John 5-13

Common English Bible

Sabbath healing

5 After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ² In Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate in the north city wall is a pool with the Aramaic name Bethsaida. It had five covered porches, ³ and a crowd of people who were sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed sat there.^{[a] 5} A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir,^[b] I don’t have anyone who can put me in the water when it is stirred up. When I’m trying to get to it, someone else has gotten in ahead of me.”

⁸ Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ Immediately the man was well, and he picked up his mat and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

¹⁰ The Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It’s the Sabbath; you aren’t allowed to carry your mat.”

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

¹² They inquired, “Who is this man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” ¹³ The man who had been cured didn’t know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away from the crowd gathered there.

¹⁴ Later Jesus found him in the temple and said, “See! You have been made well. Don’t sin anymore in case something worse happens to you.” ¹⁵ The man went and proclaimed to the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the man who had made him well.

¹⁶ As a result, the Jewish leaders were harassing Jesus, since he had done these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “My Father is still working, and I am working too.” ¹⁸ For this reason the Jewish leaders wanted even more to kill him—not only because he was doing away with the Sabbath but also because he called God his own Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

Work of the Father and the Son

¹⁹ Jesus responded to the Jewish leaders, “I assure you that the Son can’t do anything by himself except what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. ²⁰ The Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he does. He will show him greater works than these so that you will marvel. ²¹ As the Father raises the dead and gives life, so too does the Son give life to whomever he wishes. ²² The Father doesn’t judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son ²³ so that everyone will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.

²⁴ “I assure you that whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and won’t come under judgment but has passed from death into life.

²⁵ “I assure you that the time is coming—and is here!—when the dead will hear the voice of God’s Son, and those who hear it will live. ²⁶ Just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. ²⁷ He gives the Son authority to judge, because he is the Human One.^{[c] 28} Don’t be surprised by this, because the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice. ²⁹ Those who did good things will come out into the resurrection of life, and those who did wicked things into the resurrection of judgment. ³⁰ I can’t do anything by myself. Whatever I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just. I don’t seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

Witnesses to Jesus

³¹ “If I testify about myself, my testimony isn’t true. ³² There is someone else who testifies about me, and I know his testimony about me is true. ³³ You sent a delegation to John, and he testified to the truth. ³⁴ Although I don’t accept human testimony, I say these things so that you can be saved. ³⁵ John was a burning and shining lamp, and, at least for a while, you were willing to celebrate in his light.

³⁶ “I have a witness greater than John’s testimony. The Father has given me works to do so that I might complete them. These works I do testify about me that the Father sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me testifies about me. You have never even heard his voice or seen his form, ³⁸ and you don’t have his word dwelling with you because you don’t believe the one whom he has sent. ³⁹ Examine the scriptures, since you think that in them you have eternal life. They also testify about me, ⁴⁰ yet you don’t want to come to me so that you can have life.

⁴¹ “I don’t accept praise from people, ⁴² but I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If others come in their own name, you receive them. ⁴⁴ How can you believe when you receive praise from each other but don’t seek the praise that comes from the only God?

⁴⁵ “Don’t think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, the one in whom your hope rests. ⁴⁶ If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because Moses wrote about me. ⁴⁷ If you don’t believe the writings of Moses, how will you believe my words?”

Feeding of the five thousand

6 After this Jesus went across the Galilee Sea (that is, the Tiberias Sea). ² A large crowd followed him, because they had seen the miraculous signs he had done among the sick. ³ Jesus went up a mountain and sat there with his disciples. ⁴ It was nearly time for Passover, the Jewish festival.

⁵ Jesus looked up and saw the large crowd coming toward him. He asked Philip, “Where will we buy food to feed these people?” ⁶ Jesus said this to test him, for he already knew what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip replied, “More than a half year’s salary^[d] worth of food wouldn’t be enough for each person to have even a little bit.”

⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, ⁹ “A youth here has five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that for a crowd like this?”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass there. They sat down, about five thousand of them. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the bread. When he had given thanks, he distributed it to those who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, each getting as much as they wanted. ¹² When they had plenty to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces, so that nothing will be wasted.” ¹³ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that had been left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴ When the people saw that he had done a miraculous sign, they said, “This is truly the prophet who is coming into the world.” ¹⁵ Jesus understood that they were about to come and force him to be their king, so he took refuge again, alone on a mountain.

