF)the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread (BG)will live forever.”
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John 6:26-58
New International Version
John 6:26-58
New International Version
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me,(A) not because you saw the signs(B) I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures(C) to eternal life,(D) which the Son of Man(E) will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal(F) of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe(G) in the one he has sent.”(H)
30 So they asked him, “What sign(I) then will you give that we may see it and believe you?(J) What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna(K) in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[a]”(L)
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven(M) and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”(N)
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am(O) the bread of life.(P) Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes(Q) in me will never be thirsty.(R) 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me(S) will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven(T) not to do my will but to do the will(U) of him who sent me.(V) 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me,(W) but raise them up at the last day.(X) 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son(Y) and believes in him shall have eternal life,(Z) and I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph,(AA) whose father and mother we know?(AB) How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”(AC)
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,(AD) and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[b](AE) Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God;(AF) only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.(AG) 48 I am the bread of life.(AH) 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.(AI) 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven,(AJ) which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread(AK) that came down from heaven.(AL) Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”(AM)
52 Then the Jews(AN) began to argue sharply among themselves,(AO) “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh(AP) of the Son of Man(AQ) and drink his blood,(AR) you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.(AS) 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.(AT) 57 Just as the living Father sent me(AU) and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”(AV)
John 6:26-58
Contemporary English Version
John 6:26-58
Contemporary English Version
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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 6.26 miracles: The Greek text has “signs” here and “sign” in verse 30 (see the note at 2.11).
- 6.31 manna: When the people of Israel were wandering through the desert, the Lord gave them a special kind of food to eat. It tasted like a wafer and was called “manna,” which in Hebrew means, “What is this?”
- 6.39 the last day: When God will judge all people.
- 6.49 manna: See the note at 6.31.
John 6:26-58
The Message
John 6:26-58
The Message
26 Jesus answered, “You’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free.
The Bread of Life
27 “Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last.”
28 To that they said, “Well, what do we do then to get in on God’s works?”
29 Jesus said, “Sign on with the One that God has sent. That kind of a commitment gets you in on God’s works.”
30-31 They waffled: “Why don’t you give us a clue about who you are, just a hint of what’s going on? When we see what’s up, we’ll commit ourselves. Show us what you can do. Moses fed our ancestors with bread in the desert. It says so in the Scriptures: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32-33 Jesus responded, “The real significance of that Scripture is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world.”
34 They jumped at that: “Master, give us this bread, now and forever!”
35-38 Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own agenda but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.
39-40 “This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed—not a single detail missed—and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole. This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time.”
41-42 At this, because he said, “I am the Bread that came down from heaven,” the Jews started arguing over him: “Isn’t this the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father? Don’t we know his mother? How can he now say, ‘I came down out of heaven’ and expect anyone to believe him?”
43-46 Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End. This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, ‘And then they will all be personally taught by God.’ Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally—to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father. No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father—and you can see me.
47-51 “I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.”
52 At this, the Jews started fighting among themselves: “How can this man serve up his flesh for a meal?”
53-58 But Jesus didn’t give an inch. “Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you. In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me. This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always.”
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