Book of Common Prayer

¹³ When those who were with Paul departed from Paphos by ship, they went to Perga, a city of Pamphylia; but there John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But they wandered through the districts from Perga to Antioch, a city of the province of Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down. ¹⁵ And after the law and the prophets were read, the leaders of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men and brethren, if you have any sermon to exhort the people, do speak.

¹⁶ Then Paul stood up and beckoned with his hand and said, Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen! ¹⁷ The God of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a mighty arm brought them out of it. ¹⁸ And for the time of about forty years he suffered their ways in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And he destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, and divided their land to them by lot. ²⁰ And afterward he gave them judges for about 450 years, until the time of Samuel the prophet. ²¹ And after that they desired a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. ²² And after he had put him down, he set up David to be their king, of whom he reported, saying: I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart. He will fulfil all my will.

²³ From this man’s seed, God (according to his promise) brought forth to the people of Israel a saviour, one Jesus, ²⁴ when John, before his coming, had first preached the baptism of repentance to Israel. ²⁵ And when John was finishing his course, he said, He whom you think that I am, I am not. But behold, there comes one after me, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.  

¹⁸ But the Jews did not believe concerning the fellow, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the father and mother of him who had received his sight. ¹⁹ And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?

²⁰ His father and mother answered them and said, We know well that this is our son and that he was born blind. ²¹ But by what means he now sees, that we do not know. Or who has opened his eyes, we do not know. He is old enough; ask him. Let him answer for himself.

²² His father and mother spoke such words because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had decided already that if anyone confessed that Jesus was the Christ, he would be excommunicated out of the synagogue. ²³ Therefore his father and mother said, He is old enough; ask him.

²⁴ Then again they called the man who had been blind and said to him, Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner.

²⁵ He answered and said, Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I am sure of: I was blind, and now I see.

²⁶ Then they said to him again, What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?

²⁷ He answered them, I told you already, and you did not hear. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to be his disciples?

²⁸ Then they berated him and said, You are his disciple. We are Moses’ disciples. ²⁹ We are sure that God spoke with Moses. This fellow, we do not know where he is from.

³⁰ The man answered and said to them, This is a marvellous thing, that you do not where he is from, seeing he has opened my eyes. ³¹ For we are sure that God does not hear sinners. But if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will, him he hears. ³² Since the world began it has never been heard that any man opened the eyes of someone that was born blind. ³³ If this man were not of God, he could have done nothing.

³⁴ They answered and said to him, You are altogether born in sin, and do you teach us? And they cast him out.

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had excommunicated the man, and as soon as he found him, he said to him, Do you believe on the Son of God? ³⁶ He answered and said, Who is it, Lord, so that I can believe on him? ³⁷ And Jesus said to him, You have seen him, and he it is who talks with you.

³⁸ And he said, Lord, I believe! and worshipped him.

³⁹ Jesus said, I have come for judgment into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see, may be made blind.

⁴⁰ And some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words and said to him, Are we then blind? ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say, We see. Therefore your sin remains.