Jesus walks on water

¹⁶ When evening came, Jesus’ disciples went down to the lake. ¹⁷ They got into a boat and were crossing the lake to Capernaum. It was already getting dark and Jesus hadn’t come to them yet. ¹⁸ The water was getting rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹ When the wind had driven them out for about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the water. He was approaching the boat and they were afraid. ²⁰ He said to them, “I Am.^[e] Don’t be afraid.” ²¹ Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and just then the boat reached the land where they had been heading.

²² The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake realized that only one boat had been there. They knew Jesus hadn’t gone with his disciples, but that the disciples had gone alone. ²³ Some boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they had eaten the bread over which the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. ²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Bread of life

²⁶ Jesus replied, “I assure you that you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate all the food you wanted. ²⁷ Don’t work for the food that doesn’t last but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Human One^[f] will give you. God the Father has confirmed him as his agent to give life.”

²⁸ They asked, “What must we do in order to accomplish what God requires?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “This is what God requires, that you believe in him whom God sent.”

³⁰ They asked, “What miraculous sign will you do, that we can see and believe you? What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”^[g]

³² Jesus told them, “I assure you, it wasn’t Moses who gave the bread from heaven to you, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ They said, “Sir,^[h] give us this bread all the time!”

³⁵ Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But I told you that you have seen me and still don’t believe. ³⁷ Everyone whom the Father gives to me will come to me, and I won’t send away anyone who comes to me. ³⁸ I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ This is the will of the one who sent me, that I won’t lose anything he has given me, but I will raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰ This is my Father’s will: that all who see the Son and believe in him will have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

⁴¹ The Jewish opposition grumbled about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

⁴² They asked, “Isn’t this Jesus, Joseph’s son, whose mother and father we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³ Jesus responded, “Don’t grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless they are drawn to me by the Father who sent me, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, And they will all be taught by God.^[i] Everyone who has listened to the Father and learned from him comes to me. ⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ I assure you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that whoever eats from it will never die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

⁵² Then the Jews debated among themselves, asking, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³ Jesus said to them, “I assure you, unless you eat the flesh of the Human One^[j] and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in them. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me lives because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. It isn’t like the bread your ancestors ate, and then they died. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

⁶⁰ Many of his disciples who heard this said, “This message is harsh. Who can hear it?”

⁶¹ Jesus knew that the disciples were grumbling about this and he said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² What if you were to see the Human One^[k] going up where he was before? ⁶³ The Spirit is the one who gives life and the flesh doesn’t help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴ Yet some of you don’t believe.”Jesus knew from the beginning who wouldn’t believe and the one who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He said, “For this reason I said to you that none can come to me unless the Father enables them to do so.” ⁶⁶ At this, many of his disciples turned away and no longer accompanied him.

⁶⁷ Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered, “Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We believe and know that you are God’s holy one.”

⁷⁰ Jesus replied, “Didn’t I choose you twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” ⁷¹ He was speaking of Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

Jesus goes to Jerusalem

7 After this Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He didn’t want to travel in Judea, because the Jewish authorities wanted to kill him. ² When it was almost time for the Jewish Festival of Booths, ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee. Go to Judea so that your disciples can see the amazing works that you do. ⁴ Those who want to be known publicly don’t do things secretly. Since you can do these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ His brothers said this because even they didn’t believe in him.

⁶ Jesus replied, “For you, anytime is fine. But my time hasn’t come yet. ⁷ The world can’t hate you. It hates me, though, because I testify that its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to the festival. I’m not going to this one because my time hasn’t yet come.” ⁹ Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. ¹⁰ However, after his brothers left for the festival, he went too—not openly but in secret.

¹¹ The Jewish leaders were looking for Jesus at the festival. They kept asking, “Where is he?” ¹² The crowds were murmuring about him. “He’s a good man,” some said, but others were saying, “No, he tricks the people.” ¹³ No one spoke about him publicly, though, for fear of the Jewish authorities.

Jesus teaches in the temple

¹⁴ Halfway through the festival, Jesus went up to the temple and started to teach. ¹⁵ Astonished, the Jewish leaders asked, “He’s never been taught! How has he mastered the Law?”

¹⁶ Jesus responded, “My teaching isn’t mine but comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Whoever wants to do God’s will can tell whether my teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Those who speak on their own seek glory for themselves. Those who seek the glory of him who sent me are people of truth; there’s no falsehood in them. ¹⁹ Didn’t Moses give you the Law? Yet none of you keep the Law. Why do you want to kill me?”

²⁰ The crowd answered, “You have a demon. Who wants to kill you?”

