² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel ^(A)grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the people of Israel said to them, ^(B)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(C)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 ^(D)bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may ^(E)test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, ^(F)it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, ^(G)“At evening ^(H)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 ^(I)glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For ^(J)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—^(K)what are we? Your grumbling is not ^(L)against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses ^(M)said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ^(N)‘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 ^(O)glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I ^(P)have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At ^(Q)twilight you shall eat meat, and ^(R)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening ^(S)quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning ^(T)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, ^(U)“What is it?”^[a] For they ^(V)did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ^(W)“It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

I Am the Bread of Life

²² On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only ^(A)one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. ²³ Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord ^(B)had given thanks. ^24 (C)So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and ^(D)went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

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

³⁵ Jesus said to them, ^(U)“I am the bread of life; ^(V)whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.