Font Size
John 5
New International Version
John 5
New International Version
The Healing at the Pool
5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate(A) a pool, which in Aramaic(B) is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] [b] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”(C) 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,(D) 10 and so the Jewish leaders(E) said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”(F)
11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning(G) or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders(H) that it was Jesus who had made him well.
The Authority of the Son
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father(I) is always at his work(J) to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him;(K) not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.(L)
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself;(M) he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son(N) and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these,(O) so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,(P) even so the Son gives life(Q) to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,(R) 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.(S)
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me(T) has eternal life(U) and will not be judged(V) but has crossed over from death to life.(W) 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come(X) when the dead will hear(Y) the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life(Z) in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge(AA) because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming(AB) when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.(AC) 30 By myself I can do nothing;(AD) I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just,(AE) for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.(AF)
Testimonies About Jesus
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.(AG) 32 There is another who testifies in my favor,(AH) and I know that his testimony about me is true.
33 “You have sent to John and he has testified(AI) to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony;(AJ) but I mention it that you may be saved.(AK) 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light,(AL) and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John.(AM) For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing(AN)—testify that the Father has sent me.(AO) 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.(AP) You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,(AQ) 38 nor does his word dwell in you,(AR) for you do not believe(AS) the one he sent.(AT) 39 You study[c] the Scriptures(AU) diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life.(AV) These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,(AW) 40 yet you refuse to come to me(AX) to have life.
41 “I do not accept glory from human beings,(AY) 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God[d]?(AZ)
45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses,(BA) on whom your hopes are set.(BB) 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.(BC) 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”(BD)
Footnotes
- John 5:2 Some manuscripts Bethzatha; other manuscripts Bethsaida
- John 5:4 Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.
- John 5:39 Or 39 Study
- John 5:44 Some early manuscripts the Only One
John 5
The Message
John 5
The Message
Even on the Sabbath
5 1-6 Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”
8-9 Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.
9-10 That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, “It’s the Sabbath. You can’t carry your bedroll around. It’s against the rules.”
11 But he told them, “The man who made me well told me to. He said, ‘Take your bedroll and start walking.’”
12-13 They asked, “Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?” But the healed man didn’t know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.
14 A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “You look wonderful! You’re well! Don’t return to a sinning life or something worse might happen.”
15-16 The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus—because he did this kind of thing on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus defended himself. “My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I.”
18 That really set them off. The Jews were now not only out to expose him; they were out to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own Father, putting himself on a level with God.
What the Father Does, the Son Does
19-20 So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing.
20-23 “But you haven’t seen the half of it yet, for in the same way that the Father raises the dead and creates life, so does the Son. The Son gives life to anyone he chooses. Neither he nor the Father shuts anyone out. The Father handed all authority to judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honored equally with the Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son, dishonors the Father, for it was the Father’s decision to put the Son in the place of honor.
24 “It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.
25-27 “It’s urgent that you get this right: The time has arrived—I mean right now!—when dead men and women will hear the voice of the Son of God and, hearing, will come alive. Just as the Father has life in himself, he has conferred on the Son life in himself. And he has given him the authority, simply because he is the Son of Man, to decide and carry out matters of Judgment.
28-29 “Don’t act so surprised at all this. The time is coming when everyone dead and buried will hear his voice. Those who have lived the right way will walk out into a resurrection Life; those who have lived the wrong way, into a resurrection Judgment.
30-33 “I can’t do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I’m not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders. If I were simply speaking on my own account, it would be an empty, self-serving witness. But an independent witness confirms me, the most reliable Witness of all. Furthermore, you all saw and heard John, and he gave expert and reliable testimony about me, didn’t he?
34-38 “But my purpose is not to get your vote, and not to appeal to mere human testimony. I’m speaking to you this way so that you will be saved. John was a torch, blazing and bright, and you were glad enough to dance for an hour or so in his bright light. But the witness that really confirms me far exceeds John’s witness. It’s the work the Father gave me to complete. These very tasks, as I go about completing them, confirm that the Father, in fact, sent me. The Father who sent me, confirmed me. And you missed it. You never heard his voice, you never saw his appearance. There is nothing left in your memory of his Message because you do not take his Messenger seriously.
* * *
39-40 “You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.
41-44 “I’m not interested in crowd approval. And do you know why? Because I know you and your crowds. I know that love, especially God’s love, is not on your working agenda. I came with the authority of my Father, and you either dismiss me or avoid me. If another came, acting self-important, you would welcome him with open arms. How do you expect to get anywhere with God when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring God?
45-47 “But don’t think I’m going to accuse you before my Father. Moses, in whom you put so much stock, is your accuser. If you believed, really believed, what Moses said, you would believe me. He wrote of me. If you won’t take seriously what he wrote, how can I expect you to take seriously what I speak?”
John 5
Contemporary English Version
John 5
Contemporary English Version
Jesus Heals a Sick Man
5 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for another Jewish festival.[a] 2 In the city near the sheep gate was a pool with five porches, and its name in Hebrew was Bethzatha.[b]
3-4 Many sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying close to the pool.[c]
5 Beside the pool was a man who had been sick for 38 years. 6 When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”
7 The man answered, “Sir, I don't have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone else always gets there first.”