²¹ Jesus replied, “I did one work, and you were all astonished. ²² Because Moses gave you the commandment about circumcision (although it wasn’t Moses but the patriarchs), you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³ If a man can be circumcised on the Sabbath without breaking Moses’ Law, why are you angry with me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Don’t judge according to appearances. Judge with right judgment.”

²⁵ Some people from Jerusalem said, “Isn’t he the one they want to kill? ²⁶ Here he is, speaking in public, yet they aren’t saying anything to him. Could it be that our leaders actually think he is the Christ? ²⁷ We know where he is from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he exclaimed, “You know me and where I am from. I haven’t come on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him. ²⁹ I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” ³⁰ So they wanted to seize Jesus, but they couldn’t because his time hadn’t yet come.

³¹ Many from that crowd believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man does?” ³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about Jesus, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent guards to arrest him.

³³ Therefore, Jesus said, “I’m still with you for a little while before I go to the one who sent me. ³⁴ You will look for me, but you won’t find me, and where I am you can’t come.”

³⁵ The Jewish opposition asked each other, “Where does he intend to go that we can’t find him? Surely he doesn’t intend to go where our people have been scattered and are living among the Greeks! He isn’t going to teach the Greeks, is he? ³⁶ What does he mean when he says, ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me, and where I am you can’t come’?”

³⁷ On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted,

³⁹ Jesus said this concerning the Spirit. Those who believed in him would soon receive the Spirit, but they hadn’t experienced the Spirit yet since Jesus hadn’t yet been glorified.

⁴⁰ When some in the crowd heard these words, they said, “This man is truly the prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “He’s the Christ.” But others said, “The Christ can’t come from Galilee, can he? ⁴² Didn’t the scripture say that the Christ comes from David’s family and from Bethlehem, David’s village?” ⁴³ So the crowd was divided over Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some wanted to arrest him, but no one grabbed him.

⁴⁵ The guards returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked, “Why didn’t you bring him?”

⁴⁶ The guards answered, “No one has ever spoken the way he does.”

⁴⁷ The Pharisees replied, “Have you too been deceived? ⁴⁸ Have any of the leaders believed in him? Has any Pharisee? ⁴⁹ No, only this crowd, which doesn’t know the Law. And they are under God’s curse!”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who was one of them and had come to Jesus earlier, said, ⁵¹ “Our Law doesn’t judge someone without first hearing him and learning what he is doing, does it?”

⁵² They answered him, “You are not from Galilee too, are you? Look it up and you will see that the prophet doesn’t come from Galilee.”

Jesus continues to teach in the temple

¹² Jesus spoke to the people again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me won’t walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

¹³ Then the Pharisees said to him, “Because you are testifying about yourself, your testimony isn’t valid.”

¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, since I know where I came from and where I’m going. You don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. ¹⁵ You judge according to human standards, but I judge no one. ¹⁶ Even if I do judge, my judgment is truthful, because I’m not alone. My judgments come from me and from the Father who sent me. ¹⁷ In your Law it is written that the witness of two people is true. ¹⁸ I am one witness concerning myself, and the Father who sent me is the other.”

¹⁹ They asked him, “Where is your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You don’t know me and you don’t know my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” ²⁰ He spoke these words while he was teaching in the temple area known as the treasury. No one arrested him, because his time hadn’t yet come.

²¹ Jesus continued, “I’m going away. You will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you can’t come.”

²² The Jewish leaders said, “He isn’t going to kill himself, is he? Is that why he said, ‘Where I’m going, you can’t come’?”

²³ He said to them, “You are from below; I’m from above. You are from this world; I’m not from this world. ²⁴ This is why I told you that you would die in your sins. If you don’t believe that I Am, you will die in your sins.”

²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked.

Jesus replied, “I’m exactly who I have claimed to be from the beginning. ²⁶ I have many things to say in judgment concerning you. The one who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” ²⁷ They didn’t know he was speaking about his Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said to them, “When the Human One^[o] is lifted up,^[p] then you will know that I Am.^[q] Then you will know that I do nothing on my own, but I say just what the Father has taught me. ²⁹ He who sent me is with me. He doesn’t leave me by myself, because I always do what makes him happy.” ³⁰ While Jesus was saying these things, many people came to believe in him.

