The Third Sign: Healing the Sick

After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.(A) By the Sheep Gate(B) in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda[a] in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.[b]

One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time,(C) he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,”(D) the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

“Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath,(E) 10 and so the Jews(F) said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath.(G) The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”

11 He replied, “The man who made me well(H) told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’

12 “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was,(I) because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.[c]

14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple(J) and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” 15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. 5:2 Some mss read Bethzatha; other mss read Bethsaida
  2. 5:3 Some mss include vv. 3b-4:—waiting for the moving of the water, because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had.
  3. 5:13 Lit slipped away, there being a crowd in that place

The Healing at the Pool

Later on, there was another[a] festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem is a pool called Bethesda[b] in Hebrew. It has five colonnades, and under these a large number of sick people were lying—blind, lame, or paralyzed—waiting for the movement of the water.[c] At certain times an angel of the Lord would go down into the pool and stir up the water, and whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.[d]

One particular man was there who had been ill for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps down ahead of me.”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” The man immediately became well, and he picked up his mat and started walking. Now that day was a Sabbath.

10 So the Jewish leaders[e] told the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful 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 it up and walk’?”

13 But the one who had been healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away from the crowd in that place. 14 Later on, Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Look! You have become well. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went off and told the Jewish leaders[f] that it was Jesus who had made him well.

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Footnotes

  1. John 5:1 Other mss. read the
  2. John 5:2 Other mss. read Bethzatha; still other mss. read Bethsaida
  3. John 5:3 Other mss. lack waiting for the movement of the water
  4. John 5:4 Other mss. lack v. 4
  5. John 5:10 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
  6. John 5:15 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews