John 5
Tree of Life Version
Healing on Shabbat
5 After this there was a Jewish feast, and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now in Jerusalem there is a pool by the sheep gate, called Bethzatha in Aramaic,[a] which has five porches. 3 In these a crowd of invalids was lying around—blind, lame, disabled. (4 )[b]
5 Now a certain man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. 6 Seeing him lying there and knowing he had been that way a long time, Yeshua said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The invalid answered Him, “Sir, I have nobody to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I’m trying to get in, somebody else steps down before me!”
8 Yeshua tells him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!”
9 Immediately, the man was healed! He took up his mat and started walking around. Now that day was Shabbat, 10 so Judean leaders were saying to the man who was healed, “It’s Shabbat! It’s not permitted for you to carry your mat.”
11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” 13 But the man who had been healed didn’t know who it was, for Yeshua had slipped away into the crowd in that place.
14 Afterwards, Yeshua finds him in the Temple. He said to him, “Look, you’ve been healed! Stop sinning, so nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man left and told the Judean leaders that it was Yeshua who had made him well.
Sent by the Father
16 Because Yeshua was doing these things on Shabbat, the Judean leaders started persecuting Him. 17 But Yeshua said to them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 18 So for this reason the Judean leaders kept trying even harder to kill Him—because He was not only breaking Shabbat,[c] but also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
19 Therefore Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen I tell you, the Son cannot do anything by Himself. He can do only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He does. He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He wants. 22 The Father does not judge anyone, but has handed over all judgment to the Son 23 so that all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24 “Amen, amen I tell you, whoever hears My word and trusts the One who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed over from death into life. 25 Amen, amen I tell you, an hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of Ben-Elohim. Those who hear will live! 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. 27 Also He has given the Son authority to judge, because He is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice 29 and come out![d] Those who have done good will come to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil will come to a resurrection of judgment. 30 I can do nothing on My own. Just as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, for I do not seek My own will, but the will of the One who sent Me.”
The Father Testifies about the Son
31 “If I testify about Myself, My witness is not valid. 32 There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony He gives is true. 33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 I do not receive the testimony of man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was the lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice for a while in his light.
36 “But the testimony I have is greater than that from John. The works the Father has given Me to finish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37 And the Father who sent Me has testified concerning Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form. 38 Nor do you have His Word living in you, because you do not trust the One He sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about Me. 40 Yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life!
41 “I do not accept glory from men. 42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me. But if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that comes from God alone?
45 “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. 46 For if you were believing Moses, you would believe Me—because he wrote about Me. 47 But since you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”[e]
Footnotes
- John 5:2 Lit. in Hebrew. Bethesda (Heb.) means House of Mercy. Bethzatha (Aram.) means the place of poured out water.
- John 5:4 ASV adds: They waited for the water to be moved. Other mss. also add verse 4: because an angel of the Lord sometimes went to the pool and moved the water. Then, whoever went into the water first was healed from whatever disease he had.
- John 5:18 cf. Mk. 2:27; Lk. 13:16.
- John 5:29 cf. Ezek. 37:12; Ps. 16:10; Dan. 12:2.
- John 5:47 cf. Deut. 18:15-19.
John 5
EasyEnglish Bible
Jesus makes a man able to walk
5 Some time after that, Jesus went to Jerusalem, because it was time for one of the Jewish festivals.
2 There is a pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. Its name in the Jewish language is Bethesda. Round the pool, there is a building with five places that have a roof over them. 3 A large number of sick people were lying in these places. Some of them were blind. Some of them could not walk properly. Some of them could not move their legs or their arms. [[a] They were waiting for when the water started to move. 4 An angel would go down into the pool at certain times and move the water about. When that happened, all the sick people tried to get into the pool. The first person who got into the water became well, whatever his illness was.]
5 One man who was lying there had been ill for 38 years. 6 Jesus saw this man. He knew that the man had been ill like this for a very long time. So he asked the man, ‘Do you want to get well?’ 7 The sick man said, ‘Sir, I do not have anyone who will help me. I need somebody who will put me into the pool. When the water starts to move, I try to get in. But someone else always gets in before me.’ 8 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ 9 The man became well immediately. He picked up his mat and he walked.
The day when this happened was a Jewish day of rest.[b] 10 Because of this, the Jewish leaders spoke to the man that Jesus had made well. They said to him, ‘You must not carry your mat on our day of rest. You are not obeying the rules.’ 11 The man replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk.” ’ 12 So they asked him, ‘Who is this man? Who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ 13 The man did not know who had made him well. Jesus had gone away and joined the crowd that was there.
