Jesus the bread of life

And when they found Him on the other side of the lake,
they said to Him, Rabbi! When did You come here?

Jesus answered them,
I assure you, most solemnly I tell you,
you have been searching for Me,
not because you saw the miracles and signs
but because you were fed
with the loaves and were filled and satisfied.

Stop toiling and doing and producing for the food
that perishes and decomposes [in the using],
but strive and work and produce rather for the [lasting] food
which endures [continually] unto life eternal;
the Son of Man will give (furnish) you that,
for God the Father has authorized and certified Him
and put His seal of endorsement upon Him.

They then said, What are we to do,
that we may [habitually] be working the works of God?
[What are we to do to carry out what God requires?]

Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you:
that you believe in the One Whom He has sent
[that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger].

Therefore they said to Him, What sign (miracle, wonderwork)
will You perform then,
so that we may see it and believe and rely on and adhere to You?
What [supernatural] work have You [to show what You can do]?

Our forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness;
as the Scripture says, He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.

Jesus then said to them, I assure you,
most solemnly I tell you,
Moses did not give you the Bread from heaven
[what Moses gave you was not the Bread from heaven],
but it is My Father Who gives you the true heavenly Bread.

For the Bread of God is He Who comes down out of heaven
and gives life to the world.

Then they said to Him,
Lord, give us this bread always (all the time)!

Jesus replied, I am the Bread of Life.
He who comes to Me will never be hungry,
and he who believes in
and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me
will never thirst any more (at any time).

But [as] I told you, although you have seen Me,
still you do not believe and trust and have faith.

All whom My Father gives (entrusts) to Me will come to Me;
and the one who comes to Me I will most certainly not cast out
[I will never, no never, reject one of them who comes to Me].

For I have come down from heaven
not to do My own will and purpose
but to do the will and purpose of Him Who sent Me.

And this is the will of Him Who sent Me,
that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me,
but that I should give new life and raise [them all] up at the last day.

For this is My Father’s will and His purpose,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in
and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Him
should have eternal life,
and I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day.

Now the Jews murmured and found fault with
and grumbled about Jesus because He said,
I am [Myself] the Bread that came down from heaven.

They kept asking, Is not this Jesus, the Son of Joseph,
Whose father and mother we know?
How then can He say, I have come down from heaven?

So Jesus answered them,
Stop grumbling and saying things against Me to one another.

No one is able to come to Me
unless the Father Who sent Me
attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me,
and [then] I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day.

It is written in [the book of] the Prophets,
And they shall all be taught of God
[have Him in person for their Teacher].
Everyone who has listened to
and learned from the Father comes to Me

Which does not imply that anyone has seen the Father
[not that anyone has ever seen Him]
except He [Who was with the Father]
Who comes from God; He [alone] has seen the Father.

I assure you, most solemnly I tell you,
he who believes in Me
[who adheres to, trusts in, relies on, and has faith in Me]
has (now possesses) eternal life.

I am the Bread of Life [that gives life—the Living Bread].

Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness,
and [yet] they died.

[But] this is the Bread that comes down from heaven,
so that [any]one may eat of it and never die.

I [Myself] am this Living Bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever;
and also the Bread that I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh (body).

Then the Jews angrily contended with one another, saying,
How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?

And Jesus said to them, I assure you,
most solemnly I tell you,
you cannot have any life in you
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His blood
[unless you appropriate His life and the saving merit of His blood].

He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has (possesses now) eternal life,
and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.

For My flesh is true and genuine food,
and My blood is true and genuine drink.

He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood dwells continually in Me,
and I [in like manner dwell continually] in him.

Just as the living Father sent Me and I live by
(through, because of) the Father,
even so whoever continues to feed on Me
[whoever takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me]
shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me.

This is the Bread that came down from heaven.
It is not like the manna which our forefathers ate, and yet died;
he who takes this Bread for his food shall live forever.

He said these things in a synagogue
while He was teaching at Capernaum.