约翰福音 5
Chinese Standard Bible (Simplified)
治愈池边的病人
5 这些事以后，犹太人的一个节日到了，耶稣就上耶路撒冷去。 2 在耶路撒冷的羊门附近有一个池子，希伯来语[a]叫做“贝示达[b]”，那里有五道柱廊。 3 柱廊里躺着一群患病的，有瞎眼的、瘸腿的、瘫痪的。他们正等着池水动起来， 4 因为主的天使按时下到池子里搅动池水。每次水动起来时，第一个下到池子里的人，无论患什么病都会痊愈。[c]
5 那里有一个人，病了三十八年。 6 耶稣见这个人躺在那里，知道他已经病了很久，就问他：“你想痊愈吗？”
7 那个病人回答：“先生，池水被搅动的时候，没有人把我放进池子里；而正当我要下去的时候，别人总比我先下去。”
8 耶稣对他说：“起来，拿起你的垫子走路吧！” 9 那个人立刻痊愈了，就拿起他的垫子开始走路。
那天是安息日， 10 所以那些犹太人对那得了痊愈的人说：“今天是安息日，你拿着垫子是不可以的！”
11 他就回答：“是那个使我痊愈的人对我说‘拿起你的垫子走路吧。’”
12 他们问：“对你说‘拿起[d]垫子走路’的那个人是谁？” 13 那得了痊愈的人并不知道他是谁，因为那里有一群人，而耶稣已经抽身离去了。
14 这些事以后，耶稣在圣殿里找到他，对他说：“看，你已经痊愈了。不要再犯罪，免得更严重的事临到你。” 15 那个人就去向那些犹太人报告说，使他痊愈的是耶稣。
父与子
16 那些犹太人之所以逼迫耶稣，[e]是因为他在安息日做这些事。 17 耶稣却对他们说：“直到如今，我父在做工，我也在做工。” 18 为此，那些犹太人更想要杀他，因为他不仅干犯了安息日，还称神是他的父，把自己当做与神同等的。
19 耶稣对他们说：“我确确实实地告诉你们：子凭着自己什么也不能做，只有看见父所做的，子才能做，因为父所做的事，子也同样地做。 20 原来，父喜爱子，把自己所做的一切都给他看，还要把比这些更大的事给他看，使你们感到惊奇。 21 因为父怎样使死人复活，赐他们生命，子也照样按自己的意愿赐人生命。 22 事实上，父并不审判任何人，而把一切审判的事都交给了子， 23 好使所有的人都尊重子，就像尊重父那样。不尊重子的，就是不尊重派他来的父。
生命与审判
24 “我确确实实地告诉你们：谁听我的话，又相信派我来的那一位，谁就有永恒的生命。他不但不被定罪，而且已经出死入生了。
25 “我确确实实地告诉你们：时候就要到了，现在就是了！当死人听见神儿子的声音时，听到的人就将活了。 26 原来，父怎样在自己里面有生命，也照样使子在自己里面有生命； 27 并且把审判的权柄交给了他，因为他是人子。 28 你们不要为此感到惊奇：时候就要到了！那时所有在坟墓里的人，都会听到他的声音， 29 并且要出来——行善的人复活得生命，作恶的人复活被定罪。
30 “我凭自己什么也不能做。我怎么听见，就怎么审判，而且我的审判是公义的，因为我不求自己的意思，而求那派我来者[f]的意思。
为子做见证
31 “如果我为自己做见证，我的见证就无效[g]。 32 为我做见证的另有一位，并且我知道，他为我做的见证是有效[h]的。 33 你们曾经派人到约翰那里，他为真理做了见证。 34 其实我所接受的见证不是从人来的。不过我说这些话，是为了要你们得救。 35 约翰是一盏燃烧发光的灯，你们情愿在他的光里快乐一时。
36 “我有比约翰更大的见证，因为父交给我工作要我去完成。我现在做的这些工作正为我见证：就是父差派了我。 37 派我来的父也亲自为我做了见证。你们从来没有听到他的声音，也没有看到他的相貌， 38 更没有把他的话语[i]存在你们里面，因为你们不信他所派来的那一位。 39 你们查考经文，因你们以为从中可以得到永恒的生命。其实这经文就是为我做见证的。 40 可是你们不肯到我这里来得生命。
41 “我不接受从人而来的荣耀。 42 不过我了解你们，你们里面没有属神的爱。 43 我奉我父的名来了，你们却不接受我；如果有别人奉自己的名而来，你们倒会接受他。 44 你们彼此接受荣耀，却不寻求从独一的神而来的荣耀，那怎么能信呢？ 45 不要以为我将要在父面前控告你们，有一位控告你们的，就是你们所仰赖的摩西。 46 事实上，如果你们信摩西，就会信我，因为他写了关于我的事； 47 如果你们不相信他所写的，又怎么会相信我的话呢？”
John 5
The Voice
5 When these events were completed, Jesus led His followers to Jerusalem where they would celebrate a Jewish feast[a] together.
