John 6:25-59

Easy-to-Read Version

Jesus, the Bread of Life

²⁵ The people found Jesus on the other side of the lake. They asked him, “Teacher, when did you come here?”

²⁶ He answered, “Why are you looking for me? Is it because you saw miraculous signs? The truth is, you are looking for me because you ate the bread and were satisfied. ²⁷ But earthly food spoils and ruins. So don’t work to get that kind of food. But work to get the food that stays good and gives you eternal life. The Son of Man will give you that food. He is the only one qualified by God the Father to give it to you.”

²⁸ The people asked Jesus, “What does God want us to do?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work God wants you to do is this: to believe in the one he sent.”

³⁰ So the people asked, “What miraculous sign will you do for us? If we can see you do a miracle, then we will believe you. What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors were given manna to eat in the desert. As the Scriptures say, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’^[a]”

³² Jesus said, “I can assure you that Moses was not the one who gave your people bread from heaven. But my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ God’s bread is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ The people said, “Sir, from now on give us bread like that.”

³⁵ Then Jesus said, “I am the bread that gives life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who believes in me will ever be thirsty. ³⁶ I told you before that you have seen me, and still you don’t believe. ³⁷ The Father gives me my people. Every one of them will come to me. I will always accept them. ³⁸ I came down from heaven to do what God wants, not what I want. ³⁹ I must not lose anyone God has given me. But I must raise them up on the last day. This is what the one who sent me wants me to do. ⁴⁰ Everyone who sees the Son and believes in him has eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day. This is what my Father wants.”

⁴¹ Some Jews began to complain about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that comes down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “This is Jesus. We know his father and mother. He is only Joseph’s son. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ But Jesus said, “Stop complaining to each other. ⁴⁴ The Father is the one who sent me, and he is the one who brings people to me. I will raise them up on the last day. Anyone the Father does not bring to me cannot come to me. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets: ‘God will teach them all.’^[b] People listen to the Father and learn from him. They are the ones who come to me. ⁴⁶ I don’t mean that there is anyone who has seen the Father. The only one who has ever seen the Father is the one who came from God. He has seen the Father.

⁴⁷ “I can assure you that anyone who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread that gives life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna God gave them in the desert, but it didn’t keep them from dying. ⁵⁰ Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will never die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my body. I will give my body so that the people in the world can have life.”

⁵² Then the Jews began to argue among themselves. They said, “How can this man give us his body to eat?”

⁵³ Jesus said, “Believe me when I say that you must eat the body of the Son of Man, and you must drink his blood. If you don’t do this, you have no real life. ⁵⁴ Those who eat my body and drink my blood have eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day. ⁵⁵ My body is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Those who eat my body and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them.

⁵⁷ “The Father sent me. He lives, and I live because of him. So everyone who eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ I am not like the bread that your ancestors ate. They ate that bread, but they still died. I am the bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹ Jesus said all this while he was teaching in the synagogue in the city of Capernaum.