All I Have to Give Is My Body

When I look at you,
I think of the tiger who, at every hill pass,
promised it would not eat you
if you gave it a rice cake.
Give me a rice cake and I won’t eat you.
Yes, every time you told me that if I helped you just this once
you would never live this way again,
I would give you a rice cake.
But how many times is this now?
Now the rice cakes I had for you are all gone.
However you plead,
however you beg,
I have no rice cake to give you.
Now the only rice cake I have left
is myself, given to you.
I will give you my body,
and give you my blood,
to show you
how much I love you.

What I have to give you is my body.
My blood, poured out for you,
tells you how much God loves you;
it is the blood of the covenant.