The
Gospel of
JOHN
Chapter 1
The Word
Became Flesh Among Us
1In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He
was with God in the beginning.
3Through
him all things were made, and without him not one thing was made that has been
made. 4In him
was life, and that life was the light for humankind. 5And
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not mastered it.
6There
came a man sent from God; his name was John. 7He
came as a witness to testify about that light, so that through him all people
might believe. 8He
himself was not the light; he came
rather to bear witness to the light. 9The
true light, which gives light to every human being, was coming into the world.
10He
was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. 11He
came to that which was his own, and his own did not receive him. 12But
to all who did receive him, to those believing on his name, he gave the right
to become children of God— 13children born,
not from bloods, nor from body desire, nor from a man's decision, but born of
God.
14And
the Word became flesh, and moved his tent in among us; and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of an only begotten, passed on from a Father, full of grace and
truth.
15John
testifies concerning him, and he has cried out, saying: "This is he of
whom I said, 'The one coming after me has outranked me, because he existed
before me.'"
16And
out of his fulness we have all received, yes, grace upon grace. 17For
the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No
one has ever seen God; but the Only Begotten Son, who is at the Father's side,
he has made him known.
The Pharisees
Question John
19And
this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from
Jerusalem in order to ask him, "Who are you?" 20And
he confessed, and did not resist; but confessed, "I am not the Anointed
One."
21And
they asked him, "Who then? Are you Elijah?"
And
he says, "I am not."
"Are
you the Prophet?"
And
he answered, "No."
22They
said therefore to him, "Who are you? So we may give an answer to those who
sent us, what do you say about yourself?"
23He
said, "I am just as Isaiah the prophet said: 'the voice of one calling in
the wilderness, "Prepare the way for the Lord." ''"
24And
those who were sent were of the Pharisees. 25And
they questioned him and said to him, "Why then do you baptize, if you are
not the Anointed One, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
26John
answered them as follows: "I baptize in water, but among you stands one
you do not know, 27the
one coming after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
28These
things happened in Bethany, on the other side of the Jordan.
Behold the
Lamb of God
29The
next day he sees Jesus coming toward him, and says, "Behold! The lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This
is he of whom I said, 'After me will come a man who has outranked me because he
existed before me.' 31And
I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing in water was that he
might be revealed to Israel."
32Then
John testified, saying: "I have seen the Spirit come down from heaven like
a dove, and it remained upon him. 33And
I myself had not known him, but the one who sent me to baptize in water, he
told me, 'On whomever you see the Spirit coming down and remaining upon, this
is the one who will baptize in the Holy Spirit.' 34And
now I have seen, and now I have
testified, that this is the Son of God."
John and
Andrew Have Found the Messiah
35The
next day, again, John was standing with two of his disciples. 36And
seeing Jesus walking, he says, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
37The
two disciples heard him saying this, and they followed Jesus. 38And
Jesus turned around; and seeing them following, says to them, "What do you
want?"
And
they said to him, "Rabbi," (which when translated is Teacher),
"where are you staying?"
39He
says to them, "Come, and you will see."
They
went therefore, and saw where he was staying, and spent the rest of that day
with him, it being about 10 a.m.
40Andrew,
the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two hearing from John and following
Jesus. 41This
man first thing finds his own brother Simon, and he tells him, "We have
found the Messiah" (which when translated is Anointed One).
42He
led him to Jesus.
Looking
at him, Jesus said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called
Kephas" (which when translated is Rock ).
Philip and
Nathaniel
43The
next day Jesus decided to go forth into Galilee; and he finds Philip. And Jesus
says to him, "Follow me."
44And
Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip
finds Nathaniel, and tells him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the
Law, and also the prophets wrote: Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
46And
Nathaniel said to him, "Is it possible for anything good to be from
Nazareth?"
Philip
says to him, "Come and see."
47When
Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him, he says about him, "Behold a true
Israelite, in whom there is no artifice."
48Nathaniel
says to him, "Where do you know me from?"
And
Jesus answered and said to him, "I saw you while you were under the fig
tree, before Philip called you."
49Nathaniel
answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of
Israel."
50Jesus
answered and said to him, "You believe because I told you I saw you under
the fig tree? You shall see greater things than that." 51He
then says to him, "Truly, truly I say to you, you shall all see heaven torn open, and the angels
of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Chapter 2
Water Into
Wine
1And
on the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was
there, 2and
both Jesus and his disciples had been invited to the wedding. 3And
when wine was lacking, Jesus' mother says to him, "They have no
wine."
4Jesus
says to her, "What business is there between you and me, woman? My time
has not yet come."
5His
mother says to the servants, "Whatever he tells you, do."
6And
there were six stone water jars lying there, for the ceremonial washing of the
Jews, each holding from two to three measures.
7Jesus
says to them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the
brim.
8And
he tells them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the master of the
banquet." And they took some.
9When
the master of the banquet tasted the water become wine, not knowing where it
had come from, but the servants having drawn the water knowing, the master of
the banquet calls the bridegroom, 10and
says to him, "Everyone sets out the good wine first, and the cheaper after
they have become drunk. You have kept the good wine till now."
11This,
the first of the miraculous signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested
his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
12After
this he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother, and brothers, and his
disciples, and there they stayed for a few days.
Jesus Cleanses
the Temple
13And
the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14And
in the temple he found those selling cattle, sheep and doves, and the money
changers sitting. 15And
having made like a whip out of ropes, he expelled all from the temple,
including the sheep and the cattle, and he poured out the coins of the money
changers, and overturned the tables, 16and
he said to those selling the doves, "Take these out of here! Do not make
the house of my Father a house of commerce!"
17His
disciples remembered that it is written: "The zeal for your house will
consume me."
18The
Jews responded therefore and said to him, "What sign are you showing us,
that you can do these things?"
19Jesus
answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it."
20Then
the Jews said, "This temple was built in forty-six years, and you in three
days will raise it?" 21But
he had spoken of the temple of his body. 22When
therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had
said this, and they believed the scripture, and the word that Jesus had spoken.
23And
while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the Festival, many believed in
his name— seeing the miraculous signs he was doing. 24But
Jesus on his part did not commit himself to them, because he knew all people, 25and
because he had no need that anyone testify about a person, for he knew what was
in the person.
Chapter 3
You Must Be
Born Again
1And
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2He
came to Jesus by night, and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a
teacher who has come from God. For no one would be able to do these miraculous
signs you are doing, unless God were with him."
3Jesus
answered and said to him, "Truly, truly I say to you, Unless one is born
again from above, it is not possible to see the kingdom of God."
4Nicodemus
says to him, "How is it possible for someone who is old, to be born? Can
he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?"
5Jesus
answered, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born from water and
spirit, it is not possible to enter into the kingdom of God. 6That
born from flesh is flesh, and that born from Spirit is spirit. 7You
should not be surprised that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' 8The
wind blows where it will, and the sound of it you hear, but you do not know
where it is coming from, and where it is going. Such is everyone born from the
Spirit."
9Nicodemus
answered and said to him, "How can these things be?"