Jesus takes His disciples into one of the most miserable places they have ever seen. The suffering and impurity is frightening, but He comes to serve these precious people.
2-3 In Jerusalem they came upon a pool by the sheep gate surrounded by five covered porches. In Hebrew this place is called Bethesda.
Crowds of people lined the area, lying around the porches. All of these people were disabled in some way; some were blind, lame, paralyzed, or plagued by diseases[; and they were waiting for the waters to move. 4 From time to time, a heavenly messenger would come to stir the water in the pool. Whoever reached the water first and got in after it was agitated would be healed of his or her disease].[b] 5-6 In the crowd, Jesus noticed one particular man who had been living with his disability for 38 years. He knew this man had been waiting here a long time.
Jesus (to the disabled man): Are you here in this place hoping to be healed?
Disabled Man: 7 Kind Sir, I wait, like all of these people, for the waters to stir; but I cannot walk. If I am to be healed in the waters, someone must carry me into the pool. Without a helping hand, someone else beats me to the water’s edge each time it is stirred.
Jesus: 8 Stand up, carry your mat, and walk.
9 At the moment Jesus uttered these words, a healing energy coursed through the man and returned life to his limbs—he stood and walked for the first time in 38 years. But this was the Sabbath Day; and any work, including carrying a mat, was prohibited on this day.
It is impossible to imagine this man’s excitement. His entire life has been defined by his illness. Now he is free from it. Free from the pain and weakness. Free from the depression that gripped his soul. Free, too, from the shame he always knew. Now he does not just walk—he runs and celebrates with friends and family. Everyone is rejoicing with him, except for some of the Jewish leaders. Instead, they drill him with questions as if they can disregard this miracle.
Jewish Leaders (to the man who had been healed): 10 Must you be reminded that it is the Sabbath? You are not allowed to carry your mat today!
Formerly Disabled Man: 11 The man who healed me gave me specific instructions to carry my mat and go.
Jewish Leaders: 12 Who is the man who gave you these instructions? How can we identify Him?
13 The man genuinely did not know who it was that healed him. In the midst of the crowd and the excitement of his renewed health, Jesus had slipped away. 14 Some time later, Jesus found him in the temple and again spoke to him.
Jesus: Take a look at your body; it has been made whole and strong. So avoid a life of sin, or else a calamity greater than any disability may befall you.
15 The man went immediately to tell the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the mysterious healer. 16 So they began pursuing and attacking Jesus because He performed these miracles on the Sabbath.
Jesus (to His attackers): 17 My Father is at work. So I, too, am working.
This issue keeps arising from the Jewish leaders. They do not appreciate the good things Jesus does on the Sabbath. Most Jews cower at the rebuke from these men, but Jesus does not. He is very clear about this. He cares for the poor, the sick, and the marginalized more than He cares for how some people may interpret and apply God’s law. It is easy to follow a set of rules; it is much harder to care for the things of the heart. He also makes it clear that those who follow His path are put on earth to serve. His followers’ service comes out of love for Him. All who follow Him are to love and to serve, especially on the Sabbath.
18 He was justifying the importance of His work on the Sabbath, claiming God as His Father in ways that suggested He was equal to God. These pious religious leaders sought an opportunity to kill Jesus, and these words fueled their hatred.
Jesus: 19 The truth is that the Son does nothing on His own; all these actions are led by the Father. The Son watches the Father closely and then mimics the work of the Father. 20 The Father loves the Son, so He does not hide His actions. Instead, He shows Him everything, and the things not yet revealed by the Father will dumbfound you. 21 The Father can give life to those who are dead; in the same way, the Son can give the gift of life to those He chooses.
22 The Father does not exert His power to judge anyone. Instead, He has given the authority as Judge to the Son. 23 So all of creation will honor and worship the Son as they do the Father. If you do not honor the Son, then you dishonor the Father who sent Him.
24 I tell you the truth: eternal life belongs to those who hear My voice and believe in the One who sent Me. These people have no reason to fear judgment because they have already left death and entered life.
25 I tell you the truth: a new day is imminent—in fact, it has arrived—when the voice of the Son of God will penetrate death’s domain, and everyone who hears will live. 26-27 You see, the Father radiates with life; and He also animates the Son of God with the same life-giving beauty and power to exercise judgment over all of creation. Indeed, the Son of God is also the Son of Man. 28 If this sounds amazing to you, what is even more amazing is that when the time comes, those buried long ago will hear His voice through all the rocks, sod, and soil 29 and step out of decay into resurrection. When this hour arrives, those who did good will be resurrected to life, and those who did evil will be resurrected to judgment.
30 I have not ever acted, and will not in the future act, on My own. I listen to the directions of the One who sent Me and act on these divine instructions. For this reason, My judgment is always fair and never self-serving. I’m committed to pursuing God’s agenda and not My own.
31 If I stand as the lone witness to My true identity, then I can be dismissed as a liar. 32 But if you listen, you will hear another testify about Me, and I know what He says about Me is genuine and true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he told the truth to everyone who would listen. 34 Still his message about Me originated in heaven, not in mortal man. I am telling you these things for one reason—so that you might be rescued. 35 The voice of John the Baptist, the wandering prophet, is like a light in the darkness; and for a time, you took great joy and pleasure in the light he offered.
36 There’s another witness standing in My corner who is greater than John or any other man. The mission that brings Me here, and the things I am called to do, demonstrate the authenticity of My calling which comes directly from the Father. 37 In the act of sending Me, the Father has endorsed Me. None of you really knows the Father. You have never heard His voice or seen His profile. 38 His word does not abide in you because you do not believe in the One sent by the Father.
39 Here you are scouring through the Scriptures, hoping that you will find eternal life among a pile of scrolls. What you don’t seem to understand is that the Scriptures point to Me. 40 Here I am with you, and still you reject the truth contained in the law and prophets by refusing to come to Me so that you can have life.
Jesus is the source of life, the animating energy of creation that humanity desperately lacks.
41 This kind of glory does not come from mortal men. 42 And I see that you do not possess the love of God. 43 I have pursued you, coming here in My Father’s name, and you have turned Me away. If someone else were to approach you with a different set of credentials, you would welcome him. 44 That’s why it is hard to see how true faith is even possible for you: you are consumed by the approval of other men, longing to look good in their eyes; and yet you disregard the approval of the one true God. 45 Don’t worry that I might bring you up on charges before My Father. Moses is your accuser even though you’ve put your hope in him 46 because if you believed what Moses had to say, then you would believe in Me because he wrote about Me. 47 But if you ignore Moses and the deeper meaning of his writings, then how will you ever believe what I have to say?
Copyright © 2011 by Global Bible Initiative
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.