6:29

The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent: The word work is in the singular, although the question in 6:28 used the plural, “works.” Jesus was saying that there is only one thing that God wants people to do.

Here are other ways to translate what Jesus said:

The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent (New Century Version)
-or-
What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent (Good News Translation)
-or-
This is the only work God wants from you. Believe in the one he has sent. (New Living Translation (2004))

believe in: This phrase includes the idea of believing the facts about who Jesus was and what he did. But it also includes the idea of trusting Jesus instead of trusting oneself or someone else. Both ideas are very closely related. If someone believes the facts about Jesus, it should result in trusting him. See how you translated this phrase in 1:12. Here are other ways to translate this idea:

have faith in (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
trust in

the One He has sent: This clause refers to Jesus himself. It explains why believing in him is the work of God. God had sent him, so they should believe in him. In some languages it may be necessary to say explicitly that this is the reason that this is the work of God. For example:

⌊because⌋ God has sent him

It is apparent from the question that follows in 6:30 that his listeners understood that Jesus was referring to himself. If your readers may not understand this, you may need to say explicitly:

⌊me⌋ whom he has sent

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