John 5:1-13 ▼

1 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a Jewish festival.

2 Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called [Bethesda] in Hebrew. It had five porches.

3 Under these porches a large number of sick people-people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed-used to lie.

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

6 Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time. So Jesus asked the man, |Would you like to get well?|

7 The sick man answered Jesus, |Sir, I don't have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I'm trying to get there, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.|

8 Jesus told the man, |Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.|

9 The man immediately became well, picked up his cot, and walked. That happened on a day of worship.

10 So the Jews told the man who had been healed, |This is a day of worship. You're not allowed to carry your cot today.|

11 The man replied, |The man who made me well told me to pick up my cot and walk.|

12 The Jews asked him, |Who is the man who told you to pick it up and walk?|

13 But the man who had been healed didn't know who Jesus was. (Jesus had withdrawn from the crowd.)