10Jesus
answered and said to him, "You are Teacher for Israel, and not familiar
with these things? 11Truly,
truly I tell you, we are saying what we know, and testifying to what we have
seen, and you people do not accept our testimony. 12If
I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if
I tell you heavenly things? 13And
no one has gone up into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the
Son of Man. 14And as
Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, in like manner the Son of Man must be
lifted up, 15so that
everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16"For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone
who believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world might be saved through him. 18The
person who believes in him is not condemned. The person who does not believe,
is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of God's only
begotten Son.
19And
this is the condemnation:
The light
has come into the world.
And human beings
loved the darkness
more than the light,
because their works
were continually evil.
20For
everyone practicing evil things, hates the light, and does not come toward the
light, so that his works may not be exposed. 21But
someone doing the truth comes toward the light, so that his works may be
manifest, that they have been accomplished in God."
"He Must Increase; I Must Decrease"
22After
these things, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean territory, and there
he was spending time with them, and baptizing. 23And
John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water
there, and they were coming and getting baptized. 24For
John was still not yet thrown into prison.
25Then
a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a certain Jew about
ceremonial washing. 26And
they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you on the
other side of the Jordan, about whom you testified, behold, that man is
baptizing, and everyone is moving to him."
27John
answered and said, "A human being is not able to receive a thing that is
not given to him from heaven. 28You
yourselves bear me witness that I said, 'I am not the Anointed One, but am sent
ahead of him.' 29The
one possessing the bride is bridegroom, and the one standing and hearing him,
the friend of the bridegroom, who rejoices with a joy on account of the voice
of the bridegroom. That joy, my joy, is therefore fulfilled. 30He
must increase, and I must decrease.
31"The
one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth is of the
earth, and speaks of the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all; 32what
he has seen and heard, this he testifies to, and no one accepts his testimony. 33The
person who accepts his testimony has vouched that God is truthful. 34For
he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; because to him God gives the Spirit without measure. 35The
Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. 36The
person who believes in the Son, has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the
Son will not see life, but rather, the wrath of God remains upon him."
Chapter 4
The Samaritan
Woman at the Well
1Then,
when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and
baptizing more disciples than John, 2(although
Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples), 3he
left Judea, and went back into Galilee.
4But
he had to pass through Samaria. 5Thus
it is he comes to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground
Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6And
Jacob's well was there. So there Jesus was, sitting down by the well, tired
from the journey. It was about 6 p.m.
7A
woman of Samaria comes to draw water. Jesus says to her, "Give me a
drink." 8(For
his disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9Then
the Samaritan woman says to him, "How is it you, being a Jew, are asking a
drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews do not use dishes in common with Samaritans.)
10Jesus
answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is
saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have
given you living water."
11She
says to him, "Sir, you do not have a bucket, and the shaft is deep. Where
then do you hold the living water? 12Are
you greater than our forefather Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it
himself, and also his sons and his animals?"
13Jesus
answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks from this water will thirst
again, 14but
whoever drinks from the water which I will give him will by no means ever
thirst again. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fountain of
water springing up into life without end."
15The
woman says to him, "Sir, give me this water. Then I wouldn't get thirsty,
and neither would I have to keep coming over here to draw."
16He
says to her, "Go call your husband, and come back here."
17The
woman answered and said, "I do not have a husband."
Jesus
says to her, "Commendably, you said, 'I do not have a husband.' 18For
you have had five husbands, and he you now have is not your husband. This you
have said honestly."
19The
woman says to him, "Sir, I am perceiving that you are a prophet. 20Our
ancestors worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that the place where one
must worship is in Jerusalem."
21Jesus
says to her, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship
the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You
Samaritans worship what you do not know.
We worship what we know, for salvation is of the Jews. 23Nevertheless,
a time is coming, and is now come, when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and in truth, for indeed that is the kind the Father seeks as
those worshiping him. 24God
is spirit, and those worshiping him, must worship in spirit and in truth."
25The
woman says to him, "I do know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is
coming. When he comes, he will teach us everything."
26Jesus
says to her, "I, the one speaking to you, am he."
Lift Your Eyes, See My Food and My Harvest
27And
at this point his disciples came, and they were surprised that he was talking
with a woman. Still, no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why
are you talking with her?"
28Then,
the woman left her water jar, and went away into the town. And she says to the
people, 29"Come,
see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could he be the Messiah?"
30They
were proceeding out of the town and coming toward him. 31In
the meantime, his disciples were pleading with him, saying, "Rabbi,
eat."
32But
he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."
33His
disciples therefore were saying to each other, "Has someone brought him
something to eat?"
34Jesus
says to them, "That I may do the will of him who sent me, is food to me,
and that I may finish his work. 35Do
you not say, 'There is four months yet, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I
say to you, lift up your eyes, and look upon the fields. For they are white
even now for harvest. 36The
one harvesting is taking his wages, and gathering fruit resulting in eternal
life, so that the one sowing and the one harvesting may rejoice together. 37For
the saying, 'One is the sower and another is the reaper,' is true in this: 38I
have sent you to harvest what you have not worked. Others have done the hard
work, and you have joined in their labor."
The Woman's
Talk Bears Fruit
39And
many of the Samaritans from that town had believed in him because of the
woman's word testifying, "He told me everything I ever did." 40When
therefore the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to remain with them, and
he remained two days. 41And,
because of his word, many more believed.
42And
to the woman they said, "No longer because of your talk do we believe; for
we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of
the world."
The Official's
Son Stays Alive
43And
after the two days he departed from there into Galilee. 44(Now
Jesus himself testified, that in his own native place a prophet has no honor.) 45When
then he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him– having seen all the
things that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival, for they also had gone to
the festival.
46He
came again therefore to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And
there was a certain royal official there whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47When
this man heard that Jesus was coming out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him
and asked that he would come and heal his son, for he was about to die.
48Jesus
therefore said to him, "Unless you people
see miraculous signs and terrifying omens, you will never believe."
49The
royal official says to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50Jesus
says to him, "Go. Your son stays alive."
The
man believed the word that Jesus had said to him, and departed. 51And
even as he was going back down, his servants met him saying that his boy was
living. 52He
therefore ascertained from them the exact time in which he had gotten better.
They therefore said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at 7 p.m."
53Then
the father realized: that was the
hour in which Jesus had said to him, "Your son stays alive." And he
and his whole household believed.
54Again,
this second miraculous sign Jesus performed while coming out of Judea into
Galilee.
Chapter 5
Jesus Heals in
the Spa on the Sabbath
1After
these things, there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2Now there is
in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool,
which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five colonnades. 3In
these a great number of disabled people used to lie, the blind, the lame, the
paralyzed. 5And one
man was there who had had a disability thirty-eight years. 6When
Jesus saw him lying there and learned
that he had had his condition now for
a long time, he says to him, "Do you want to get well?"
7The
invalid answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the
water is stirred, and while I am going, someone else goes down ahead of me."
8Jesus
says to him, "Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk." 9And
immediately the man became well, and he picked up his mat and walked. And that
day was during a Sabbath.
10The
Jews therefore said to the man who had been healed, "It is a Sabbath, and not
lawful for you to carry your mat."
