Jesus Heals a Man at a Pool

5 ·Later [^LAfter these things] Jesus went [^Lup] to Jerusalem for a ·special feast [^Lfeast/festival of the Jews]. ² In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches, which is called Bethesda^[a] [^Ca pool of water north of the temple thought to have curative powers] in the Hebrew language [^Creferring to Aramaic, the native language of the Jews at the time]. This pool is near the Sheep Gate. ³ Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed |, and they waited for the water to move. ⁴ ·Sometimes [At a certain time; From time to time] an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had|^[b]. ⁵ A man was lying there who had been ·sick [an invalid; disabled] for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been ·sick [an invalid; disabled] for such a long time, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?”

⁷ The ·sick man [invalid] answered [him], “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water ·starts moving [is stirred up]. While I am coming to the water, someone else always ·gets in [goes down] before me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “·Stand up [^TRise]. Pick up your ·mat [bed; cot] and walk.” ⁹ And immediately the man ·was well [was healed; became whole]; he picked up his ·mat [bed; cot] and began to walk.

The day this happened was a Sabbath day. ¹⁰ So the ·Jews [or Jewish leaders] said to the man who had been healed, “Today is the Sabbath. It is ·against our law [^Lnot lawful/permitted] for you to carry your ·mat [bed; cot] on the Sabbath day [^Cthe fourth commandment prohibited work on the Sabbath, but not specifically this action (Ex. 20:8–11)].”

¹¹ But he answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your ·mat [bed; cot] and walk.’”

¹² Then they asked him, “Who is the man who told you to pick up your ·mat [bed; cot] and walk?”

¹³ But the man who had been healed did not know who it was, because there were many people in that place, and Jesus had ·left [withdrawn; slipped away unnoticed].

¹⁴ Later, Jesus found the man at the Temple [area] and said to him, “See, you are well now. ·Stop sinning [^TSin no more] so that something worse does not happen to you.” [^CSometimes, not always, suffering can be explained by sin.]

¹⁵ Then the man left and told ·his people [the Jewish leaders; ^Lthe Jews] that Jesus was the one who had made him well.