Healing a Daughter of Abraham

¹⁰ As he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath,^{(A) 11} a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit^[a](B) for over eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.^{[b] 12} When Jesus saw her, he called out to her,^[c] “Woman, you are free of your disability.” ¹³ Then he laid his hands on her,^(C) and instantly she was restored^(D) and began to glorify God.^(E)

¹⁴ But the leader of the synagogue, indignant^(F) because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done;^(G) therefore come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.”

¹⁵ But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites!^(H) Doesn’t each one of you untie his ox^(I) or donkey from the feeding trough^(J) on the Sabbath and lead it to water?^{(K) 16} Satan^(L) has bound^(M) this woman, a daughter of Abraham,^(N) for eighteen years—shouldn’t she be untied from this bondage^[d] on the Sabbath day?”

¹⁷ When he had said these things, all his adversaries^(O) were humiliated,^(P) but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things he was doing.^(Q)

The Sixth Sign: Healing a Man Born Blind

9 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi,^(A) who sinned, this man^(B) or his parents,^(C) that he was born blind?”

³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works^(D) might be displayed in him. ⁴ We^[a] must do the works^(E) of him who sent me^[b] while it is day.^(F) Night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”^(G)

⁶ After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud^(H) from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. ⁷ “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam”^(I) (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.^(J)

⁸ His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?” ⁹ Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.”

He kept saying, “I’m the one.”

¹⁰ So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam^(K) and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.”^(L)

¹² “Where is he?” they asked.

“I don’t know,” he said.

The Healed Man’s Testimony

¹³ They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees.^{(M) 14} The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath.^{(N) 15} Then the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight.

“He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.”

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God,^(O) because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man^(P) perform such signs?” And there was a division^(Q) among them.

¹⁷ Again they asked the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?”

“He’s a prophet,”^(R) he said.

¹⁸ The Jews did not believe this about him—that he was blind and received sight—until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.

¹⁹ They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

²⁰ “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. ²¹ “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him as the Messiah,^(S) he would be banned from the synagogue. ²³ This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”

²⁴ So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory^(T) to God.^(U) We know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He answered, “Whether or not he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”

²⁶ Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷ “I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”

²⁸ They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s^(V) disciples. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man—we don’t know where he’s from.”^(W)

³⁰ “This is an amazing thing!” the man told them. “You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners,^(X) but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will,^(Y) he listens to him.^{(Z) 32} Throughout history^[c] no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind.^{(AA) 33} If this man were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”^(AB)

³⁴ “You were born entirely in sin,”^(AC) they replied, “and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.^(AD)

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”^[d](AE)

³⁶ “Who is he, Sir,^(AF) that I may believe in him?” he asked.

³⁷ Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸ “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.

³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world^(AG) for judgment,^(AH) in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.”^(AI)

⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”

⁴¹ “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin.^(AJ) But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

⁸ Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition,^(A) based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.^{(B) 9} For the entire fullness^(C) of God’s nature dwells bodily^[a] in Christ, ¹⁰ and you have been filled by him, who is the head^(D) over every ruler and authority.

¹⁴ He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.^{(A) 15} He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.^[a](B)

¹⁶ Therefore, don’t let anyone judge^(C) you in regard to food and drink^(D) or in the matter of a festival or a new moon^(E) or a Sabbath day.^{[b] 17} These are a shadow^(F) of what was to come;^(G) the substance is^[c] Christ.^(H)