11He
answered them, "The man who made me well, he told me, 'Pick up your mat
and walk.' "
12They
asked him, "Who is the man telling you to pick up and walk?"
13But
the man who was healed had not known who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, a
crowd being in the place.
14After
these things Jesus finds him at the temple and said to him, "Behold, you
are well. Do not sin any longer, or something worse might happen to you." 15The
man went away and reported to the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him
well.
Hear the Voice
of the Son and Live
16And
for this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he was doing these things on
the Sabbath. 17But he
answered them, "My Father is working continuously up to now, so I also am
working." 18For
this reason the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because not only was he
breaking the Sabbath, but he was also saying God was his own father, making
himself equal to God.
19Therefore
Jesus responded and said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, the Son is
not able to do anything from himself, but only what he sees the Father doing;
for whatever things that One does, these things also the Son does likewise. 20For
the Father loves the Son, and shows him every thing that he does. And indeed,
greater works than these he will show him, such that you will be constantly
amazed. 21For
just as the Father raises the dead and makes them alive, in this way also the
Son makes alive those whom he wishes. 22Moreover,
the Father judges no one, but instead has given all judgment to the Son, 23that
all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The person who does not
honor the Son is not honoring the Father who sent him.
24"Truly,
truly I say to you, the person who hears my word and believes the one who sent
me, has eternal life, and is not going into judgment, but has crossed over out
of death into life. 25Truly,
truly I say to you, a time is coming, and is now come, when the dead will hear
the voice of the Son of God, and the ones who hear will live. 26For
just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted to the Son to have
life in himself. 27And
to him he has given authority to do the judging, because he is the son of a
human.
28"Do
not be amazed at this, for a time is coming, when all those in the graves will
hear his voice, 29and
stream out, the ones who have done good into a resurrection of life, and the
ones who have done evil into a resurrection of judgment. 30I
from myself am not able to do a thing; only as I hear do I judge, and my
judgment is righteous, because I am not seeking my own will, but the will of
him who sent me.
Testimonies
About Jesus
31"If
I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32There
is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony which he
testifies about me is true.
33"You
have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34I
do not accept testimony from a human being; but I am saying these things so
that you may be saved. 35That
one was a burning and shining lamp, and in his light you were willing to exult,
for a time.
36"But
I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works which the Father
has given me to finish, the same works which I am doing, they testify about me that
the Father has sent me. 37And
the Father who sent me, he has testified about me. You have neither heard his
voice at any time nor seen his form. 38And
his word, you do not have living in you, because the one he has sent, him you
do not believe. 39You
diligently study the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have
eternal life. And these are the ones that testify about me. 40Yet
you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
41"I
do not accept praise from human beings; 42but
I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43I
have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; if someone else comes
in his own name, him you will accept. 44How
is it possible for you to believe, accepting praise from one another, and not
seeking the praise from the only God?
45"But
do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. The one accusing you is
Moses, on whom you have placed your hope. 46For
if you were believing Moses, you would be believing me, for he wrote about me. 47But
since you are not believing his writings, how will you believe my
statements?"
Chapter 6
Jesus Feeds
the Five Thousand
1After
these things, Jesus went across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (the Sea of Tiberias). 2And
a large crowd followed him, because they had seen the miraculous signs he had
been performing on the sick.
3Jesus
went up on the mountain, and there he was sitting, with his disciples. 4And
the Passover was near, the festival of the Jews. 5Then,
lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus
says to Philip, "Where might we buy loaves so that these can eat?" 6But
he said this testing him, for he himself had known what he was about to do.
7Philip
answered him, "Two hundred denarii are
not enough loaves for them to each get a little!
8One
of his disciples, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9"There
is a youth here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they in
the face of so many?"
10Jesus
said, "Get the people to recline." Now there was plenty of green
grass in the place. The men therefore reclined, the number about five thousand.
11Then Jesus
took the loaves, and after giving thanks, he distributed to those reclining,
and likewise from the fish, as much they wanted.
12And
when they were full, he says to his disciples, "Gather the fragments that
are left over, so that nothing is wasted." 13So
they gathered, and filled twelve large baskets with fragments of the five barley loaves left over by those who had
eaten.
14Then
the people, having seen the miraculous sign he had done, were saying,
"This surely is the Prophet who was to come into the world." 15Jesus
therefore, knowing that they were about to come and take him by force to try to
make him king, withdrew again into the mountain, himself alone.
Jesus Walks on
the Water
16And
when evening had come, his disciples had gone down to the lake, 17and
gotten into a boat, and were proceeding across the lake toward Capernaum. And
now darkness came, and Jesus had not yet come to them, 18and
as a great wind was blowing, the lake was becoming very rough. 19Then,
after having rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they behold him walking
on the lake, and getting close to the boat, and they were afraid.
20But
he says to them, "It is I. Don't be afraid."
21Then
they willingly took him into the boat. And immediately the boat was at the
shore to which they were headed.
I Am the Bread
Come Down out of Heaven
22The
next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the lake realized that
no other boat had been there except one, and that Jesus had not gotten into the
boat with his disciples, but his disciples had gone away alone. 23(Other
boats, from Tiberias, arrived near the place where they had eaten the loaves, where the Lord had given thanks.) 24When
therefore the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they
got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
25And
finding him across the lake, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get
here?"
26Jesus
answered them, and said, "Truly, truly I say to you, you are looking for
me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and
were satisfied. 27Do
not work for food that perishes, but for food that abides, resulting in eternal
life, which the Son of Man will give you. For him God the Father has
sealed."
28They
therefore said to him, "What should we do in order to be working the works
of God?"
29Jesus
answered, and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in
that one whom he has sent."
30So
they said to him, "What miraculous sign then are you performing, so that
we may see, and believe you? What works
are you working? 31Our
forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread
out of heaven to eat.'"
32Jesus
therefore said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, the bread out of
heaven is not given you by Moses; no, the real bread out of heaven my Father is
giving you. 33For the
bread of God, is the one coming down out of heaven and giving life to the
world."
34They
said therefore to him, "Sir, give us that bread evermore."
35Jesus
said to them, "I am the bread of life. The person who comes to me, would
by no means hunger, and the one believing in me would by no means thirst, ever.
36But as I told
you, you have seen me and still you are not believing. 37All
flesh that the Father gives to me
will come to me, and the one who comes to me, I would certainly not drive away.
38For I have
come down from heaven not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me. 39And
this is the will of him who sent me: that of all flesh that he has given me, I would not lose any of it, but raise
it up at the last day. 40For
this is the will of my Father: that anyone looking to the Son and believing in
him would have eternal life, and I would raise him up at the last day."
41Then
the Jews started grumbling about him, because he said, "I am the bread
having come down out of heaven." 42And
they were saying, "Isn't this the Jesus son of Joseph whose father and
mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?"
43Jesus
answered and said to them, "Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44No
one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I would raise
him up at the last day. 45It
is written in the Prophets: 'And they shall all be taught by God.'
