New Living Translation

Holman Christian Standard Bible

1Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days.

1After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches.

2By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five colonnades.

3Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.

3Within these lay a large number of the sick--blind, lame, and paralyzed --waiting for the moving of the water,

4	4because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had.

5One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.

5One man was there who had been sick for 38 years.

6When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to get well?""

7“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

7Sir," the sick man answered, "I don't have a man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I'm coming, someone goes down ahead of me."

8Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

8"Get up," Jesus told him, "pick up your mat and walk!"

9Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,

9Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath,

10so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

10so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "This is the Sabbath! It's illegal for you to pick up your mat."

11But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

11He replied, "The man who made me well told me, Pick up your mat and walk.'""

12“Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

12Who is this man who told you, Pick up your mat and walk?" they asked.

13The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.

13But the man who was cured did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

14But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.”

14After this, Jesus found him in the temple complex and said to him, "See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn't happen to you."

15Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God

15The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules.

16Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.

17But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”

17But Jesus responded to them, "My Father is still working, and I am working also."

18So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

18This is why the Jews began trying 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.

19So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

19Then Jesus replied, "I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way.

20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished.

20For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works than these so that you will be amazed.

21 For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants.

21And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to anyone He wants to.

22 In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge,

22The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,

23 so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.

23so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

24"I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.

25"I assure you: An hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.

26For just as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted to the Son to have life in Himself.

27 And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man.

27And He has granted Him the right to pass judgment, because He is the Son of Man.

28 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son,

28Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice

29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.

29and come out--those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of judgment.

30 I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will. Witnesses to Jesus

30"I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

31 “If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid.

31"If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.

32 But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true.

32There is Another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony He gives about Me is valid.

33 In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true.

33You have sent messengers to John, and he has testified to the truth.

34 Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved.

34I don't receive man's testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

35 John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message.

35John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a time you were willing to enjoy his light.

36 But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.

36"But I have a greater testimony than John's because of the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish. These very works I am doing testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.

37 And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face,

37The Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have not heard His voice at any time, and you haven't seen His form.

38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.

38You don't have His word living in you, because you don't believe the One He sent.

39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!

39You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me.

40 Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

40And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.

41 “Your approval means nothing to me,

41"I do not accept glory from men,

42 because I know you don’t have God’s love within you.

42but I know you--that you have no love for God within you.

43 For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them.

43I have come in My Father's name, yet you don't accept Me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

44 No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.

44How can you believe? While accepting glory from one another, you don't seek the glory that comes from the only God.

45 “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes.

45Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

46For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me.

47 But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

47But if you don't believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.