John 2:12-25

Amplified Bible

¹² After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

First Passover—Cleansing the Temple

¹³ Now the Passover of the Jews was approaching, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And in the temple [enclosure] He found the ^[a]people who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at their tables.^{(A) 15} He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶ then to those who sold the doves He said, “Take these things away! Stop making My Father’s house a place of commerce!”^{(B) 17} His disciples remembered that it is written [in the Scriptures], “Zeal (love, concern) for Your house [and its honor] will consume Me.”^{(C) 18} Then the Jews retorted, “What sign (attesting miracle) can You show us as [proof of] your authority for doing these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰ Then the Jews replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and You will raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But He was speaking of the temple which was His body. ²² So when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said. And they believed and trusted in and relied on the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.^(D)

²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in His name [identifying themselves with Him] after seeing His signs (attesting miracles) which He was doing. ²⁴ But Jesus, for His part, did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people [and understood the ^[b]superficiality and fickleness of human nature], ²⁵ and He did not need anyone to testify concerning man [and human nature], for He Himself knew what was in man [in their hearts—in the very core of their being].^(E)