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to me. 46Not
that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the
Father. 47Truly,
truly I say to you, the person who does believe in me, has eternal life. 48I
am the bread of life. 49Your
forefathers ate the manna in the desert, and they died. 50But
this is bread coming down out of heaven such that one may eat of it and would
not die. 51I am
the living bread come down out of heaven. If someone eats of this bread, he
will live for ever. Namely, the bread is my flesh, which I will give for the
life of the world."
52Then
the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, saying, "How can this
man give us his flesh to eat?"
53Jesus
therefore said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54The
person eating my flesh and drinking my blood has eternal life, and I will raise
him up at the last day. 55For
my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56The
one eating my flesh and drinking my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57Just
as the living Father has sent me, and I live by means of the Father, so also
that one eating me will live by means of me. 58This
bread coming down out of heaven is not like the bread the forefathers ate and
then died. The person eating this bread will live for ever." 59These
things he said while teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
A Teaching Too
Scandalous for Some
60Then
many of his disciples hearing said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can
listen to it?"
61But
knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to
them, "This is shocking you? 62Then
what if you were seeing the Son of Man ascend to where he was before? 63Spirit
is what makes alive; flesh counts for nothing. The words that I have spoken to
you are spirit, and they are life. 64Yet
some of you are not believing." For Jesus had known from the beginning who
the ones not believing were, and who the one was, who would betray him. 65He
went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one has the ability to come to
me, unless it is given to him from the Father.”
66From
this, many of his disciples drew back, and no longer went along with him.
67Jesus
therefore said to the twelve, "You are not thinking of leaving too, are
you?"
68Simon
Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life. 69And we
have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God."
70Jesus
responded to them, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve, for myself? Yet one
of you is a devil." 71He
was speaking of Judas, son of Simon of Kerioth; for he, one of the Twelve, was
going to betray him.
Chapter 7
Jesus'
Brothers Judge Him Falsely
1And
after these things, Jesus was walking around in Galilee, for he was not wanting
to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2But the
Jewish Festival of Booths was near. 3So
his brothers said to him, "Remove yourself from here and go to Judea, so
that your disciples there also may
see the miracles you are doing. 4For
no one who wants to become famous, acts in secret. If you really are doing these things, show yourself to the world." 5For
even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6Jesus
therefore said to them, "The time for me has not yet come. But for you the
time is always suitable. 7The
world cannot hate you, but me it hates, because I testify about it, that its
works are evil. 8You
go up to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because for me the
time is not yet fully come." 9And
having said these things, he remained in Galilee.
Jesus Goes Up
for Sukkot
10And
when his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not
openly, but in secret. 11The
Jews therefore were looking for him in the festival, and saying, "Where is
that fellow?"
12And
there was much whispering about him in the crowds. Some were maintaining,
"He is a good man."
"No,"
others would say. "He is misleading the people." 13Though
none would speak about him openly, for fear of the Jews.
14And
when it was already the middle of the festival, Jesus went up to the temple,
and was teaching. 15The
Jews then were marveling, saying, "How does this man know letters, not
having received instruction?"
16Jesus
therefore answered them and said, "My teaching is not mine, but rather his
who sent me. 17If
someone is inclined to do His will, he will find out about the teaching,
whether it is from God, or I am speaking from myself. 18One who
speaks from himself is seeking his own glory. But one seeking the glory of Him who
sent me, such a one is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 19Has not
Moses given you the law? Yet none of you performs the law. Why are you trying
to kill me?"
20The
crowd responded, "You have a demon. Who is trying to kill you?"
21Jesus
answered and said to them, "One work I did, and you are all appalled. 22Why is
it Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but rather from the
patriarchs) and during the Sabbath you circumcise a man? 23If a
man receives circumcision during the Sabbath so that the law of Moses not be
broken, why are you incensed at me that I have made the whole man whole during
the Sabbath? 24Judge
not by appearances, but judge the righteous judgment."
Is Jesus the
Anointed One?
25Then some
of the Jerusalemites were saying, "Is this not the man they are trying to
kill? 26And
behold he is speaking openly, and they say nothing to him. Could it be the
authorities have actually come to know that this is the Christ? 27Except
this man, we know where he is from; but the Christ, when he comes, no one will
know where he is from."
28Then
Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, "Yes, me you know, and
you know where I am from. Yet I have not come of myself. True rather is the one
who sent me; him you do not know. 29I
know him, because I am from him, and that one has sent me."
30Then
they were trying to seize him, yet no one laid a hand on him, because his hour
had not yet come. 31But
many of the crowd put trust on him, and they were saying, "When the Christ
comes, will he perform more signs than this man has done?" 32The
Pharisees heard these whisperings of the crowd about him, and the chief priests
and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
33Jesus
continued and said, "Just a short time more I am with you, and then I am
going away, to the one who sent me. 34You
will look for me, and will not find me, and where I am you are not able to
come."
35The
Jews therefore said among themselves, "Where is this man about to go, that
we will not find him? Is he about to go into the Dispersion among the Greeks,
and teach the Greeks? 36What
is the meaning of this statement that he said, 'You will look for me and will
not find me, and where I am you are not able to come'?"
37And in
the great and final day of the festival, there stood Jesus. And he cried out,
saying, "If anyone is thirsty, he should come to me; and drink, 38he who
believes on me. As the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow
from His belly." 39Now
this he said in reference to the Spirit, whom those believing in him were about
to receive. For the Spirit was not yet present, because Jesus had not yet been
glorified.
40Some in
the crowd therefore who heard these words were saying, "Surely this man is
the Prophet."
41Others
were saying, "This man is the Christ."
The
former were then saying, "What? The Christ comes from Galilee? 42Didn't
the scripture say that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from
Bethlehem, the village where David lived?" 43A split
therefore occurred among the crowd because of him. 44And
some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.
Unbelief of
the Jewish Authorities
45Then
the officers went to the chief priests and Pharisees, and those said to them,
"Why have you not brought him?"
46The
officers answered, "Never has someone spoken so, like this man
speaks."
47The
Pharisees therefore answered them, "Have you also been deceived? 48Has
anyone of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed on him? 49As for
this crowd, cursed are they, not understanding the law."
50Nicodemus,
the one who had come to him previously, who was one of them, says to them, 51"Our
law does not judge the man unless it first hears from him, and knows what he is
doing, does it?"
52They answered and said to him, "You aren't from Galilee too, are you? Investigate and see, that no prophet arises out of Galilee."
53And each went to his home.
1But
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2And
at dawn he showed up in the temple again, and all the people were coming toward
him. And having sat down, he was teaching them. 3And
the Torah scholars and the Pharisees are bringing a woman caught in adultery.
And after they stood her in the midst, 4they say to
him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In
the Law, Moses charged us to stone such women. What then do you say?" 6But
this they were saying tempting him, in order that they might obtain basis to
accuse him.
But Jesus bent down and was writing on the ground with his finger. 7And
after they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them,
"The one among you who is sinless should be first to throw a stone at
her." 8And
after bending down again, he continued writing on the ground.
9And
after they heard this, they went away, one by one, starting with the oldest,
until he alone was left, and the woman still in the midst. 10And
Jesus straightened up, and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one
condemned you?"