14 Some time after that, Jesus found the man in the temple. Jesus said to him, ‘See, you have become well. Stop doing wrong things. If you do not stop, something worse may happen to you.’ 15 Then the man went to the Jewish leaders. He told them that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 The Jewish leaders were angry because Jesus had made a man well on their day of rest.[c] As a result, they began to cause a lot of trouble for Jesus. 17 But Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is still working, and I too must work.’ 18 Because Jesus said this, the Jewish leaders became really angry. They wanted even more to kill him. Jesus not only worked on the day of rest. He was also calling God his own Father, so he was making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus answered them, ‘I tell you this: The Son can do nothing by himself. He sees what the Father does, and he can do only those same things. What the Father does, the Son also does. 20 The Father loves the Son. He shows the Son all the things that he himself does. And the Father will show the Son even greater things to do than these. Those greater things will surprise you even more than what you have already seen. 21 The Father raises dead people to make them alive again. In the same way, the Son gives life to whoever he chooses. 22 More than that, the Father does not judge anyone. He has given authority to the Son, so that the Son will judge all people. 23 Then all people will respect the Son as a great person. They will respect him in the way that they respect the Father. The Father sent the Son. So if people refuse to respect the Son, it shows that they do not respect the Father either.
24 I tell you this: Everyone who hears my message should believe in the Father who sent me. If they believe in me, they will have life for ever with God. God will not say that they are guilty. They are no longer under the power of death. Instead, they have life with God.
25 I tell you this: A time will soon come when those who are dead in their spirits will hear the voice of the Son of God. Yes, it is that time already. Those people who hear that message will receive true life. 26 The Father himself can give people life. In the same way, he has given authority to the Son to give people life. 27 The Father has also given authority to the Son to judge people. That is because I am the Son of Man. 28 Do not be surprised by this. There will be a time when all the dead people will hear the Son's voice. 29 They will come out from under the ground. Those people who have done good things will rise from death and they will live with God. Those people who have done evil things will also rise from death. But they will rise so that God can punish them as guilty people.’
The Father shows who Jesus really is
30 Then Jesus said, ‘I can do nothing by myself. I hear what the Father says to me. Then, because of what he says, I judge people. So I judge in a way that is fair. I am not trying to do what I want for myself. The Father sent me, and I want to do what he wants. 31 If I say great things about myself, nobody would know that my words are true. 32 But there is someone else who speaks about me. I know that what he says about me is true. 33 You have sent your people to ask John about me. What he has told you about me is true. 34 I do not need any man to speak on my behalf. But I am telling you this to help you. Then God will be able to save you. 35 John was like a light that shone brightly. For a certain time, you enjoyed the light that he gave.
36 But it is not only John who shows who I am. There are other things that show it more strongly. My Father has given work to me so that I could finish it. These are the things that I do, and they show who I am. They show clearly that the Father has sent me. 37 Also, the Father himself has spoken about me. You have never heard his voice. And you have never seen his shape. 38 I am the one that he has sent. You do not receive his message because you do not believe in me. 39 You study carefully what the Bible teaches. You think that those books will give you life with God. And it is true, those books do speak about who I am. 40 But then you refuse to come to me so that you may have life with God!
41 I do not think that it is important for people to praise me. 42 But I know what kind of people you are. I know that you do not really love God. 43 I have come with my Father's authority, but you do not accept me. But if someone else comes with his own authority, then you will accept him. 44 You like to praise each other. That makes you happy. But what about God himself? You do not try to do good things so that he will praise you. That is why you will never believe in me.
45 But I will not have to tell the Father that you are guilty. No, it is Moses who will do that. You think that Moses is the one who will show that you are right. But he is the one who will show that you are guilty. 46 Moses wrote about me. So, if you had really believed Moses, you would believe me. 47 But you do not believe what Moses wrote.[d] So you will never believe what I say.’
Footnotes
- 5:3 These words are not in all the copies of John's Gospel.
- 5:9 The Jewish day of rest was the seventh day of the week (Saturday). God had said that Israel's people must not work on that day.
- 5:16 Jesus was obeying his Father, God. And God chose to make the man well on the Jewish day of rest. The man was not really working when he carried his mat. It was not a big heavy thing.
- 5:47 The first five books of the Old Testament in the Bible are called the books of Moses.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.
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