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Controversy over the Man Born Blind

13 They *brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. 14 (A)Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 (B)So the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 So then some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He (C)does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man do such [a](D)signs?” And (E)there was a division among them. 17 Therefore, they *said to the blind man (F)again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a (G)prophet.”

18 (H)Then, the Jews did not believe it of him that he was blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, 19 and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 So his parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they (I)were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews (J)had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be [b]Christ, (K)he was to be put out of the synagogue. 23 For this reason his parents said, “(L)He is of age; ask him.”

24 Therefore, a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “(M)Give glory to God; we know that (N)this man is a sinner.” 25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “(O)I told you already and you did not (P)listen. Why do you want to listen again? Do you want to become His disciples too?” 28 And they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but (Q)we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, (R)we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and He opened my eyes. 31 We know that (S)God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. 32 [c]Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 (T)If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered and said to him, “(U)You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they (V)put him out.

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Footnotes

  1. John 9:16 Or attesting miracles
  2. John 9:22 The Messiah
  3. John 9:32 Lit From the age it was not heard

13 Then they led the man who had been born blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now Jesus made the mud and smeared it on the man’s eyes on a Sabbath day. 15 So Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.

The man told them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and now I see.”

16 Some Pharisees said, “This man isn’t from God, because he breaks the Sabbath law.” Others said, “How can a sinner do miraculous signs like these?” So they were divided. 17 Some of the Pharisees questioned the man who had been born blind again: “What do you have to say about him, since he healed your eyes?”

He replied, “He’s a prophet.”

Conflict over the healing

18 The Jewish leaders didn’t believe the man had been blind and received his sight until they called for his parents. 19 The Jewish leaders asked them, “Is this your son? Are you saying he was born blind? How can he now see?”

20 His parents answered, “We know he is our son. We know he was born blind. 21 But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who healed his eyes. Ask him. He’s old enough to speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they feared the Jewish authorities. This is because the Jewish authorities had already decided that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That’s why his parents said, “He’s old enough. Ask him.”

24 Therefore, they called a second time for the man who had been born blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know this man is a sinner.”

25 The man answered, “I don’t know whether he’s a sinner. Here’s what I do know: I was blind and now I see.”

26 They questioned him: “What did he do to you? How did he heal your eyes?”

27 He replied, “I already told you, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

28 They insulted him: “You are his disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we don’t know where this man is from.”

30 The man answered, “This is incredible! You don’t know where he is from, yet he healed my eyes! 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners. God listens to anyone who is devout and does God’s will. 32 No one has ever heard of a healing of the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do this.”

34 They responded, “You were born completely in sin! How is it that you dare to teach us?” Then they expelled him.

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