11And
she said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither am I
condemning you. Go your way, and from now on, sin no more."
The Validity
of Jesus' Testimony
12Jesus
then spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. The person
who follows me will not walk around in the darkness, but on the contrary, he
will have for himself the light of life."
13The
Pharisees therefore said to him, "You are testifying about yourself. Your
testimony is not valid."
14Jesus
answered and said to them, "Even if I testify about myself, my testimony
is valid, because I know where I came from, and where I am going. But you do
not know where I am coming from, or where I am going. 15You
judge by the flesh; I judge no one. 16But
even if I judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not alone: it is I and the
one who sent me. 17Now
even in your law it is written, that the testimony of two persons is valid. 18I am
one testifying about myself, and the one who sent me is testifying about me,
the Father."
19Then
they were saying to him, "Where is your father?"
Jesus
answered, "Neither me nor my Father do you know. If you knew me, you would
know my Father also." 20These
statements he spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple, and no one seized
him, because his hour had not yet come.
21Continuing,
he said to them, "I am going; and you will seek me, and you will die in
your sins. Where I am going, you are not able to come."
22So the
Jews were saying, "Is he going to kill himself, that he says, 'Where I am
going, you are not able to come'?"
23And he
said to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world,
I am not of this world. 24I
said to you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am
who I am, you will die in your
sins."
25Therefore
they were saying to him, "Who are you?"
Jesus
said to them, "Why am I speaking to you at all? 26I have
many things to say about you, and to judge. But the one who sent me is true,
and I, what things I hear from him, those are the things I speak in the world."
27They
did not understand that he was speaking to them of the Father. 28Then
Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will find out that
I am he, and of myself I do nothing,
but rather exactly as the Father has taught me, those things I speak. 29And the
one who sent me is continually with me. He has not left me alone, because I
always do the things pleasing to him." 30As he was speaking these things,
many believed in him.
The Children
of Abraham
31Jesus
was therefore saying to the ones who had believed in him, "If you continue
in my word, you are true disciples of mine, 32and you will know the truth, and
the truth will make you free."
33They
responded to him, "We are seed of Abraham, and to no one have we ever been
enslaved. How do you mean, that we will become free?"
34Jesus
answered them, "Truly, truly I say to you, everyone doing sin is a slave
of sin. 35And
the slave does not abide in the house in perpetuity; the Son abides in
perpetuity. 36If
therefore the Son should make you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know
that you are seed of Abraham; yet you are trying to kill me, because my word
has no room in you. 38The
things that I have seen with the Father I speak, and you then the things you
have heard from your father you are doing."
39They
answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham."
Jesus
says to them, "If you were children of Abraham, you would be doing the
works of Abraham. 40But
as it is, you are trying to kill me, someone who has spoken to you the truth he
has heard from the Father. This, Abraham did not do. 41You are
doing the works of your father."
They
said to him, "We were not conceived in fornication. We have one
father: God."
The Children
of the Devil
42Jesus
said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me, for I went out
from God and have arrived here. For neither did I come of myself, but that One
sent me. 43What
is the reason you do not understand my speech? Because you are not able to
tolerate my word. 44You
are of your father, the Devil, and the yearnings of your father you want to do.
That one has been homicidal from the beginning, and in the truth he has never
stood still, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks the lie, he is
speaking from his own things, for he is a liar, and the father of the lie. 45So I,
because I am saying the truth, you do not believe me. 46Who of
you is convicting me of a sin? If I am saying the truth, why is it you do not
believe me? 47The
ones who are of the Father hear the statements of the Father. This is why you
do not hear; you are not of God."
The
Authorities Attempt Stoning for Claim of Pre-Eminence of Abraham
48The
Jews answered and said to him, "Do we not rightly say that you are a
Samaritan, and have a demon?"
49Jesus
answered, "I do not have a demon. Quite the opposite, I am honoring my
Father. And you are dishonoring me. 50It
is not me seeking my glory. There is One seeking, and judging. 51Truly,
truly I say to you, If someone follows my word, death he will by no means see,
into all time."
52The
Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and
also the Prophets, and you say, 'If someone follows my word, death he will by
no means experience, into all time.' 53Are
you greater than our forefather Abraham, who died? And the Prophets also died.
What sort of man do you reckon yourself?"
54Jesus
answered, "If I glorify myself, that glory of mine is worthless. My Father
is the one glorifying me, the one that you say is your God. 55And you
have never known him, but I know him. Now if I were to say that I do not know
him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and his word I am
following. 56Abraham,
your forefather, made exultation yearning to see my day. And he saw it, and was
thrilled."
57The
Jews therefore said to him, "You are not yet fifty, and you have beheld
Abraham?"
58Jesus
said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." 59Then
they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went forth from
the temple.
Jesus Heals a
Man Born Blind
1And as
he was going along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2And his
disciples queried him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he would be born blind?"
3Jesus
answered, "Neither that this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the
works of God might be displayed in him. 4We must be working at the works
of him who sent me, while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5As long
as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
6When he
had said these things, he spit on the ground, and made mud with the saliva, and
rubbed the mud on the man's eyes. 7And
he said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which when translated is
"Sent"). He went therefore and washed, and came back seeing.
8His
neighbors therefore, and those who had previously observed him being a beggar,
were saying, "Isn't this the man usually sitting and begging?"
9Some
were saying, "This is the same man."
Others
were saying, "No; he only looks like him."
He
himself kept saying, "I am the one."
10They
were saying therefore to him, "How were your eyes opened?"
11He
answered, "The man named Jesus made mud and rubbed my eyes with it, and he
told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So when I went and washed, I saw."
12And
they said to him, "Where is that man?
He
says, "I don't know."
The
Authorities Investigate the Healing
13And
they take him to the Pharisees, the man who had once been blind. 14And the
day on which Jesus had made mud and opened his eyes had been a Sabbath. 15So
again, the Pharisees also asked him how he came to see. And he told them,
"He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see."
16Some of
the Pharisees therefore were saying, "This man is not from God, because he
does not keep the Sabbath."
But
others were saying, "How can a sinful man do such miracles?" So there
was a split among them.
17Then
they are talking to the blind man again: "What do you say about him? For it was your eyes he opened."
And
he said, "He is a prophet."
18The
result was the Jews did not believe about him that he used to be blind and then
saw; until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight. 19And
they questioned them, saying, "Is this your son, the one you say was born
blind? And if so, how does he now see?"
20His
parents therefore answered and said, "We know that this is our son, and
that he was born blind. 21But
how he now sees, we do not know. Or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask
him; he has majority. He will speak for himself." 22His
parents said these things because they were fearing the Jews. For the Jews had
already decided that anyone who acknowledged Him to be the Christ would be put
out of the synagogue. 23This
is why his parents said, "He has majority.
Ask him."
24Then
the man who had been blind they summoned a second time. And they said to him,
"Give credit to God. We know that this man is sinful."
25He then
answered, "Whether he is sinful, I do not know. One thing I know: Whereas
I used to be blind, now I see."
26They
said therefore to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your
eyes?"
