THE THIRD SIGN: HEALING THE SICK

5 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.z 2 By the Sheep Gateaa in Jerusalem there is a pool, called BethesdaG in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. 3 Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.*

5 One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time,ab he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

7 “Sir,”ac the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

8 “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” 9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath,ad 10 and so the Jewsae said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath.af The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”

11 He replied, “The man who made me wellag told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

12 “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was,ah because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.A

14 After this, Jesus found him in the templeai and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” 15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.a 16 Therefore, the Jews began persecutingb JesusB because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.c

HONORING THE FATHER AND THE SON

17 Jesus responded to them, “My Fatherd is still working, and I am working also.” 18 This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him:e Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

19 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the FatherC does, the Son likewise does these things.f 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater worksg than these so that you will be amazed. 21 And just as the Father raisesh the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.i 22 The Father,j in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.k Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.l

LIFE AND JUDGMENT

24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal lifem and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

25 “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here,n when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.o 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Sonp to have life in himself. 27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgment,q because he is the Son of Man.r 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.

30 “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgments is just,t because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.u

WITNESSES TO JESUS

31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.v 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth.w 34 I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 JohnA,x was a burning and shining lamp,y and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.z

36 “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish.aa These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sentab me. 37 The Father who sent me has himself testifiedac about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.ad 38 You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent. 39 You pore over the Scripturesae because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.af 40 But you are not willingag to come to meah so that you may have life.

41 “I do not accept gloryai from people, 42 but I know you—that you have no love for Godaj within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name,ak and yet you don’t accept me.al If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the onlyam God?an 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses,ao on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you don’t believe what he wrote,ap how will you believe my words?”aq

THE FOURTH SIGN: FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND

6 Afterar this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galileeas (or Tiberiasat). 2 A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. 3 Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.

4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 5 So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him,a he asked Philip,b “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat?” 6 He asked this to test him,c for he himself knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denariiB,d worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

8 One of his disciples, Andrew,e Simonf Peter’sg brother, said to him, 9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

There was plenty of grass in that place; so they sat down. The men numbered about five thousand.h 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.i

12 When they were full, he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.”j 13 So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

14 When the people saw the signA he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophetk who is to comel into the world.”m 15 Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,n he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

THE FIFTH SIGN: WALKING ON WATER

16 Wheno evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum.p Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles,B they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid. 20 But he said to them, “It is I.C,q Don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

THE BREAD OF LIFE

22 The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw there had been only one boat.D,r They also saw that Jesus had not boarded the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone off alone. 23 Some boats from Tiberiass came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi,t when did you get here?”

26 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you sawE the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Don’t work for the food that perishesu but for the food that lasts for eternal life,v which the Son of Manw will give you, because God the Fatherx has set his seal of approval on him.”

28 “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

29 Jesus replied, “This is the worky of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”z

30 “What sign, then, are you going to do so that we may see and believe you?” they asked. “What are you going to perform? 31 Our ancestors ate the mannaaa in the wilderness,ab just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”F,ac

32 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Mosesad didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 “I amae the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to meaf will ever be hungry,ag and no one who believes in meah will ever be thirstyai again. 36 But as I told you, you’ve seen me,G and yet you do not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.aj 38 For I have come down from heaven,ak not to do my own will, but the will of himal who sent me. 39 This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raiseam them up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father:an that everyone who sees the Sonao and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raiseap him up on the last day.”

41 Therefore the Jews started grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph,aq whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus answered them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me drawsA him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets:a And they will all be taught by God.B,b Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Fatherc comes to me—46 not that anyone has seen the Fatherd except the one who is from God.e He has seen the Father.f

47 “Truly I tell you, anyone who believesC has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the mannag in the wilderness,h and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die.i 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will livej forever.k The bread that I will give for the lifel of the world is my flesh.”m

52 At that, the Jews arguedn among themselves,o “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Manp and drink his blood,q you do not have life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my bloodr has eternal life, and I will raises him up on the last day, 55 because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.t 57 Just as the livingu Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will livev because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the mannaD your ancestors ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”w

59 He said these things while teaching in the synagoguex in Capernaum.y

MANY DISCIPLES DESERT JESUS

60 Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can acceptE it?”

