The Pool of Bethesda 1 UDB Then the time came for another Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem for it. BSB BSB: Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
3 UDB A great number of people were there who could not take care of themselves. There, next to the pool, were people who were blind, people who could not walk, and even people who were paralyzed. BSB BSB: On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
5 UDB One man was there next to the pool who had been sick for thirty-eight years. BSB BSB: One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
6 UDB Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had been in this condition for a long time. He said to the man, "Do you want to become healthy and strong?" BSB BSB: When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 UDB The man replied to him, "Sir, I have no one here to help me get down into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get to the pool, someone else always steps down in front of me." BSB BSB: “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.”
8 UDB Jesus said to him, "Get up! Take up your bed and walk!" BSB BSB: Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”
9 UDB At once the man was healed, and he picked up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath, the day of rest. BSB BSB: Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk. Now this happened on the Sabbath day,
10 UDB So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath day, and you know it is against our law for you to carry your mat on this day of rest." BSB BSB: so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”
11 UDB The man who had been healed said to them, "But the one who healed me told me, 'Take up your bed and walk!'" BSB BSB: But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 UDB They asked him, "Who was that man?" BSB BSB: “Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked.
13 UDB Now although Jesus had healed the man, the man did not know his name. After healing him, Jesus had left the man and disappeared into the crowd. BSB BSB: But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.
14 UDB Later, Jesus found the man in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well now. Do not sin anymore, so nothing worse will happen to you." BSB BSB: Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
15 UDB The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that the man who had healed him was Jesus. BSB BSB: And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
The Father and the Son 16 UDB So the Jews began efforts to stop Jesus because he was doing marvelous things and was showing his power and because he often did those works on the Sabbath day. BSB BSB: Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.
17 UDB Jesus gave this answer to them, "My Father is working even now, and I am also working." BSB BSB: But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
19 UDB Jesus replied to them, "I am telling you the truth: I, the Son of Man, can do nothing on my own authority. I can do only what I see the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, that is what I, the Son, do. BSB BSB: So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
20 UDB The Father loves me, the Son, and shows me everything he is doing. Even greater works than these the Father will show me, so that you may see what I can do and be amazed. BSB BSB: The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these.
21 UDB As the Father raises up those who have died and gives them life again, so I, the Son, give life to anyone I want. BSB BSB: For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.
22 UDB The Father judges no one, but has given over all judgment to me, BSB BSB: Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,
23 UDB so that all people may honor me, the Son, in the same way that they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor me cannot honor the Father. BSB BSB: so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24 UDB I am telling you the truth: Anyone who hears my message and trusts that God sent me has eternal life and will not come into God's judgment. Instead, he has gone from being dead to being alive. BSB BSB: Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
25 UDB "I am telling you the truth: A time is coming when those who have died will hear my voice—the voice of me, the Son of God—and those who hear me will live. BSB BSB: Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
26 UDB For as the Father is able to cause people to live, in the same way he has given power to me, the Son, to cause them to live. BSB BSB: For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.
27 UDB The Father has given me authority to do whatever he knows is just, because I am the Son of Man. BSB BSB: And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
29 UDB and they will come out of their graves. God will raise to everlasting life those who have done good. But those who have done evil—God will raise them up, but only to condemn them and punish them forever. BSB BSB: and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
30 UDB I can do nothing on my own. Whatever I hear from the Father, that is how I judge, and I judge in a just manner. I judge justly because I do not try to do what I want, but what the Father wants, he who sent me here. BSB BSB: I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Testimonies about Jesus 31 UDB "If I alone were the only one to be a witness about myself, no one would believe my witness to be true or reliable. BSB BSB: If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.
32 UDB Nevertheless, there is someone else who bears witness about me, and I know that his testimony about me is true. BSB BSB: There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid.
33 UDB You sent messengers to John the Baptizer, and he told you the truth about me. BSB BSB: You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.
34 UDB I do not actually need for him or anyone else to be a witness about me, but I am saying these things so that God can save you. BSB BSB: Even though I do not accept human testimony, I say these things so that you may be saved.
35 UDB John the Baptizer was a burning and shining lamp, and you were glad to rejoice for a while in his light. BSB BSB: John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.
36 UDB However, the witness I give about myself is even greater than the witness John gave about me. All the things that the Father has allowed me to do—I do those things every day, and you see me doing them—those things tell much about who I am; they explain my purpose for coming here. They are proof that the Father has sent me. BSB BSB: But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.
37 UDB The Father who sent me, he is the one who has given testimony about me. You have never heard his voice and you have never seen him physically. BSB BSB: And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form,
38 UDB The proof that you do not have his word living in you is that you do not trust me, the one he sent. BSB BSB: nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent.
The Witness of Scripture (Luke 16:19–31)
39 UDB You carefully study the scriptures because you think that by studying them you will find eternal life, and those scriptures tell about me. BSB BSB: You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
40 UDB Yet still you refuse to come to me in order that you might receive everlasting life from me. BSB BSB: yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.
41 UDB "If people honor me or congratulate me, I ignore them. BSB BSB: I do not accept glory from men,
42 UDB I know this about you, you do not love God. BSB BSB: but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.
43 UDB I have come with my Father's authority, but still you do not welcome me or trust me. If someone else came with his own authority, you would listen to him. BSB BSB: I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him.
44 UDB How can you trust in me when you work so hard for others among yourselves to honor you? Yet all the while you refuse to seek the true honor that comes from the one and only God. BSB BSB: How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
45 UDB "Do not think that I am the one who accuses you before my Father. You thought Moses would defend you, so on him you have set your hopes. However, it is Moses who accuses you. BSB BSB: Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope.
47 UDB Since you did not even believe in what Moses wrote, how could you possibly trust what I have said to you!" BSB BSB: But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.