27He
answered them, "I told you already, and you didn't listen. Why do you want
to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?"
28And
they ridiculed him and said, "You are the disciple of that one. We are
disciples of Moses. 29We
know for sure that God has spoken to Moses; but this fellow, we don't know
where he comes from."
30The man
answered and said to them, "Well, there certainly is something strange in
this, that you don't know where he comes from, and he opened my eyes. 31We know
that God does not hear the sinful. But
if someone is God-fearing, and practicing his will, this kind he hears. 32Since
time began, reports have not been heard that someone opened the eyes of one
born blind. 33If
this man were not from God, he would not have been able to do a thing."
34They
answered and said to him, "You were born totally in sin, and you are
teaching us?" Then they threw him out.
Spiritual
Blindness
35Jesus
heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, "Do you
believe in the Son of Man?"
36That
one answered and said, "And who is he, sir, so that I may believe in
him."
37Jesus
said to him, "Not only have you seen him, but he is the one talking with
you."
38And he
said, "I believe, Lord." And he worshipped him.
39And
Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that those not
seeing may see, and that those seeing, may become blind."
40Some of
the Pharisees heard these words, some who were with him, and they said to him,
"And us, we are not blind, are we?"
41Jesus
said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sins. But as you are
now saying, 'We see,' your sins remain.
Chapter 10
The Good
Shepherd
1"Truly,
truly I say to you, someone not entering the sheep fold through the door, but
instead climbing up another way, that one is a thief and a bandit. 2But the
one entering through the door, is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The
doorkeeper opens for this one, and the sheep hear his voice. And he calls his
own sheep by name, and leads them forth. 4When he has brought out all his
own, he goes on before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his
voice. 5But
a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not
know the voice of strangers."
6This
parable Jesus told them, but they did not understand what the principles were that he was speaking to
them.
7Again
therefore Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of
the sheep. 8All
who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not hear them. 9I am
the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will go in and go
out, and find pasture. 10The
thief does not come, except to steal, and to kill, and to ruin. I have come so
they might have life, and have it more abundantly.
11"I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The
wage earner, not being a shepherd, and for whom the sheep are not his own, sees
the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees, and the wolf seizes them and
scatters them. 13For
he is a wage earner, and it matters not to him about the sheep.
14"I
am the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me. 15Just as
the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep. 16Other
sheep I also have, which are not of this fold; those also I am to bring, and my
voice they will hear, and the result will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this
reason my Father loves me, that I lay down my life, such that I will take it up
again. 18No
one takes it from me; I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down,
and I have authority to take it up again; this order I received from my Father."
19Because
of these words, there was again a split among the Jews. 20Many of
them were saying, "He has a demon, and he's crazy. Why are you listening
to him?"
21Others
were saying, "These are not the expressions of someone demonized. Can a
demon open the eyes of the blind?"
The
Authorities Again Attempt Stoning for Claim of Equality With God
22Then
came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and
Jesus was walking in the temple, in the Portico of Solomon. 24Then
the Jews surrounded him, and were saying to him, "How long are you keeping
our souls in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us clearly."
25Jesus
answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I am
doing in the name of my Father, these testify for me. 26Yet,
you are not believing, because you are not of my sheep. 27My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28And I
give to them eternal life, and they will by no means perish, into all time, and
no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, the one who gave them to me, he is greater than all, and
no one is able to snatch them from the Father's hand. 30I and
the Father are one."
31Again,
the Jews lifted up stones in order to stone him. 32Jesus
responded to them, "Many good works I have shown you from the Father. For
which work of them are you stoning me?"
33The
Jews answered him, "Not for good works are we stoning you, but for
blasphemy, because you, being a human, are making yourself God."
34Jesus
answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I have said, "You are
gods"'? 35Why,
since he called those to whom the word of God came 'gods,' and the scripture
cannot be voided, 36do
you say to the one the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are
blaspheming,' because he said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37If I am
not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. 38And if
I am doing them, even if you do not
believe me, believe the works, so that you may acknowledge and know that the
Father is in me, and I in the Father." 39And again they were trying to
arrest him. And he got out of their grasp.
40And he
went back to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had earlier
been baptizing, and he stayed there a while. 41And
many came to him. And they were saying, "Though John performed no
miraculous sign, everything John said about this man was true." 42And
many there believed in him.
Chapter 11
The Death of
Lazarus
1Now a
certain man was ailing, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her
sister Martha. 2And
the Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed ointment and wiped his feet off
with her hair, was the one whose brother was ailing. 3The
sisters therefore sent to him, saying, "Lord, behold, the one you love is
ailing."
4And
when he heard, Jesus said, "This sickness is not to death, but rather for
the glory of God, in order that the Son of God be glorified through it." 5(But
Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.) 6When
then he heard that he was ailing, at that time he actually remained in the
place in which he was, two days. 7Only
then, after this, he says to the disciples, "Let us go back to
Judea."
8The
disciples are saying to him, "The Jews were just now trying to stone you,
and you are going back there?"
9Jesus
answered, "Are there not twelve hours of day? If someone walks around in
the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10But if
someone walks around in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not with
him."
11He said
these things. And after this, he is saying to them, "Our friend Lazarus
has fallen asleep, but I am going in order to wake him up."
12The
disciples therefore said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, that will
help him." 13But
Jesus had spoken of his death, whereas they thought he was speaking of the
repose of sleep.
14So
then, Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus died. 15And for
your sakes I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to
him."
16Then
Thomas, the one called the Twin, said to the rest of the disciples, "Let
us go also, and die with him."
"I Am the
Resurrection and the Life"
17Arriving
therefore, Jesus found him already in the tomb four days since. 18Now
Bethany was close to Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia apart,
19and
many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them regarding their
brother. 20When
therefore Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary
stayed put in the house.
21Martha
therefore said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not
have died. 22Even
now, I know that whatever things you ask God for, God will grant you."
23Jesus
says to her, "Your brother will rise again."
24Martha
says to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the
last day."
25Jesus
said to her, "I am the resurrection, and the life. The person who believes
in me, even though he dies, will live; 26and everyone who is living and
believes in me, will never die. Do you believe this?"
27She
says to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ,
the Son of God, the one expected to come into the world."
28And
having said this she went off, and discreetly invited her sister Mary, as
follows, "The Teacher is here, and is asking for you." 29That
one then, when she heard, quickly got up and was coming toward him. 30(Jesus
had not yet come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha had
met him.) 31The
Jews therefore who were with Mary in the house and consoling her, when they saw
how she quickly got up and went out, they followed her, thinking, "She is
going to the tomb, to grieve there."
32Mary
therefore, when she arrived where Jesus was, fell at his feet when she saw him,
saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died."
33Then
Jesus, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he
heaved with deep emotion, and churned inside himself. 34And he
said, "Where have you laid him?"
They
are saying to him, "Lord, come and see."
35Jesus
shed tears.
36The
Jews therefore were saying, "See how he loved him."
37But
some of them said, "Shouldn't he who opened the eyes of the blind man,
also have been able to make it so this man would not have died?"
