Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, (A)“Rabbi, (B)who sinned, (C)this man or (D)his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but (E)that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must (F)work the works of him who sent me (G)while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, (H)I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, (I)he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. (J)Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in (K)the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and (L)came back seeing.

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, (M)“Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, (N)“The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 (O)Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 (P)So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not (Q)from God, (R)for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, (S)“How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And (T)there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, (U)“He is a prophet.”

18 (V)The Jews[a] did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things (W)because they feared the Jews, for (X)the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should (Y)confess Jesus[b] to be Christ, (Z)he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, (AA)“He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, (AB)“Give glory to God. We know that (AC)this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I (AD)was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, (AE)“I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but (AF)we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, (AG)we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is (AH)an amazing thing! (AI)You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that (AJ)God does not listen to sinners, but (AK)if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 (AL)If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, (AM)“You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they (AN)cast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in (AO)the Son of Man?”[c] 36 He answered, (AP)“And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and (AQ)it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, (AR)“For judgment I came into this world, (AS)that those who do not see may see, and (AT)those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, (AU)“Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, (AV)you would have no guilt;[d] but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Footnotes

  1. John 9:18 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 22
  2. John 9:22 Greek him
  3. John 9:35 Some manuscripts the Son of God
  4. John 9:41 Greek you would not have sin

Jesus Heals a Blind Man

As he was walking along, he observed a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi,[a] who sinned, this man or his parents, that caused him to be born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. This happened so that[b] God’s work might be revealed in him. I[c] must do the work of the one who sent me[d] while it is day. Night is approaching, when no one can work. As long as I’m in the world, I’m the light of the world.” After saying this, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he spread the mud on the man’s eyes and told him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated “Sent One”). So he went off, washed, and came back seeing.

Then the neighbors and those who had previously seen him as a beggar said, “This is the man who used to sit and beg, isn’t it?”

Some were saying, “It’s him,” while others were saying, “No, but it’s someone like him.”

But he himself kept saying, “It’s me!”

10 So they asked him, “How, then, did you gain your eyesight?”

11 He said, “The man named Jesus made some mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So off I went and washed, and I received my sight.”

12 They asked him, “Where is that man?”

He said, “I don’t know!”

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

13 So they brought to the Pharisees the man who had once been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and healed[e] his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had gained his sight. He told them, “He put mud on my eyes, then I washed, and now I can see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees began to remark, “This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.

17 So they asked the formerly[f] blind man again, “What do you say about him, since it was your eyes he healed?”[g]

He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jewish leaders[h] did not believe that the man[i] had been blind and had gained sight until they summoned his parents[j] 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How does he now see?”

20 His parents replied, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But we don’t know how it is that he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders,[k] since the Jewish leaders[l] had already agreed that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus[m] was the Messiah[n] would be thrown out of the synagogue. 23 That’s why his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”

24 The Jewish leaders[o] summoned the man who had been blind a second time and told him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”

25 But he responded, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner or not. The one thing I do know is that I used to be blind and now I can see!”

26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he heal[p] your eyes?”

27 He answered them, “I’ve already told you, but you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples, too, do you?”

28 At this, they turned on him in fury and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but we do not know where this fellow comes from.”

30 The man answered them, “This is an amazing thing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he healed[q] my eyes. 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he does listen to anyone who worships him and does his will. 32 Ever since creation it has never been heard that anyone healed[r] the eyes of a man who was born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do anything like that.”

34 They asked him, “You were born a sinner[s] and you are trying to instruct us?” And they threw him out.

Spiritual Blindness

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. So when he found him, he asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[t]

36 He answered, “And who is he, sir?[u] Tell me,[v] so that I may believe in him.”

37 Jesus told him, “You have seen him. He is the person who is talking with you.”

38 He said, “Lord, I do believe,” and worshipped him.

39 Then Jesus said, “I have come into this world to judge it, so that those who are blind may see and so that those who see may become blind.”

40 Some of the Pharisees who were near him overheard this and asked him, “We aren’t blind, too, are we?”

41 Jesus told them, “If you were blind, you would not have any sin. But now that you insist, ‘We see,’ your sin still exists.”

Footnotes

  1. John 9:2 Rabbi is Heb. for Master and/or Teacher
  2. John 9:3 Lit. But so that
  3. John 9:4 Other mss. read We
  4. John 9:4 Other mss. read us
  5. John 9:14 Lit. opened
  6. John 9:17 The Gk. lacks formerly
  7. John 9:17 Lit. opened
  8. John 9:18 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. The Jews
  9. John 9:18 Lit. believe about him that he
  10. John 9:18 Lit. the parents of the man who had been given sight
  11. John 9:22 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
  12. John 9:22 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
  13. John 9:22 Lit. he
  14. John 9:22 Or Christ
  15. John 9:24 Lit. They
  16. John 9:26 Lit. open
  17. John 9:30 Lit. opened
  18. John 9:32 Lit. opened
  19. John 9:34 Lit. born entirely in sins
  20. John 9:35 Other mss. read Son of God
  21. John 9:36 Or Lord
  22. John 9:36 The Gk. lacks Tell me