communion

²⁶Now while they were eating the meal, Jesus took bread, and he blessed and broke and gave it to his disciples, and he said: “Take and eat. This is my body.” ²⁷And taking the chalice, he gave thanks. And he gave it to them, saying: “Drink from this, all of you. ²⁸For this is my blood of the new covenant, which shall be shed for many as a remission of sins.

²⁶For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he returns.

¹⁶The cup of benediction that we bless, is it not a communion in the Blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of the Lord?

¹⁹And taking bread, he gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them, saying: “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this as a commemoration of me.” ²⁰Similarly also, he took the chalice, after he had eaten the meal, saying: “This chalice is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.

⁴²Now they were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communion of the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers.

⁵³Therefore, the Jews debated among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵⁴And so, Jesus said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. ⁵⁵Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁶For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁷Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁸Just as the living Father has sent me and I live because of the Father, so also whoever eats me, the same shall live because of me.

²⁴and giving thanks, he broke it, and said: “Take and eat. This is my body, which shall be given up for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²²And while eating with them, Jesus took bread. And blessing it, he broke it and gave it to them, and he said: “Take. This is my body.” ²³And having taken the chalice, giving thanks, he gave it to them. And they all drank from it. ²⁴And he said to them: “This is my blood of the new covenant, which shall be shed for many. ²⁵Amen I say to you, that I will no longer drink from this fruit of the vine, until that day when I will drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷Through the one bread, we, though many, are one body: all of us who are partakers of the one bread.

⁷Then, on the first Sabbath, when we had assembled together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to set out the next day. But he prolonged his sermon into the middle of the night. The expression “first Sabbath” refers to Easter Sunday, the commemoration of the first Christian Sabbath. In the year in question, Easter Sunday was celebrated some 12 (5 + 7) days or more after “the days of Unleavened Bread”, which refers to Passover. It is unclear how Easter Sunday was calculated at that early time in the Church, but it did not always coincide with Passover.

²⁵Similarly also, the cup, after he had eaten supper, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

¹⁹And taking bread, he gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them, saying: “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this as a commemoration of me.”

²⁷And so, whoever eats this bread, or drinks from the cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be liable of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸But let a man examine himself, and, in this way, let him eat from that bread, and drink from that cup. ²⁹For whoever eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks a sentence against himself, not discerning it to be the body of the Lord.

²⁸But let a man examine himself, and, in this way, let him eat from that bread, and drink from that cup.

³⁵Then Jesus said to them: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

³He whom we have seen and heard, we announce to you, so that you, too, may have fellowship with us, and so that our fellowship may be with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

⁵¹I am the living bread, who descended from heaven.

¹⁶The cup of benediction that we bless, is it not a communion in the Blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of the Lord? ¹⁷Through the one bread, we, though many, are one body: all of us who are partakers of the one bread.