Jesus Raises
Lazarus from the Dead
38Then
Jesus, again heaving inside himself, arrives at the tomb. And a cave it was,
and a stone was there, covering over it. 39Jesus says, "Take away the
stone."
Martha,
the sister of the one who was dead, says, "Lord, by now he smells; it is
the fourth day."
40Jesus
says to her, "Did I not tell you, that if you believed, you would see the
glory of God?"
41They
therefore took away the stone. And Jesus lifted his eyes aboveward, and said,
"Father, I thank you, that you have heard me. 42But I
already knew that you always hear me; only for the sake of the crowd standing
around did I say this, so that they
may believe that it was you who sent me."
43And
having said these things, he shouted out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come
out!" 44The
dead man came out, his feet and hands bound up with bandages, and his face
wrapped in a handkerchief.
Jesus
says to them, "Untangle him and allow him to go."
Sanhedrin
Decides Jesus Must Die
45Many of
the Jews therefore, of those who had come to Mary and seen what he did,
believed in him. 46But
some of them went to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. 47So the
chief priests and the Pharisees assembled a Sanhedrin.
And
they were saying, "What are we doing, that this man is performing so many signs? 48If we
leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will
come, and take away both our place and our nation."
49But one
of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You
people know nothing. 50Neither
are you considering that it is expedient for you that one man die for the
people, and not the whole nation perish."
51But
this, from himself he did not say. But rather, being high priest that year, he
prophesied, that Jesus was about to die for the nation. 52And not
for the nation only, but such that the children of God scattered about, he
would gather also, into one people.
53Thus
from that time on they were resolved that they would kill him. 54Therefore,
Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but departed from there to an
area next to the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed, along
with his disciples.
55But
then the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from out
of the country before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56They
were watching for Jesus therefore, and speaking with one another, as they stood
in the temple, "How does it seem to you? That he is not coming to the
festival at all?" 57Now
the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders, that if anyone knew where
he was, he should report it, so that they might arrest him.
Chapter 12
Jesus Anointed
at Bethany
1Then,
six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom
Jesus had raised from the dead. 2So
they made a supper for him there, and Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one
of those reclining with him. 3Then
Mary, having taken a litre of expensive ointment of pure oil of nardroot,
anointed the feet of Jesus, and with her hair, she wiped his feet. And the
house was filled with the smell of the ointment.
4But
Judas the Keriothite, one of his disciples, the one about to betray him, says, 5"Why
was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the
poor?" 6But
he said this not because it mattered to him about the poor, but because he was
a thief, and having charge of the moneybag, he would lift from what was put in.
7Jesus
said therefore, "Leave her alone. It was that she kept it for the day of
my burial. 8For
the poor you always have with you, but me, you do not always have."
9Then
the great crowd of the Jews found out that he was there, and they came, not
only because of Jesus, but also that they might see Lazarus, whom he had raised
from the dead. 10So
the chief priests resolved that they would kill Lazarus also, 11for
many of the Jews were going out because of him, and then believing in Jesus.
The Triumphal
Entry
12The
next day, the great crowd that had come for the festival, hearing that Jesus is
arriving into Jerusalem, 13took
the fronds of palm trees, and went out into a merging with him. And they were
crying out:
"Hosha na!’
"Blessed
is he who comes in the
name
of the Lord,
the
king of Israel!’
14And
Jesus, having found a young donkey, took his seat upon it, just as it is
written:
15"Fear
not, O daughter of Zion;
Behold, your king is coming
sitting
on the foal of a donkey."
16These
things the disciples did not know at first, but once Jesus was glorified, then
they remembered that these things had been written in reference to him, and
that these things they had done to him.
17The
crowd therefore, the one that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the
tomb and raised him from the dead, had been bearing witness. 18Because
of this the crowd had come out to join him, that they had understood him to
have done this sign. 19Then
the Pharisees said to each other, "Observe, that you are not prevailing at
all. Behold, the world has gone after him!"
Jesus Ponders
Crucifixion
20And
among those going up to worship at the festival, were some Greeks. 21These,
then, came up to Philip, he from Bethsaida, Galilee. And they beseeched him,
saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22Philip
comes and tells Andrew; Andrew and Philip come and tell Jesus.
23And
Jesus responds to them as follows: "The hour has come, that the Son of Man
should be glorified. 24Truly,
truly I say to you, if a kernel of wheat does not fall to the ground and die,
it remains only one; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25The
person who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this
world will preserve it into eternal life. 26If someone is serving me, he must
follow me; and where I am, there also my servant will be. If someone is serving
me, my Father will honor him.
27"Now,
my soul has become troubled. And what shall I say– 'Father, save me from this
hour?' No, for this very thing I have arrived to this hour."
28"Father,
glorify your name."
Then
a voice came from heaven: "I both have glorified it, and will glorify again." 29The
crowd therefore standing and hearing was maintaining thunder to have happened.
Others were saying, "An angel spoke to him."
30Jesus
answered and said, "Not for my sake has this voice happened, but for you. 31Now
comes judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. 32And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will attract all mankind to me." 33Now
this he was saying signaling what manner of death he was about to die.
34The
crowd then responded to him: "We have heard out of the law that the Christ
remains for ever, so how is it you are saying that the Son of Man is to be
lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"
35Jesus
therefore said to them, "The light is among you a little while longer.
Walk, while you have the light, so that darkness does not overtake you. For the
person walking in darkness does not know where he is going. 36While
you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may be children of
light."
Jesus
spoke these things, then went away and was hidden from them.
The
Authorities Continue in Unbelief
37But,
though having done so many signs right in front of them, they were not
believing in him, 38so
that the word of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, which said,
"Lord, who has believed our
report?
And
the arm of the Lord,
to
whom has it been revealed?"
39Because
of this they were not able to believe: that again, Isaiah said,
40"He
has blinded their eyes,
and
he has hardened their hearts,
so
that they would neither see
with
their eyes,
nor
understand with their hearts,
nor
look back around,
such
that I would heal them."
41(Isaiah
said these things, because he saw Jesus' glory, so he spoke about him.)
42Even
so, many even of the rulers believed in him. But, because of the Pharisees,
they were not confessing it, for fear they would be put out of the synagogue. 43For:
They loved the
approval
of human beings
over and above
the approval of God.
44But
Jesus cried out, and said, "The person believing in me, is not believing
in me but in the one who sent me, 45and
the one looking upon me, is looking upon the one who sent me. 46I have
come into the world as a light, so that everyone believing in me may not abide
in darkness.
47"And
if someone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I
did not come in order to judge the world, but to save the world. 48The
person rejecting me and not believing my statements, has what judges him: the
word which I spoke, that will judge him at the last day. 49For I
from myself have not spoken; rather, the Father who sent me, he has given me commandment,
what I should say, and how I should speak. 50And I know, that his commandment
means eternal life. Therefore, what things I speak, just as the Father has said
them to me, I speak them just
so."
