John 6:19-51

¹⁹After they had gone three or four miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near to the boat; and they had great fear.

²⁰But he said to them, It is I, have no fear.

²¹Then they readily took him into the boat: and straight away the boat was at the land to which they were going.

²²The day after, the people who were on the other side of the sea saw that only one small boat had been there, that Jesus had not gone in that boat with the disciples, but that the disciples had gone away by themselves.

²³Some other boats, however, came from Tiberias near to the place where they had taken the bread after the Lord had given praise.

²⁴So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, or his disciples, they got into those boats and went over to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

²⁵And when they came across him on the other side of the sea they said, Rabbi, when did you come here?

²⁶Jesus, answering them, said, Truly I say to you, You come after me, not because you saw signs, but because you were given the bread and had enough.

²⁷Let your work not be for the food which comes to an end, but for the food which goes on for eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you, for on him has God the Father put his mark.

²⁸Then they said to him, How may we do the works of God?

²⁹Jesus, answering, said to them, This is to do the work of God: to have faith in him whom God has sent.

³⁰So they said, What sign do you give us, so that we may see and have faith in you? What do you do?

³¹Our fathers had the manna in the waste land, as the Writings say, He gave them bread from heaven.

³²Jesus then said to them, Truly I say to you, What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.

³³The bread of God is the bread which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.

³⁴Ah, Lord, they said, give us that bread for ever!

³⁵And this was the answer of Jesus: I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be in need of food, and he who has faith in me will never be in need of drink.

³⁶But it is as I said to you: you have seen me, and still you have no faith.

³⁷Whatever the Father gives to me will come to me; and I will not send away anyone who comes to me.

³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do my pleasure, but the pleasure of him who sent me.

³⁹And this is the pleasure of him who sent me, that I am not to let out of my hands anything which he has given me, but I am to give it new life on the last day.

⁴⁰This, I say, is my Father's pleasure, that everyone who sees the Son and has faith in him may have eternal life: and I will take him up on the last day.

⁴¹Now the Jews said bitter things about Jesus because of his words, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

⁴²And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we have seen? How is it then that he now says, I have come down from heaven?

⁴³Jesus made answer and said, Do not say things against me, one to another.

⁴⁴No man is able to come to me if the Father who sent me does not give him the desire to come: and I will take him up from the dead on the last day.

⁴⁵The writings of the prophets say, And they will all have teaching from God. Everyone whose ears have been open to the teaching of the Father comes to me.

⁴⁶Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only he who is from God, he has seen the Father.

⁴⁷Truly I say to you, He who has faith in me has eternal life.

⁴⁸I am the bread of life.

⁴⁹Your fathers took the manna in the waste land — and they are dead.

⁵⁰The bread which comes from heaven is such bread that a man may take it for food and never see death.

⁵¹I am the living bread which has come from heaven: if any man takes this bread for food he will have life for ever: and more than this, the bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.