Book of Common Prayer

¹⁸ `Write this to the angel of the church people in Thyatira: Here are the words of the Son of God. He is the one whose eyes shine like a flame of fire, and his feet shine like fine brass.

¹⁹ `He says, "I know the things you do. I know that you love me, believe in me, work for me, and are patient. I know that you do these things more now than you did at first.

²⁰ But I have this to say against you. You let that woman named Jezebel keep on teaching. She calls herself a prophet of God but teaches my servants wrong things. She fools them to use sex wrongly and eat food that has been given to idols.

²¹ I gave her time to stop, but she will not stop her wrong sexual ways and turn back to God.

²² Look, I will make her very sick, and also those who love her. I will do it if they do not stop what they are doing with her.

²³ I will kill her children. Then all the churches will know that I find out what is in a person's mind and heart. I will pay each one of you for the good or wrong things you have done.

²⁴ But some of you in Thyatira do not listen to that woman's teaching. You have not learned what some people call the deep things of Satan. To you I say, I will put no other load on you.

²⁵ The only thing I say to you is to keep on believing until I come.

²⁶ If a person wins and does what I want him to do until the end, I will make him rule with me over all peoples.

²⁷ The holy writings said this long ago: `He will rule them with an iron stick. He will break them to pieces like pots made of clay.' This is the same power as I received from my Father.

²⁸ And I will give him the morning star."

²⁹ `He who can hear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.'

5 After that, the Jews had a feast and Jesus went to Jerusalem.

² In Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, there is a wide water hole. The Jews called this water hole Bethesda. It had five places with roofs for people to stand under.

³ Many sick people were lying on these places. Some of them were blind. Some were lame. Some were very thin and stiff so that they could not move by themselves. All of them were waiting for the water to move.

⁴ An angel came down into the water at a certain time and made it move. The first person who stepped into the water when it moved was healed of any sickness that he had.

⁵ A man was there who had been sick for thirty eight years.

⁶ Jesus saw the man lying there. He knew that he had been sick for a long time. He said to him, `Do you want to be healed?'

⁷ The sick man said to him, `Sir, I have no man to put me into the water when it moves. While I am trying to get in, some other person comes and gets in before me.'

⁸ Jesus said, `Get up. Take up your bed and walk!'

⁹ The man was healed right away. He took up his bed and walked. This happened on the Sabbath day.

¹⁰ So the leaders of the Jews talked to the man who was healed. They said, `It is the Sabbath day. It is not right for you to carry your bed.'

¹¹ But he answered them, `The man who healed me said to me, "Take up your bed and walk." '

¹² They asked him, `Who is the man who told you to take up your bed and walk?'

¹³ The man who was healed said, `I do not know who he is.' Many people were at the place and Jesus had gone away.

¹⁴ After that, Jesus saw the man in the temple. He said to him, `See, you are healed. Do no more wrong things. If you do, something worse may happen to you.'

¹⁵ The man went away and told the leaders of the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.