Children of Abraham

³¹ Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ They responded, “We are Abraham’s children; we’ve never been anyone’s slaves. How can you say that we will be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus answered, “I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ A slave isn’t a permanent member of the household, but a son is. ³⁶ Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you really will be free. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s children, yet you want to kill me because you don’t welcome my teaching. ³⁸ I’m telling you what I’ve seen when I am with the Father, but you are doing what you’ve heard from your father.”

³⁹ They replied, “Our father is Abraham.”

Jesus responded, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do Abraham’s works. ⁴⁰ Instead, you want to kill me, though I am the one who has spoken the truth I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this. ⁴¹ You are doing your father’s works.”

They said, “Our ancestry isn’t in question! The only Father we have is God!”

⁴² Jesus replied, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God. Here I am. I haven’t come on my own. God sent me. ⁴³ Why don’t you understand what I’m saying? It’s because you can’t really hear my words. ⁴⁴ Your father is the devil. You are his children, and you want to do what your father wants. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has never stood for the truth, because there’s no truth in him. Whenever that liar speaks, he speaks according to his own nature, because he’s a liar and the father of liars. ⁴⁵ Because I speak the truth, you don’t believe me. ⁴⁶ Who among you can show I’m guilty of sin? Since I speak the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ God’s children listen to God’s words. You don’t listen to me because you aren’t God’s children.”

⁴⁸ The Jewish opposition answered, “We were right to say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon, weren’t we?”

⁴⁹ “I don’t have a demon,” Jesus replied. “But I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I’m not trying to bring glory to myself. There’s one who is seeking to glorify me, and he’s the judge. ⁵¹ I assure you that whoever keeps my word will never die.”

Abraham and Jesus

⁵² The Jewish opposition said to Jesus, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham and the prophets died, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never die.’ ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died and the prophets died, so who do you make yourself out to be?”

⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is meaningless. My Father, who you say is your God, is the one who glorifies me. ⁵⁵ You don’t know him, but I do. If I said I didn’t know him, I would be like you, a liar. But I do know him, and I keep his word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see my day. He saw it and was happy.”

⁵⁷ “You aren’t even 50 years old!” the Jewish opposition replied. “How can you say that you have seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸ “I assure you,” Jesus replied, “before Abraham was, I Am.” ⁵⁹ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and left the temple.

Jesus heals a blind man

9 As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who was blind from birth. ² Jesus’ disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned so that he was born blind, this man or his parents?”

³ Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents. This happened so that God’s mighty works might be displayed in him. ⁴ While it’s daytime, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ After he said this, he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and smeared the mud on the man’s eyes. ⁷ Jesus said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (this word means sent). So the man went away and washed. When he returned, he could see.

Disagreement about the healing

⁸ The man’s neighbors and those who used to see him when he was a beggar said, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

⁹ Some said, “It is,” and others said, “No, it’s someone who looks like him.”

But the man said, “Yes, it’s me!”

¹⁰ So they asked him, “How are you now able to see?”

¹¹ He answered, “The man they call Jesus made mud, smeared it on my eyes, and said, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

¹² They asked, “Where is this man?”

He replied, “I don’t know.”

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.

Jesus finds the man born blind

³⁵ Jesus heard they had expelled the man born blind. Finding him, Jesus said, “Do you believe in the Human One?”^[r]

³⁶ He answered, “Who is he, sir?^[s] I want to believe in him.”

³⁷ Jesus said, “You have seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸ The man said, “Lord,^[t] I believe.” And he worshipped Jesus.

Jesus teaches the Pharisees

³⁹ Jesus said, “I have come into the world to exercise judgment so that those who don’t see can see and those who see will become blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with him heard what he said and asked, “Surely we aren’t blind, are we?”

⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t have any sin, but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. 10 ¹ I assure you that whoever doesn’t enter into the sheep pen through the gate but climbs over the wall is a thief and an outlaw. ² The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The guard at the gate opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ Whenever he has gathered all of his sheep, he goes before them and they follow him, because they know his voice. ⁵ They won’t follow a stranger but will run away because they don’t know the stranger’s voice.” ⁶ Those who heard Jesus use this analogy didn’t understand what he was saying.

I am the gate

⁷ So Jesus spoke again, “I assure you that I am the gate of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me were thieves and outlaws, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief enters only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.

I am the good shepherd

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. That’s because he isn’t the shepherd; the sheep aren’t really his. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ He’s only a hired hand and the sheep don’t matter to him.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I give up my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that don’t belong to this sheep pen. I must lead them too. They will listen to my voice and there will be one flock, with one shepherd.