8 Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat and walk!” 9 Right then the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking around. The day on which this happened was a Sabbath.
10 (A) When the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat, they said to him, “This is the Sabbath! No one is allowed to carry a mat on the Sabbath.”
11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me to pick up my mat and walk.”
12 They asked him, “Who is this man that told you to pick up your mat and walk?” 13 But he did not know who Jesus was, and Jesus had left because of the crowd.
14 Later, Jesus met the man in the temple and told him, “You are now well. But don't sin anymore or something worse might happen to you.” 15 The man left and told the leaders that Jesus was the one who had healed him. 16 They started making a lot of trouble for Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus said, “My Father has never stopped working, and this is why I keep on working.” 18 (B) Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said God was his Father, which made him equal with God.
The Son's Authority
19 Jesus told the people:
I tell you for certain the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do. 20 The Father loves the Son and has shown him everything he does. The Father will show him even greater things, and you will be amazed. 21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants to.
22 The Father doesn't judge anyone, but he has made his Son the judge of everyone. 23 The Father wants all people to honor the Son as much as they honor him. When anyone refuses to honor the Son, this is the same as refusing to honor the Father who sent him. 24 I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life.
25 I tell you for certain the time will come, and it is already here, when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen to it will live! 26 The Father has the power to give life, and he has given that same power to the Son. 27 And he has given his Son the right to judge everyone, because he is the Son of Man.
28 Don't be surprised! The time will come when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man, 29 (C) and they will come out of their graves. Everyone who has done good things will rise to life, but everyone who has done evil things will rise and be condemned.
30 I cannot do anything on my own. The Father sent me, and he is the one who told me how to judge. I judge with fairness, because I obey him, and I don't just try to please myself.
Witnesses to Jesus
31 If I speak for myself, there is no way to prove I am telling the truth. 32 But there is someone else who speaks for me, and I know what he says is true. 33 (D) You sent messengers to John, and he told them the truth. 34 I don't depend on what people say about me, but I tell you these things so that you may be saved. 35 (E) John was a lamp that gave a lot of light, and you were glad to enjoy his light for a while.
36 But something more important than John speaks for me. I mean the things that the Father has given me to do! All of these speak for me and prove that the Father sent me.
37 (F) The Father who sent me also speaks for me, but you have never heard his voice or seen him face to face. 38 You have not believed his message, because you refused to have faith in the one he sent.
39 (G) You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me, 40 but you refuse to come to me for eternal life.
41 I don't care about human praise, 42 but I do know that none of you love God. 43 I have come with my Father's authority, and you have not welcomed me. But you will welcome people who come on their own. 44 How could you possibly believe? You like to have your friends praise you, and you don't care about praise that the only God can give!
45 Don't think that I will be the one to accuse you to the Father. You have put your hope in Moses, yet he is the very one who will accuse you. 46 Moses wrote about me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. 47 But if you don't believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?
Footnotes
- 5.1 another Jewish festival: Either the Festival of Shelters or Passover.
- 5.2 Bethzatha: Some manuscripts have “Bethesda” and others have “Bethsaida.”
- 5.3,4 pool: Some manuscripts add, “They were waiting for the water to be stirred, because an angel from the Lord would sometimes come down and stir it. The first person to get into the pool after that would be healed.”
John 5
21st Century King James Version
John 5
21st Century King James Version
5 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
3 In these lay a great multitude of invalid folk — blind, halt, withered — waiting for the moving of the water.
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first stepped in, after the troubling of the water, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
5 And a certain man was there who had an infirmity for thirty and eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been in that state a long time, He said unto him, “Wilt thou be made whole?”
7 The infirm man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool; but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.”
8 Jesus said unto him, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”
9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.
10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, “It is the Sabbath day; it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.”
11 He answered them, “He that made me whole said unto me, ‘Take up thy bed and walk.’”
12 Then they asked him, “What man is that who said unto thee, ‘Take up thy bed and walk’?”
13 And he that was healed knew not who it was, for Jesus had removed Himself away, a multitude being in that place.
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said unto him, “Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”
15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole.
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day.
17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, “Verily, verily I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son and showeth Him all things that He Himself doeth; and He will show Him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will.
22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son,
23 that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father who hath sent Him.
24 Verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth My Word and believeth in Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
25 “Verily, verily I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.
26 For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,
27 and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
28 Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice
29 and shall come forth — they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
30 “I can of Mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father who hath sent Me.
31 If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.
32 There is Another that beareth witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesseth of Me is true.
33 “Ye sent unto John, and he bore witness unto the truth.
34 But I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
35 He was a burning and a shining light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
36 But I have greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given Me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of Me that the Father hath sent Me.
37 And the Father Himself, who hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape.
38 And ye have not His Word abiding in you; for Whom He hath sent, Him ye believe not.
39 “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and it is they which testify of Me.
40 And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life!
41 I receive not honor from men.
42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
43 I have come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
44 How can ye believe, who receive honor one from another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?
45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me.
47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?”
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
21st Century King James Version (KJ21)
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.