John 5

₁Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ₂Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ₃Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralysed. _{[4] 5}One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ₆When 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.’

₈Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ ₉At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, ₁₀and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

₂₈‘Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ₂₉and 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. ₃₀By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

₃₁‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ₃₂There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is true.

₃₃‘You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. ₃₄Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. ₃₅John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

₃₆‘I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish – the very works that I am doing – testify that the Father has sent me. ₃₇And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, ₃₈nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. ₃₉You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, ₄₀yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

₄₁‘I do not accept glory from human beings, ₄₂but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ₄₃I 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. ₄₄How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

₄₅‘But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. ₄₆If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. ₄₇But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?’