John 6:40-56

Contemporary English Version

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 (A) 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^[a] 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.