61 Jesus, knowing in himselfz that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to observe the Son of Manaa ascendingab to where he was before? 63 The Spiritac is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginningad those who did notF believe and the one who would betrayae him.) 65 He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to meaf unless it is granted to him by the Father.”

66 From that momentA many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve,ag “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

68 Simon Peterah answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”B,ai

70 Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve?aj Yet one of you is a devil.”ak 71 He was referring to Judas,al Simon Iscariot’s son,C one of the Twelve, because he was going to betrayam him.

THE UNBELIEF OF JESUS’ BROTHERS

7 After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee,an since he did not want to travel in Judeaao because the Jewsap were trying to kill him.aq 2 The Jewish Festival of SheltersD,ar was near. 3 So his brothersas said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your worksat that you are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.)

6 Jesus told them, “My timeau has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. 7 The world cannot hateav you, but it does hate me because I testify about it—that its works are evil. 8 Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to this festival,E because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said these things, he stayed in Galilee.

JESUS AT THE FESTIVAL OF SHELTERS

10 After his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly but secretly. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was a lot of murmuring about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a goodaw man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, he’s deceivingax the people.” 13 Still, nobody was talking publicly about him for fear of the Jews.

14 When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the templea and began to teach. 15 Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How is this man so learned,b since he hasn’t been trained?”

16 Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t mine but is from the one who sent me.c 17 If anyone wants to do his will,d he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. 18 The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory;e but he who seeks the gloryf of the one who sent him is true,g and there is no unrighteousness in him.h 19 Didn’t Mosesi give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.j Why are you trying to kill me?”

20 “You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who is trying to kill you?”

21 “I performed one work,k and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. 22 “This is why Moses has given you circumcisionl—not that it comes from Moses but from the fathersm—and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.n 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbatho so that the law of Mosesp won’t be broken, are you angry at me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judgingq according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”

THE IDENTITY OF THE MESSIAH

25 Some of the people of Jerusalemr were saying, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Yet, look, he’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to him. Can it be true that the authoritiess know he is the Messiah?t 27 But we know where this man is from.u When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he is from.”

28 As he was teaching in the temple,v Jesus cried out, “You know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent mew is true. You don’t know him;x 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”y

30 Then they tried to seize him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. 31 However, many from the crowd believed in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t perform more signs than this man has done,z will he?”

32 The Phariseesaa heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and so the chief priestsab and the Pharisees sent servants* to arrest him.

33 Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time.ac Then I’m going to the one who sent me.ad 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”ae

35 Then the Jewsaf said to one another, “Where does he intend to go that we won’t find him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Jewish people dispersedB,ag among the Greeksah and teach the Greeks, does he? 36 What is this remark he made: ‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come’ai?”

THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT

37 On the last and most important day of the festival,aj Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to meC,ak and drink.al 38 The one who believes in me,am as the Scripturean has said, will have streams of living waterao flowap from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit.aq Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit,ar for the SpiritD had not yet been givenE because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

THE PEOPLE ARE DIVIDED OVER JESUS

40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This truly is the Prophet.”as 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scriptureat say that the Messiah comes from David’sau offspringF and from the town of Bethlehem,av where David lived?” 43 So the crowd was dividedaw because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize him,ax but no one laid hands on him.

DEBATE OVER JESUS’S CLAIMS

45 Then the servantsay came to the chief priestsaz and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”

46 The servants answered, “No man ever spoke like this!”A,ba

47 Then the Pharisees responded to them, “Are you fooledbb too? 48 Have any of the rulersbc or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed.”

50 Nicodemusbd—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?”a

52 “You aren’t from Galileeb too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”c

[The earliest * do not include 7:53–8:11.]*