Add parallel Print Page Options

Jesus makes a blind man able to see

While Jesus was walking along, he saw a certain man. This man had been blind since he was born. Jesus' disciples asked him, ‘Teacher, why was this man blind when he was born? Was it because he himself did something wrong? Or was it because his parents did something wrong?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not because either this man or his parents did something wrong. It happened so that God could show his great work in this man. While it is still day, we must continue to work. God has sent me and we must do his work. We must work now because it will be night soon. Then nobody can work. While I am still here in the world, I am the world's light.’

When Jesus had finished speaking, he spat on the ground. He mixed it with dirt on the ground so that he made mud. Then he put some of the mud on the eyes of the blind man. Jesus said to him, ‘Go and wash in the Siloam pool.’ (The name Siloam means ‘Sent’.) So the man went there and he washed himself. When he returned, now he could see.

People began to talk about him. Some of these people lived near him. Others had seen him when he was asking for money. They said, ‘This is the man who sat here. He asked people to give him money. Isn't that right?’ Some people said, ‘Yes, it is him.’ But other people said, ‘No, it is someone who seems to be like him.’ But the man himself said, ‘I am that man.’

10 They asked him, ‘How did your eyes now become able to see?’ 11 He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made some mud. He put the mud on my eyes. Then he sent me to wash in the Siloam pool. So I went there and I washed. Then I could see.’

12 They asked him, ‘Where is this man?’ He replied, ‘I do not know.’

The Pharisees talk to the man who had been blind

13 The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 It was a Jewish day of rest when Jesus had done this miracle. He had used mud to make the man's eyes able to see. 15 So the Pharisees asked the man again, ‘How did you become able to see?’ The man replied, ‘Jesus put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I can see.’

16 So some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man Jesus cannot have come from God. He does not obey the rules about our day of rest.’ But other Pharisees said, ‘Nobody who is bad could do great things like this!’ So they did not agree with each other. 17 The Pharisees spoke again to the man who had been blind. They said to him, ‘What do you yourself say about this man? It was your eyes he has now made able to see.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’

18 The Jewish leaders still did not believe that the man had really been blind. They did not want to believe that he had now become able to see. So they told the man's parents to come to them. 19 They asked the parents, ‘Is this your son? You say, “When he was born, he was blind.” But now he can see. How did this happen?’ 20 The parents replied, ‘We know that this is our son. And when he was born, he was blind. We know that, too. 21 But we do not know how he can see now. We do not know who made his eyes able to see. Ask him. He is old enough to answer you for himself!’ 22 The man's parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. The Jewish leaders did not want anyone to say that Jesus was the Messiah. They would not let anyone like that belong to their meeting places. 23 That is why the man's parents said, ‘Ask him. He is old enough.’

24 So the leaders again spoke to the man who had been blind. They said to him, ‘In front of God, promise that you will speak only true things. We know that this man Jesus does not obey God.’ 25 The man replied, ‘I do not know whether he obeys God or not. But I do know one thing: I was blind and now I can see.’ 26 Then they asked him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he make your eyes able to see?’ 27 He answered them, ‘I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Maybe you want to become his disciples too!’ 28 Then the leaders were very angry with him. They shouted at him, ‘No, it is you! You are that man's disciple. But we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses. But who is this man? We do not even know where he comes from.’

30 The man answered, ‘That is a very strange thing! You do not know where this man comes from. But he is the one who made my eyes able to see. 31 We know that God does not listen to people who do not obey him. But he does listen to good people who do what he wants them to do. 32 Nobody has ever made the eyes of a blind man able to see, if that man had been blind when he was born. Since the world began, that has never happened! 33 So this man Jesus must have come from God. Unless he came from God, he could not do anything like that.’

34 The Jewish leaders answered him, ‘Since the day that you were born, you have never obeyed God's laws. You cannot teach us anything!’ And they threw him out of the meeting place.

People who do not believe in God are like blind people

35 Jesus heard that the Jewish leaders had thrown the man out. So he went and he found the man. Jesus asked him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ 36 The man answered, ‘Sir, please tell me who he is. Then I can believe in him.’ 37 Jesus said to him, ‘You have already seen him. It is me, the one who is talking to you now.’ 38 Then the man said, ‘Lord, now I believe.’ He bent down on his knees and he worshipped Jesus.

39 Then Jesus said, ‘I came into this world to judge people. Then people who know that they are blind will be able to see. And people who think they can see will become blind.’ 40 Some of the Pharisees who were there with him heard this. They asked Jesus, ‘Do you mean that we are also blind?’ 41 Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, God would not punish you for the wrong things you have done. But you say that you can see. You do wrong things with your eyes open, so God will punish you as guilty people.’

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 Man Born Blind

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi,(A) who sinned,(B) this man(C) or his parents,(D) that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.(E) As long as it is day,(F) we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”(G)

After saying this, he spit(H) on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam”(I) (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.(J)

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”(K) Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”(L)

12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.(M) 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.(N) “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”(O)

But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?”(P) So they were divided.(Q)

17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.”(R)

18 They(S) still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders,(T) who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out(U) of the synagogue.(V) 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”(W)

24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,”(X) they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”(Y)

25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 He answered, “I have told you already(Z) and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses!(AA) 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”(AB)

30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.(AC) 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God,(AD) he could do nothing.”

34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth;(AE) how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.(AF)

Spiritual Blindness

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe(AG) in the Son of Man?”(AH)

36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”(AI)

37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”(AJ)

38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.(AK)

39 Jesus said,[a] “For judgment(AL) I have come into this world,(AM) so that the blind will see(AN) and those who see will become blind.”(AO)

40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”(AP)

41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.(AQ)

Footnotes

  1. John 9:39 Some early manuscripts do not have Then the man said … 39 Jesus said.