Controversy over the Man

13 They *brought [a]the man who was previously blind to the Pharisees. 14 (A)Now it was a Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 (B)Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied mud to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Therefore 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 man who is a sinner perform such [b](D)signs?” And (E)there was dissension among them. 17 So they *said (F)again to the man who was blind, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a (G)prophet.”

18 (H)The Jews then did not believe it about him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, 19 and they questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 His parents then 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 [c]Jews; for the Jews (J)had already reached the decision that if anyone confessed Him to be [d]Christ, (K)he was to be excommunicated from the synagogue. 23 It was for this reason that his parents said, “(L)He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for a second time they summoned 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 hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” 28 They spoke abusively to 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 the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know that (S)God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is [e]God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. 32 [f]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 him, “(U)You were born entirely in sins, and yet you are teaching us?” So they [g](V)put him out.

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Footnotes

  1. John 9:13 Lit him who
  2. John 9:16 I.e., confirming miracles
  3. John 9:22 I.e., the Jewish leaders
  4. John 9:22 I.e., the Messiah
  5. John 9:31 Or devout
  6. John 9:32 Lit From the age it was not heard
  7. John 9:34 I.e., prob. excommunication from the synagogue

The Reaction of the Pharisees to the Healing

13 They brought him—the one formerly blind—to the Pharisees. 14 (Now the day on which Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes was the Sabbath.) 15 So the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received sight. And he said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 So some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because he does not observe the Sabbath!” Others[a] were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.”

18 So the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received sight, until they summoned the parents of the one[b] who received sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this man your son, whom you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 So his parents answered and said, “We know that this man 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 a mature adult;[c] he will speak for himself!” 22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already decided that if anyone should confess him to be Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 Because of this his parents said, “He is a mature adult;[d] ask him.”)

24 So they summoned the man who had been blind for the second time and said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner!” 25 Then that man replied, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I know—that although I[e] 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 replied to them, “I told you already and you did not listen! Why do you want to hear it[f] again? You do not want to become his disciples also, do you?”[g] 28 They reviled[h] him and said, “You are his disciple! But we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “For the remarkable thing is this, that you do not know where he is from, and he opened my eyes! 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if someone is devout and does his will, he listens to this one. 32 From time immemorial[i] it has not been heard that someone opened the eyes of one born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything!” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were born completely in sin, and are you attempting to teach[j] us?” And they threw him out.

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Footnotes

  1. John 9:16 Some manuscripts have “But others”
  2. John 9:18 Literally “of him”
  3. John 9:21 Literally “he has maturity”
  4. John 9:23 Literally “he has maturity”
  5. John 9:25 Here “although” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was”) which is understood as concessive
  6. John 9:27 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  7. John 9:27 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “do you
  8. John 9:28 Some manuscripts have “And they reviled”
  9. John 9:32 Literally “the age”
  10. John 9:34 Here the present tense is translated as a conative present (“attempting to teach”)