¹⁷ “This is why the Father loves me: I give up my life so that I can take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I give it up because I want to. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it up again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

¹⁹ There was another division among the Jews because of Jesus’ words. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He has a demon and has lost his mind. Why listen to him?” ²¹ Others said, “These aren’t the words of someone who has a demon. Can a demon heal the eyes of people who are blind?”

Jesus at the Festival of Dedication

²² The time came for the Festival of Dedication^[u] in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was in the temple, walking in the covered porch named for Solomon. ²⁴ The Jewish opposition circled around him and asked, “How long will you test our patience? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵ Jesus answered, “I have told you, but you don’t believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, ²⁶ but you don’t believe because you don’t belong to my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life. They will never die, and no one will snatch them from my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them from my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

³¹ Again the Jewish opposition picked up stones in order to stone him. ³² Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”

³³ The Jewish opposition answered, “We don’t stone you for a good work but for insulting God. You are human, yet you make yourself out to be God.”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Isn’t it written in your Law, I have said, you are gods?^{[v] 35} Scripture calls those to whom God’s word came gods, and scripture can’t be abolished. ³⁶ So how can you say that the one whom the Father has made holy and sent into the world insults God because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷ If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. ³⁸ But if I do them, and you don’t believe me, believe the works so that you can know and recognize that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ³⁹ Again, they wanted to arrest him, but he escaped from them.

Jesus at the Jordan

⁴⁰ Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had baptized at first, and he stayed there. ⁴¹ Many people came to him. “John didn’t do any miraculous signs,” they said, “but everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴² Many believed in Jesus there.

Lazarus is ill

11 A certain man, Lazarus, was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (² This was the Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was ill.) ³ So the sisters sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, the one whom you love is ill.”

⁴ When he heard this, Jesus said, “This illness isn’t fatal. It’s for the glory of God so that God’s Son can be glorified through it.” ⁵ Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. ⁶ When he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was. After two days, ⁷ he said to his disciples, “Let’s return to Judea again.”

⁸ The disciples replied, “Rabbi, the Jewish opposition wants to stone you, but you want to go back?”

⁹ Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours in the day? Whoever walks in the day doesn’t stumble because they see the light of the world. ¹⁰ But whoever walks in the night does stumble because the light isn’t in them.”

¹¹ He continued, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, but I am going in order to wake him up.”

¹² The disciples said, “Lord, if he’s sleeping, he will get well.” ¹³ They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was in a deep sleep, but Jesus had spoken about Lazarus’ death.

¹⁴ Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. ¹⁵ For your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there so that you can believe. Let’s go to him.”

¹⁶ Then Thomas (the one called Didymus) said to the other disciples, “Let us go too so that we may die with Jesus.”

Jesus with Martha and Mary

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was a little less than two miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Many Jews had come to comfort Martha and Mary after their brother’s death. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary remained in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. ²² Even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you.”

²³ Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. ²⁶ Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, the one who is coming into the world.”

²⁸ After she said this, she went and spoke privately to her sister Mary, “The teacher is here and he’s calling for you.” ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus. ³⁰ He hadn’t entered the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who were comforting Mary in the house saw her get up quickly and leave, they followed her. They assumed she was going to mourn at the tomb.

³² When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”

³³ When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. ³⁴ He asked, “Where have you laid him?”

They replied, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵ Jesus began to cry. ³⁶ The Jews said, “See how much he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

Jesus at Lazarus’ tomb

³⁸ Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”

Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days.”

⁴⁰ Jesus replied, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?” ⁴¹ So they removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴² I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”

⁴⁵ Therefore, many of the Jews who came with Mary and saw what Jesus did believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

Caiaphas prophesies

⁴⁷ Then the chief priests and Pharisees called together the council^[w] and said, “What are we going to do? This man is doing many miraculous signs! ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our people.”

⁴⁹ One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, told them, “You don’t know anything! ⁵⁰ You don’t see that it is better for you that one man die for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed.” ⁵¹ He didn’t say this on his own. As high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would soon die for the nation— ⁵² and not only for the nation. Jesus would also die so that God’s children scattered everywhere would be gathered together as one. ⁵³ From that day on they plotted to kill him.

The Passover draws near

⁵⁴ Therefore, Jesus was no longer active in public ministry among the Jewish leaders. Instead, he left Jerusalem and went to a place near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

⁵⁵ It was almost time for the Jewish Passover, and many people went from the countryside up to Jerusalem to purify themselves through ritual washing before the Passover. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus. As they spoke to each other in the temple, they said, “What do you think? He won’t come to the festival, will he?” ⁵⁷ The chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where he was should report it, so they could arrest him.

