Bread from Heaven

16 They ^(A)set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. ² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel ^(B)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the people of Israel said to them, ^(C)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(D)when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain ^(E)bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may ^(F)test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, ^(G)it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, ^(H)“At evening ^(I)you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you shall see the ^(J)glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For ^(K)what are we, that you grumble against us?” ⁸ And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—^(L)what are we? Your grumbling is not ^(M)against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses ^(N)said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ^(O)‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” ¹⁰ And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the ^(P)glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I ^(Q)have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At ^(R)twilight you shall eat meat, and ^(S)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening ^(T)quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(U)dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ^(V)“What is it?”^[a] For they ^(W)did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ^(X)“It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an ^(Y)omer,^[b] according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” ¹⁷ And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. ¹⁸ But when they measured it with an omer, ^(Z)whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. ¹⁹ And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and ^(AA)it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. ²¹ Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

²² On ^(AB)the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³ he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of ^(AC)solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” ²⁴ So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and ^(AD)it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today, for ^(AE)today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

²⁷ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. ²⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AF)“How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ²⁹ See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people ^(AG)rested on the seventh day.

³¹ Now the house of Israel called its name ^(AH)manna. It was ^(AI)like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a ^(AJ)jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before ^(AK)the testimony to be kept. ³⁵ The people of Israel ^(AL)ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till ^(AM)they came to the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (An omer is ^(AN)the tenth part of an ephah.)^[c]

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ^(A)“Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(B)you are seeking me, not because you saw ^(C)signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ^27 (D)Do not work for the food that perishes, but for ^(E)the food that endures to eternal life, which ^(F)the Son of Man will give to you. For on ^(G)him God the Father has ^(H)set his seal.” ²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing ^(I)the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, ^(J)that you believe in him whom ^(K)he has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to him, ^(L)“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? ^31 (M)Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ^(N)‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is ^(O)he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, ^(P)“Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, ^(Q)“I am the bread of life; ^(R)whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ^37 (S)All that ^(T)the Father gives me will come to me, and ^(U)whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For ^(V)I have come down from heaven, not to do ^(W)my own will but ^(X)the will of him ^(Y)who sent me. ³⁹ And ^(Z)this is the will of him who sent me, ^(AA)that I should lose nothing of ^(AB)all that he has given me, but ^(AC)raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who ^(AD)looks on the Son and ^(AE)believes in him ^(AF)should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

⁴¹ So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ^(AG)“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, ^(AH)“Is not this Jesus, ^(AI)the son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^(AJ)we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me ^(AK)draws him. And ^(AL)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ^(AM)‘And they will all be ^(AN)taught by God.’ ^(AO)Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ^46 (AP)not that anyone has seen the Father except ^(AQ)he who is from God; he ^(AR)has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AS)whoever believes has eternal life. ^48 (AT)I am the bread of life. ^49 (AU)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and ^(AV)they died. ^50 (AW)This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it ^(AX)and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread ^(AY)that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ^(AZ)for the life of the world is ^(BA)my flesh.”

⁵² The Jews then ^(BB)disputed among themselves, saying, ^(BC)“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 ^(BD)the Son of Man and drink his blood, you ^(BE)have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ^(BF)has eternal life, and ^(BG)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ^(BH)abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As ^(BI)the living Father ^(BJ)sent me, and ^(BK)I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ^58 (BL)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.” ⁵⁹ Jesus^[b] said these things in the synagogue, as he taught ^(BM)at Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

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

^66 (BZ)After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to ^(CA)the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(CB)the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹ and ^(CC)we have believed, and have come to know, that ^(CD)you are ^(CE)the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, ^(CF)“Did I not choose you, ^(CG)the twelve? And yet one of you is ^(CH)a devil.” ⁷¹ He spoke of Judas ^(CI)the son of Simon Iscariot, for ^(CJ)he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.