The Pool of Bethesda 1 UST After those things happened, the time came for another Jewish festival, and Jesus walked up to the city of Jerusalem{ to celebrate the festival}. BSB BSB: Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
3 UST Many people were lying on these porches. They were people who were ill, unable to see, unable to walk, or unable to move. BSB BSB: On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
4 UST { They were lying there} because an angel from the Lord would occasionally come down and aggravate the water. Whoever was the first person to step into the water after the angel aggravated it was healed from whatever illness or infirmity that was afflicting him. BSB BSB: Not in the BSB
5 UST There was a man lying near this pool called Bethesda who had been sick for 38 years. BSB BSB: One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
6 UST Jesus saw this man lying near the pool, and he knew that he had been lying there for a long time. He asked the man,“Do you want your health to get better?” 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 UST The ill man answered him,“Sir, I do not have anyone who can put me into the pool when an angel stirs the water. By the time I can put myself into the pool, someone else has already gone down into the pool{ and been healed} before me,{ so that I cannot be healed}.” 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 UST Jesus told him,“Stand up! Pick up the mat{ that you have been lying on} and walk!” BSB BSB: Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”
9 UST Then Jesus healed the man at once, and the man picked up the mat{ that he had been lying on} and walked.(Now this happened on{ the Jewish day for rest known as} the Sabbath.) 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 UST Because{ it was the Jewish day for rest}, the Jewish leaders said to the man whom Jesus had healed,“Today is a day for rest. You are not allowed to carry your mat{ on this day, because it is work}.” 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 UST The man whom Jesus had healed answered them,“The man who healed me told me to pick up the mat{ that I had been lying on} and walk.” BSB BSB: But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 UST The Jewish leaders asked him,“Who told you to pick up your mat and walk?” BSB BSB: “Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked.
13 UST However, the man whom Jesus had healed did not know who had healed him, because Jesus had left the man without being noticed, since that area was crowded. 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 UST Later, Jesus found the man whom he had healed in the temple and told him,“Look, you are well now! Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse{ than your previous illness} might 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 UST That 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 UST So the Jewish leaders started persecuting Jesus because he was miraculously healing people on the Jewish day for rest. BSB BSB: Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.
17 UST Jesus gave this answer to them,“God, my Father, is working today, so 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 UST Because of{ these accusations} Jesus replied to the Jewish leaders,“I am telling you{ people} the truth: I, the Son, can do nothing on my own authority. I can only do what I perceive that God, the Father, is doing. Whatever the Father does, I, the Son, also 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 UST { This is true} because the Father loves me, the Son, and makes known to me everything that he is doing. The Father will also make known to me miraculous deeds that will be even greater than the miracles{ that I have already done} in order that you might be astonished by them. 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 UST { This will happen} because I, the Son, give eternal life to anyone I want in the same way that the Father resurrects those who have died and gives them life again. 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 UST { This is true} because the Father does not judge anyone. Rather, he has given all authority to judge people to me, the Son. BSB BSB: Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,
23 UST { The Father did this} in order that everyone would honor me, the Son, in the same way that they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor me cannot honor my Father, who sent me. 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 UST I am telling you people the truth: Anyone who accepts and obeys my teachings and trusts God who sent me lives forever{ with me in heaven}, and God does not judge him as guilty. Instead, that person has gone from being spiritually dead to being spiritually 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 UST I am telling you people the truth: A time is coming and, in fact, is here already when those who have died will hear my voice, the voice of 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 UST { This is true} because as the Father is able to make people alive, in the same way he has also given me, the Son, the ability to make people alive. BSB BSB: For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.
27 UST The Father has authorized me to judge all mankind, 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 UST Then they will come out of their graves. God will raise up those who have done good to give them eternal life. But God will raise up those who have done evil to condemn 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 UST I can do nothing on my own. I judge according to what I hear{ from the Father}, and I judge in a just manner.{ I judge justly} because I do not try to do what I want. Rather, I do what my Father, who has sent me, wants. 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 UST If I alone were the only one to be a witness about myself,{ according to the law of Moses} my witness would not be trustworthy. BSB BSB: If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.
32 UST Nevertheless, there is someone else who testifies about me, and I know that what he testifies about me is trustworthy. BSB BSB: There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid.
33 UST You Jewish leaders 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 UST However, I do not need anyone to be a witness for me. Nevertheless, I am saying this about John the Baptizer in order that God might save you. BSB BSB: Even though I do not accept human testimony, I say these things so that you may be saved.
35 UST John the Baptizer{ proclaimed God’ s truth to you} like a burning and shining lamp. You were willing to rejoice for a while in the light{ that was the truth that he proclaimed}. BSB BSB: John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.
36 UST However, the witness that I give about myself is even greater than the witness John gave about me.{ This is} because this witness is the miraculous works that God the Father has allowed me to do. These very works that I am doing 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 UST Furthermore, my Father who sent me is the very one who has given testimony about me. None of you have ever heard him speak or seen what he looks like. BSB BSB: And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form,
38 UST You also do not obey the Father’ s teachings.{ I know this is true} because you do not trust me, the very person he has 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 UST You carefully study the Scriptures because you believe that by studying them you will be able to live forever{ in heaven}. It is those very Scriptures that declare who I am. 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 UST Yet still you refuse to be my disciples in order that you might live{ forever in heaven}. BSB BSB: yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.
41 UST I do not accept honor from anyone. BSB BSB: I do not accept glory from men,
42 UST However, I know that you do not love God at all. BSB BSB: but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.
43 UST I have come with my Father’ s authority, but still you do not accept me. If someone else were to come with his own authority, you would accept 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 UST You cannot possibly trust in me when you are honoring each other instead of desiring the one and only God to honor you! 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 UST Do not think that I am the one who will accuse you before my Father. Moses, the very person you have hoped would defend you, is actually the person who will accuse 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 UST Since you do not even trust what Moses wrote, you cannot 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.