Mary anoints Jesus’ feet

12 Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. ³ Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound,^[x] of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. ⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, ⁵ “This perfume was worth a year’s wages!^[y] Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (⁶ He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.)

⁷ Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.”

⁹ Many Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ The chief priests decided that they would kill Lazarus too. ¹¹ It was because of Lazarus that many of the Jews had deserted them and come to believe in Jesus.

Jesus enters Jerusalem

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him. They shouted,

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁶ His disciples didn’t understand these things at first. After he was glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

¹⁷ The crowd who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were testifying about him. ¹⁸ That’s why the crowd came to meet him, because they had heard about this miraculous sign that he had done. ¹⁹ Therefore, the Pharisees said to each other, “See! You’ve accomplished nothing! Look! The whole world is following him!”

Jesus teaches about his death

²⁰ Some Greeks were among those who had come up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and made a request: “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” ²² Philip told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³ Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Human One^[ab] to be glorified. ²⁴ I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be. My Father will honor whoever serves me.

²⁷ “Now I am deeply troubled.^[ac] What should I say? ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, for this is the reason I have come to this time. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

²⁹ The crowd standing there heard and said, “It’s thunder.” Others said, “An angel spoke to him.”

³⁰ Jesus replied, “This voice wasn’t for my benefit but for yours. ³¹ Now is the time for judgment of this world. Now this world’s ruler will be thrown out. ³² When I am lifted up^[ad] from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.” (³³ He said this to show how he was going to die.)

³⁴ The crowd responded, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Human One^[ae] must be lifted up? Who is this Human One?”^[af]

³⁵ Jesus replied, “The light is with you for only a little while. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness don’t know where they are going. ³⁶ As long as you have the light, believe in the light so that you might become people whose lives are determined by the light.” After Jesus said these things, he went away and hid from them.

Fulfillment of prophecy

³⁷ Jesus had done many miraculous signs before the people, but they didn’t believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of the prophet Isaiah:

³⁹ Isaiah explains why they couldn’t believe:

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus’ glory; he spoke about Jesus. ⁴² Even so, many leaders believed in him, but they wouldn’t acknowledge their faith because they feared that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. ⁴³ They believed, but they loved human praise more than God’s glory.

Summary of Jesus’ teaching

⁴⁴ Jesus shouted, “Whoever believes in me doesn’t believe in me but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as a light into the world so that everyone who believes in me won’t live in darkness. ⁴⁷ If people hear my words and don’t keep them, I don’t judge them. I didn’t come to judge the world but to save it. ⁴⁸ Whoever rejects me and doesn’t receive my words will be judged at the last day by the word I have spoken. ⁴⁹ I don’t speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me regarding what I should speak and say. ⁵⁰ I know that his commandment is eternal life. Therefore, whatever I say is just as the Father has said to me.”

Foot washing

13 Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.

² Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. ⁴ So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. ⁶ When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.”

⁸ “No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.”

⁹ Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰ Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹ He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you is clean.”

¹² After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? ¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. ¹⁴ If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. ¹⁶ I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷ Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them. ¹⁸ I’m not speaking about all of you. I know those whom I’ve chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture, The one who eats my bread has turned against me.^[ai]

¹⁹ “I’m telling you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I Am. ²⁰ I assure you that whoever receives someone I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

Announcement of the betrayal

²¹ After he said these things, Jesus was deeply disturbed and testified, “I assure you, one of you will betray me.”

²² His disciples looked at each other, confused about which of them he was talking about. ²³ One of the disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was at Jesus’ side. ²⁴ Simon Peter nodded at him to get him to ask Jesus who he was talking about. ²⁵ Leaning back toward Jesus, this disciple asked, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “It’s the one to whom I will give this piece of bread once I have dipped into the bowl.”Then he dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son. ²⁷ After Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” ²⁸ No one sitting at the table understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹ Some thought that, since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus told him, “Go, buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰ So when Judas took the bread, he left immediately. And it was night.

Love commandment

³¹ When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Human One^[aj] has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³² If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One^[ak] in himself and will glorify him immediately. ³³ Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’

³⁴ “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. ³⁵ This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.”

Announcement of Peter’s denial

³⁶ Simon Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow me now, but you will follow later.”

³⁷ Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I’ll give up my life for you.”

³⁸ Jesus replied, “Will you give up your life for me? I assure you that you will deny me three times before the rooster crows.