Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.(A) Jesus’ mother(B) was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman,[a](C) why do you involve me?”(D) Jesus replied. “My hour(E) has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”(F)

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,(G) each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[b]

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.(H) He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs(I) through which he revealed his glory;(J) and his disciples believed in him.(K)

12 After this he went down to Capernaum(L) with his mother(M) and brothers(N) and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts(O)

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,(P) Jesus went up to Jerusalem.(Q) 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves,(R) and others sitting at tables exchanging money.(S) 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house(T) into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”[c](U)

18 The Jews(V) then responded to him, “What sign(W) can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”(X)

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”(Y)

20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.(Z) 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.(AA) Then they believed the scripture(AB) and the words that Jesus had spoken.

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,(AC) many people saw the signs(AD) he was performing and believed(AE) in his name.[d] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind,(AF) for he knew what was in each person.(AG)

Footnotes

  1. John 2:4 The Greek for Woman does not denote any disrespect.
  2. John 2:6 Or from about 75 to about 115 liters
  3. John 2:17 Psalm 69:9
  4. John 2:23 Or in him

Chapter 2

The Wedding at Cana. [a]On the third day there was a wedding[b] in Cana[c] in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.(A) Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” [d][And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”(B) His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”(C) [e]Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,(D) each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”[f] So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs[g] in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.(E)

12 [h]After this, he and his mother, [his] brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there only a few days.[i]

Cleansing of the Temple. 13 [j]Since the Passover[k] of the Jews was near,(F) Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 [l]He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,[m] as well as the money-changers seated there.(G) 15 He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, 16 and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”(H) 17 [n]His disciples recalled the words of scripture,(I) “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?”(J) 19 Jesus answered and said to them,[o](K) “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,[p] and you will raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.(L)

23 While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing.(M) 24 But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, 25 and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.(N)

Footnotes

  1. 2:1–6:71 Signs revealing Jesus as the Messiah to all Israel. “Sign” (sēmeion) is John’s symbolic term for Jesus’ wondrous deeds (see Introduction). The Old Testament background lies in the Exodus story (cf. Dt 11:3; 29:2). John is interested primarily in what the sēmeia signify: God’s intervention in human history in a new way through Jesus.
  2. 2:1–11 The first sign. This story of replacement of Jewish ceremonial washings (Jn 2:6) presents the initial revelation about Jesus at the outset of his ministry. He manifests his glory; the disciples believe. There is no synoptic parallel.
  3. 2:1 Cana: unknown from the Old Testament. The mother of Jesus: she is never named in John.
  4. 2:4 This verse may seek to show that Jesus did not work miracles to help his family and friends, as in the apocryphal gospels. Woman: a normal, polite form of address, but unattested in reference to one’s mother. Cf. also Jn 19:26. How does your concern affect me?: literally, “What is this to me and to you?”—a Hebrew expression of either hostility (Jgs 11:12; 2 Chr 35:21; 1 Kgs 17:18) or denial of common interest (Hos 14:9; 2 Kgs 3:13). Cf. Mk 1:24; 5:7 used by demons to Jesus. My hour has not yet come: the translation as a question (“Has not my hour now come?”), while preferable grammatically and supported by Greek Fathers, seems unlikely from a comparison with Jn 7:6, 30. The “hour” is that of Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection, and ascension (Jn 13:1).
  5. 2:6 Twenty to thirty gallons: literally, “two or three measures”; the Attic liquid measure contained 39.39 liters. The vast quantity recalls prophecies of abundance in the last days; cf. Am 9:13–14; Hos 14:7; Jer 31:12.
  6. 2:8 Headwaiter: used of the official who managed a banquet, but there is no evidence of such a functionary in Palestine. Perhaps here a friend of the family acted as master of ceremonies; cf. Sir 32:1.
  7. 2:11 The beginning of his signs: the first of seven (see Introduction).
  8. 2:12–3:21 The next three episodes take place in Jerusalem. Only the first is paralleled in the synoptic gospels.
  9. 2:12 This transitional verse may be a harmonization with the synoptic tradition in Lk 4:31 and Mt 4:13. There are many textual variants. John depicts no extended ministry in Capernaum as do the synoptics.
  10. 2:13–22 This episode indicates the post-resurrectional replacement of the temple by the person of Jesus.
  11. 2:13 Passover: this is the first Passover mentioned in John; a second is mentioned in Jn 6:4; a third in Jn 13:1. Taken literally, they point to a ministry of at least two years.
  12. 2:14–22 The other gospels place the cleansing of the temple in the last days of Jesus’ life (Matthew, on the day Jesus entered Jerusalem; Mark, on the next day). The order of events in the gospel narratives is often determined by theological motives rather than by chronological data.
  13. 2:14 Oxen, sheep, and doves: intended for sacrifice. The doves were the offerings of the poor (Lv 5:7). Money-changers: for a temple tax paid by every male Jew more than nineteen years of age, with a half-shekel coin (Ex 30:11–16), in Syrian currency. See note on Mt 17:24.
  14. 2:17 Ps 69:10, changed to future tense to apply to Jesus.
  15. 2:19 This saying about the destruction of the temple occurs in various forms (Mt 24:2; 27:40; Mk 13:2; 15:29; Lk 21:6; cf. Acts 6:14). Mt 26:61 has: “I can destroy the temple of God…”; see note there. In Mk 14:58, there is a metaphorical contrast with a new temple: “I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build another not made with hands.” Here it is symbolic of Jesus’ resurrection and the resulting community (see Jn 2:21 and Rev 21:2). In three days: an Old Testament expression for a short, indefinite period of time; cf. Hos 6:2.
  16. 2:20 Forty-six years: based on references in Josephus (Jewish Wars 1:401; Antiquities 15:380), possibly the spring of A.D. 28. Cf. note on Lk 3:1.

