The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate^(A) a pool, which in Aramaic^(B) is called Bethesda^[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ^{[4] [b] 5} One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”^{(C) 9} At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,^{(D) 10} and so the Jewish leaders^(E) said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”^(F)

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

¹² So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴ Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning^(G) or something worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders^(H) that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁶ So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father^(I) is always at his work^(J) to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him;^(K) not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.^(L)

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself;^(M) he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son^(N) and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these,^(O) so that you will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,^(P) even so the Son gives life^(Q) to whom he is pleased to give it. ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,^{(R) 23} that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.^(S)

²⁴ “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me^(T) has eternal life^(U) and will not be judged^(V) but has crossed over from death to life.^{(W) 25} Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come^(X) when the dead will hear^(Y) the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life^(Z) in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge^(AA) because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸ “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming^(AB) when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.^{(AC) 30} By myself I can do nothing;^(AD) I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just,^(AE) for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.^(AF)

Testimonies About Jesus

³¹ “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.^{(AG) 32} There is another who testifies in my favor,^(AH) and I know that his testimony about me is true.

³³ “You have sent to John and he has testified^(AI) to the truth. ³⁴ Not that I accept human testimony;^(AJ) but I mention it that you may be saved.^{(AK) 35} John was a lamp that burned and gave light,^(AL) and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

³⁶ “I have testimony weightier than that of John.^(AM) For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing^(AN)—testify that the Father has sent me.^{(AO) 37} And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.^(AP) You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,^{(AQ) 38} nor does his word dwell in you,^(AR) for you do not believe^(AS) the one he sent.^{(AT) 39} You study^[c] the Scriptures^(AU) diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life.^(AV) These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,^{(AW) 40} yet you refuse to come to me^(AX) to have life.

⁴¹ “I do not accept glory from human beings,^{(AY) 42} but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God^[d]?^(AZ)

⁴⁵ “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses,^(BA) on whom your hopes are set.^{(BB) 46} If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.^{(BC) 47} But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”^(BD)

8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.^(A)

² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.^{(B) 3} The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.^(C) Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap,^(D) in order to have a basis for accusing him.^(E)

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone^(F) at her.”^{(G) 8} Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”^(H) Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”^(I)

Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am^(J) the light of the world.^(K) Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”^(L)

¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”^(M)

¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going.^(N) But you have no idea where I come from^(O) or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards;^(P) I pass judgment on no one.^{(Q) 16} But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.^{(R) 17} In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.^{(S) 18} I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”^(T)

¹⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,”^(U) Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”^{(V) 20} He spoke these words while teaching^(W) in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put.^(X) Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.^(Y)

Dispute Over Who Jesus Is

²¹ Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die^(Z) in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”^(AA)

²² This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

²³ But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.^{(AB) 24} I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he,^(AC) you will indeed die in your sins.”

²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶ “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy,^(AD) and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”^(AE)

²⁷ They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up^[a] the Son of Man,^(AF) then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.^{(AG) 29} The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone,^(AH) for I always do what pleases him.”^{(AI) 30} Even as he spoke, many believed in him.^(AJ)

Dispute Over Whose Children Jesus’ Opponents Are

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching,^(AK) you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”^(AL)

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants^(AM) and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.^{(AN) 35} Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.^{(AO) 36} So if the Son sets you free,^(AP) you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me,^(AQ) because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence,^(AR) and you are doing what you have heard from your father.^[b]”^(AS)

³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,”^(AT) said Jesus, “then you would^[c] do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me,^(AU) a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.^(AV) Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”^(AW)

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”^(AX)

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,^(AY) for I have come here from God.^(AZ) I have not come on my own;^(BA) God sent me.^{(BB) 43} Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil,^(BC) and you want to carry out your father’s desires.^(BD) He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.^{(BE) 45} Yet because I tell the truth,^(BF) you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.^(BG) The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jesus’ Claims About Himself

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan^(BH) and demon-possessed?”^(BI)

⁴⁹ “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I am not seeking glory for myself;^(BJ) but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”^(BK)

⁵² At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed!^(BL) Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham?^(BM) He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

⁵⁴ Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself,^(BN) my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.^{(BO) 55} Though you do not know him,^(BP) I know him.^(BQ) If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.^{(BR) 56} Your father Abraham^(BS) rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it^(BT) and was glad.”

⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born,^(BU) I am!”^{(BV) 59} At this, they picked up stones to stone him,^(BW) but Jesus hid himself,^(BX) slipping away from the temple grounds.