John 5
GOD’S WORD Translation
Jesus Cures a Man at the Bethesda Pool
5 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a Jewish festival.
2 Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It had five porches. 3 Under these porches a large number of sick people—people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed—used to lie.[a] 5 One man, who had been sick for 38 years, was lying there. 6 Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time. So Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?”
7 The sick man answered Jesus, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.”
8 Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.” 9 The man immediately became well, picked up his cot, and walked.
That happened on a day of rest—a holy day. 10 So the Jews told the man who had been healed, “This is a day of rest—a holy day. You’re not allowed to carry your cot today.”
11 The man replied, “The man who made me well told me to pick up my cot and walk.”
12 The Jews asked him, “Who is the man who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 But the man who had been healed didn’t know who Jesus was. (Jesus had withdrawn from the crowd.)
14 Later, Jesus met the man in the temple courtyard and told him, “You’re well now. Stop sinning so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”
15 The man went back to the Jews and told them that Jesus was the man who had made him well.
The Son Is Equal to the Father
16 The Jews began to persecute Jesus because he kept healing people on the day of rest—a holy day. 17 Jesus replied to them, “My Father is working right now, and so am I.”
18 His reply made the Jews more intent on killing him. Not only did he break the laws about the day of rest—a holy day, but also he made himself equal to God when he said repeatedly that God was his Father.
19 Jesus said to the Jews, “I can guarantee this truth: The Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing. Indeed, the Son does exactly what the Father does. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. The Father will show him even greater things to do than these things so that you will be amazed. 21 In the same way that the Father brings back the dead and gives them life, the Son gives life to anyone he chooses.
22 “The Father doesn’t judge anyone. He has entrusted judgment entirely to the Son 23 so that everyone will honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him. 24 I can guarantee this truth: Those who listen to what I say and believe in the one who sent me will have eternal life. They won’t be judged because they have already passed from death to life.
25 “I can guarantee this truth: A time is coming (and is now here) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who respond to it will live. 26 The Father is the source of life, and he has enabled the Son to be the source of life too.
27 “He has also given the Son authority to pass judgment because he is the Son of Man.[b] 28 Don’t be surprised at what I’ve just said. A time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice, 29 and they will come out of their tombs. Those who have done good will come back to life and live. But those who have done evil will come back to life and will be judged. 30 I can’t do anything on my own. As I listen ⌞to the Father⌟, I make my judgments. My judgments are right because I don’t try to do what I want but what the one who sent me wants.
31 “If I testify on my own behalf, what I say isn’t true. 32 Someone else testifies on my behalf, and I know that what he says about me is true. 33 You sent people to John ⌞the Baptizer⌟, and he testified to the truth. 34 But I don’t depend on human testimony. I’m telling you this to save you. 35 John was a lamp that gave off brilliant light. For a time you enjoyed the pleasure of his light. 36 But I have something that testifies more favorably on my behalf than John’s testimony. The tasks that the Father gave me to carry out, these tasks which I perform, testify on my behalf. They prove that the Father has sent me. 37 The Father who sent me testifies on my behalf. You have never heard his voice, and you have never seen his form. 38 So you don’t have the Father’s message within you, because you don’t believe in the person he has sent. 39 You study the Scriptures in detail because you think you have the source of eternal life in them. These Scriptures testify on my behalf. 40 Yet, you don’t want to come to me to get ⌞eternal⌟ life.
41 “I don’t accept praise from humans. 42 But I know what kind of people you are. You don’t have any love for God. 43 I have come with the authority my Father has given me, but you don’t accept me. If someone else comes with his own authority, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe when you accept each other’s praise and don’t look for the praise that comes from the only God?
45 “Don’t think that I will accuse you in the presence of the Father. Moses, the one you trust, is already accusing you. 46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me. Moses wrote about me. 47 If you don’t believe what Moses wrote, how will you ever believe what I say?”
Footnotes
- 5:3 Some manuscripts and translations add verses 3b–4: “They would wait for the water to move. People believed that at a certain time an angel from the Lord would go into the pool and stir up the water. The first person who would step into the water after it was stirred up would be cured from whatever disease he had.”
- 5:27 “Son of Man ” is a name Jesus called himself to show that he was not only God’s Son but also human.
John 5
Christian Standard Bible
The Third Sign: Healing the Sick
5 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.(A) 2 By the Sheep Gate(B) in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda[a] in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. 3 Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.[b]
5 One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time,(C) he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,”(D) the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”
8 “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” 9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.
Now that day was the Sabbath,(E) 10 and so the Jews(F) said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath.(G) The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”
11 He replied, “The man who made me well(H) told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was,(I) because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.[c]
14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple(J) and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” 15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.(K) 16 Therefore, the Jews began persecuting(L) Jesus[d] because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.(M)
Honoring the Father and the Son
17 Jesus responded to them, “My Father(N) is still working, and I am working also.” 18 This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him:(O) Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.
19 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[e] does, the Son likewise does these things.(P) 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works(Q) than these so that you will be amazed. 21 And just as the Father raises(R) the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.(S) 22 The Father,(T) in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.(U) Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.(V)
Life and Judgment
24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life(W) and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
25 “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here,(X) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.(Y) 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son(Z) to have life in himself. 27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgment,(AA) because he is the Son of Man.(AB) 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.
30 “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment(AC) is just,(AD) because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.(AE)
Witnesses to Jesus
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.(AF) 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth.(AG) 34 I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 John[f](AH) was a burning and shining lamp,(AI) and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.(AJ)
36 “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish.(AK) These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent(AL) me. 37 The Father who sent me has himself testified(AM) about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.(AN) 38 You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent. 39 You pore over the Scriptures(AO) because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.(AP) 40 But you are not willing(AQ) to come to me(AR) so that you may have life.
41 “I do not accept glory(AS) from people, 42 but I know you—that you have no love for God(AT) within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name,(AU) and yet you don’t accept me.(AV) 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 don’t seek the glory that comes from the only(AW) God?(AX) 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses,(AY) on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you don’t believe what he wrote,(AZ) how will you believe my words?”(BA)
Footnotes
- 5:2 Some mss read Bethzatha; other mss read Bethsaida
- 5:3 Some mss include vv. 3b-4:—waiting for the moving of the water, 4 because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had.
- 5:13 Lit slipped away, there being a crowd in that place
- 5:16 Other mss add and trying to kill him
- 5:19 Lit whatever that one
- 5:35 Lit That man
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