⁶ “This is what the Lord says, He who is the ^(A)King of Israel and his ^(B)Redeemer, the Lord of armies:

The Foolishness of Idolatry

⁹ Those who fashion an idol are all futile, and their treasured things are of no benefit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be ^(J)put to shame. ¹⁰ Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to ^(K)no benefit? ¹¹ Behold, all his companions will be ^(L)put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them be put to shame together.

¹² The ^(M)craftsman of iron shapes a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, ^[c]fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and ^[d]his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. ^13 (N)The craftsman of wood extends a measuring line; he outlines it with a marker. He works it with carving knives and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of ^(O)mankind, so that it may sit in a ^(P)house. ¹⁴ He will cut cedars for himself, and he takes a holm-oak or another oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel tree, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵ Then it becomes something for a person to burn, so he takes one of them and gets warm; he also makes a fire and bakes bread. He also ^(Q)makes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image and ^(R)bows down before it. ¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat, he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” ¹⁷ Yet the rest of it he ^(S)makes into a god, his carved image. He bows down before it and worships; he also ^(T)prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸ They do not ^(U)know, nor do they understand, for He has ^(V)smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. ¹⁹ No one ^[e]remembers, nor is there ^(W)knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then ^[f]I make the rest of it into an ^(X)abomination, ^[g]I bow down before a block of wood!” ²⁰ He ^[h](Y)feeds on ashes; a ^(Z)deceived heart has misled him. And he cannot save ^[i]himself, nor say, “^(AA)Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

God Forgives and Redeems

⁵ This is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who ^(A)lead my people astray:

^35 (A)And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and ^(B)prayed there for a time. ³⁶ Simon and his companions eagerly searched for Him; ³⁷ and they found Him and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” ³⁸ He *said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may also ^[a]preach there; for this is why I came.” ^39 (C)And He went into their synagogues ^[b]preaching throughout Galilee, and casting out the demons.

^40 (D)And a man with ^[c]leprosy *came to ^[d]Jesus, imploring Him and ^(E)kneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and *said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, ⁴⁴ and He *said to him, “^(F)See that you say nothing to anyone; but ^(G)go, show yourself to the priest and ^(H)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ But he went out and began to ^(I)proclaim it ^[e]freely and to ^(J)spread the news around, to such an extent that ^[f]Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ^[g]stayed out in unpopulated areas; and ^(K)they were coming to Him from everywhere.

⁴³ And after ^(A)the two days, He departed from there for Galilee. ⁴⁴ For Jesus Himself testified that ^(B)a prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵ So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, only because ^(C)they had seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

Healing an Official’s Son

⁴⁶ Therefore He came again to ^(D)Cana of Galilee, ^(E)where He had made the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at ^(F)Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come ^(G)from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see ^[a](H)signs and ^(I)wonders, you simply will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The royal official *said to Him, “^[b]Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus *said to him, “^(J)Go; your son ^[c]is alive.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went home. ⁵¹ And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his ^[d]son was ^[e]alive. ⁵² So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the ^[f]seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son is alive”; and he himself believed, and ^(K)his entire household. ⁵⁴ This is again a ^(L)second ^[g]sign that Jesus performed when He had ^(M)come from Judea into Galilee.

The Healing at Bethesda

5 After these things there was ^(N)a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now in Jerusalem, by ^(O)the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which ^(P)in ^[h]Hebrew is called ^[i]Bethesda, having five ^[j]porticoes. ³ In these porticoes lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or ^[k]paralyzed.^{[l] 5} Now a man was there who had been ^[m]ill for thirty-eight years. ⁶ Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, *said to him, “Do you want to get well?” ⁷ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus *said to him, “^(Q)Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” ⁹ Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.

^(R)Now it was a Sabbath on that day.