变水为酒

第三天,在加利利迦拿有一个婚宴。耶稣的母亲在那里, 耶稣和他的门徒们也被邀请赴宴。 酒用尽了,耶稣的母亲对他说:“他们没有酒了。”

耶稣对她说:“母亲[a],这与你我有什么关系?我的时候还没有到。”

他的母亲对仆人们说:“他吩咐你们什么,你们就做什么。”

犹太人洁净的规矩,有六口石缸摆在那里。每缸可容两三桶[b]水。

耶稣对仆人们说:“把这些缸装满水。”他们就装满了,直到缸沿。 耶稣又对他们说:“现在舀出来,送去给管宴席的。”他们就送去了。

当管宴席的尝了那水变的酒,并不知道这是从哪里来的,只有舀水的那些仆人知道。管宴席的就叫来新郎, 10 对他说:“人人都是先摆上好酒,等宾客喝醉了,才摆上次等的。你却把好酒留到现在!”

11 耶稣在加利利迦拿行了这头一件神迹,显明了他的荣耀,他的门徒们就信了他。

12 这事以后,耶稣和他的母亲、兄弟以及他的门徒们,都下到迦百农去,在那里住了几天。

洁净圣殿

13 犹太人的逾越节快到了,耶稣上耶路撒冷去。 14 他看见圣殿里有卖牛、羊、鸽子的,还有兑换银币的人坐在那里。 15 耶稣就用绳子做了一条鞭子,把所有的牛、羊都从圣殿里赶出去,倒出兑换银币之人的银币,并推翻了他们的桌子, 16 又对卖鸽子的人说:“把这些东西从这里拿走!不要把我父的殿当成做买卖的地方!”

17 他的门徒们就想起经上记着:“我为你的殿,心火焚烧。”[c]

18 于是那些犹太人问耶稣说:“你做这些事,有什么权柄的[d]凭据给我们看呢?”

19 耶稣回答说:“你们把这圣所毁了吧!三天内我要把它建起来。”

20 那些犹太人说:“这圣所建了四十六年,而你能在三天内把它建起来吗?”

21 其实耶稣所说的圣所,就是指他自己的身体。 22 当他从死人中复活以后,他的门徒们才想起他说过这话,就相信了经上的话和耶稣所说的话。

23 当耶稣在耶路撒冷过逾越节的时候,许多人看见他所行的这些神迹,就信了他的名。 24 但耶稣自己却信不过他们,因为他了解所有的人。 25 他也不需要谁来见证人的事,因为他知道人里面是什么。

Footnotes

  1. 约翰福音 2:4 母亲——原文直译“妇人”。
  2. 约翰福音 2:6 两三桶——原文为“2-3梅翠提斯”;或译作“约一百公升”。1梅翠提斯=39公升。
  3. 约翰福音 2:17 《诗篇》69:9。
  4. 约翰福音 2:18 权柄的——辅助词语。