Chapter 13
The Passover
Supper
1And
before the Festival of the Passover, Jesus, aware that the hour had come for
him to pass on from this world to the Father, and having loved those of his own in the world, loved them to the
end. 2And
supper having started, with the devil having already put it in the heart of
Judas son of Simon of Kerioth to betray him, 3and aware that
the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come forth from
God and to God he was going, 4Jesus
rises from the supper and lays down his clothing, and taking a towel, he
fastened it around himself. 5Then,
he is putting water into a basin. And he began to wash the feet of the
disciples, and to wipe them off with the towel in which he was girded.
6Thus he
comes to Simon Peter. Who says to him, "Lord, You are washing my feet?"
7Jesus
answered, and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not know yet, but
after these things, you will know."
8Peter
says to him, "No way will you ever wash my feet."
Jesus
answered him, "Unless I wash you, you have no place with me."
9Simon
Peter says to him, "Lord. Not just my feet, but my hands and my head as
well."
10Jesus
says to him, "One who is bathed has no need, except for the feet, to wash,
but is clean on the whole. And you men
are clean; though not all of you." 11For he already knew of the one
betraying him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."
12When
therefore he had washed their feet and taken his clothes and reclined again, he
said to them, "Do you know what I have done for you? 13You
call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly you say so, for I am. 14If
therefore I, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to
wash the feet of one another. 15For
I have given an example for you, so that just as I have done, you also might
do. 16Truly,
truly I say to you: A servant is not greater than his lord, neither an emissary
greater than the one who sent him. 17Since
these things you are knowing, blessed are you if you do them.
18"I
am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen; but, so that the
scripture is fulfilled, 'Someone eating my bread has lifted up his heel against
me.'
19"Yes
indeed: I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may
believe who I am. 20Truly,
truly I say to you, The person who accepts whomever I send, is accepting me;
and the person who accepts me, is accepting the One who sent me."
21When
he had said these things, Jesus was disturbed in his spirit, and he testified,
and he said, "Truly, truly I say to you: One of you will betray me."
22The
disciples were looking at one another, puzzling over about whom he was
speaking. 23One of
his disciples was reclining close at Jesus' side, the one Jesus loved. 24Simon
Peter therefore nods to this one to inquire of
Jesus about whom he was speaking. 25That
one therefore simply leaned back onto the chest of Jesus and says to him,
"Lord, who is it?"
26Jesus
replied, "It is that one for whom I shall dip and give the piece of
bread." After dipping the piece of bread therefore, he takes it and gives
it to Judas, the son of Simon of Kerioth.
27And
after the bread transaction, at that
time Satan entered into that one. Then Jesus says to him, "What you are
doing, do quickly."
28But
none of those reclining knew why he said this to him. 29For
some thought that since Judas was in charge of the money bag, Jesus was telling
him, "Buy things we need for the festival," or, that he should give
something to the poor. 30When
therefore that one had taken the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And
it was night.
Where Is Jesus
Going?
31Then
after he had gone out, Jesus says, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and
in him God is glorified. 32If
God is glorified in him, God will also glorify the Son in himself, and glorify
him at once.
33"Children,
I am with you only a little while longer. You will seek me, and just as I said
to the Jews, I now say to you also: 'Where I am going, you are not able to
come.'
34"A
new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved
you, so you also should love one another. 35By
this will everyone know that you are my disciples: if you have love among one
another."
36Simon
Peter says to him, "Lord, where are you going?"
Jesus
replied, "Where I am going, you are not able to follow now, but you will
follow later."
37Peter
says to him, "Why am I not able to follow you now? I will lay down my life
for you."
38Jesus
answers, "You will lay down your life for me? Truly, truly I say to you, a
rooster will not crow, until such time you deny me three times.
Chapter 14
1"Do
not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. 2In my
Father's house there are many abodes. Otherwise, would I have told you that I
am going to prepare a place for you? 3And if
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you in with myself,
so that where I am, there you may be also. 4And where I am going, you know
the way."
Jesus the Way
to the Father
5Thomas
says to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going— how is it we know
the way?"
6Jesus
says to him, "I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me. 7If
you have come to know me, you will come to know my Father as well; indeed, from
now on you know him, and have seen him."
8Philip
says to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will satisfy us."
9Jesus
says to him, "All this time I have been with you, and you have not come to
know me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father; how is it you
say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Do
you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The statements
which I say to you I do not speak from myself, but the Father abiding in me is
doing his works. 11Believe
me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. But if not, believe because
of those works. 12The
person who believes in me, truly, truly I say to you, the works that I do, that
one also shall do, and even greater than these shall do, because I am going to the Father. 13Indeed,
whatever you shall request in my name, this I will do, so that the Father may
be glorified in the Son. 14If
you ask me for something in my name, I will do it.
Jesus Promises
the Holy Spirit
15"If
you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he
will give you another Counselor, that he may be ever with you, 17the
Spirit of truth, which the world is unable to receive, because it neither
perceives him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides among you, and
will be in you. 18I
will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19Just a
little while longer and the world will be seeing me no more; but you will be
seeing me. Because I will be living, you also will live. 20In that
day you will know, that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21The
person who has my commandments and also keeps them, that is the one who loves
me. And the one who loves me, will be loved by my Father, and I also will love
him, and will reveal myself to him."
22Judas
(not the Keriothite) says to him, "Lord, and on what basis is it that, to
us, you intend to reveal yourself, and not to the world?"
23Jesus
answered, and said to him, "If someone loves me, he will keep my word, and
my Father will love him; and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. 24One who
does not love me will not keep my word. And the word that you are hearing is
not mine, but the Father's, who sent me.
25"These
things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26But the
Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, that one will
teach you all things, and remind you of all the things I have said to you.
27"Peace
I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to
you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
28"You
heard how I said to you, 'I am going away, and will be coming to you.' If you
loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, for the Father is
greater than I. 29And
now I have told you, before it happens, so that when it happens, you will
believe. 30I
will not speak with you much longer, for the ruler of this world is coming. And
he has no pull in me; 31but,
just as the Father has commanded me, this I do, so that the world may know that
I love the Father.
"Arise,
let us leave here."
Chapter 15
"I Am the
Vine, You Are the Branches"
1"I
am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2Every
branch in me bearing no fruit, he removes, and every branch bearing the fruit,
he cleans, so it may bear more fruit. 3You
are now clean, because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4Abide
in me, and I in you. Just as the branch is not able to bear fruit from itself,
unless it abides in the vine, in the same way neither are you, unless you abide
in me.
5"I
am the vine; you are the branches. The one who abides in me and I in him, this
one bears much fruit, for without me you can produce nothing. 6If
someone does not abide in me, he is thrown aside like the branch that is
withered; they gather such and put them in the fire; and it is burned. 7If
you abide in me, and my sayings abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it
will happen for you. 8In
this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and show to be my
disciples.
9"Just
as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you; abide ye in my love. 10If
you keep my commandments, you are abiding in my love, just as I have kept my
Father's commandments and am abiding in his love. 11These
things I have spoken to you, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy
may be full. 12This is
my commandment: that you love one another, as I have loved you. 13Greater
love has no one than this: that one lay down one's life for one's friends. 14You
are my friends, if you practice the things I am commanding you. 15No
longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his lord is
doing. But you I have called friends, because all things that I have heard from
my Father, I have made known to you. 16You
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you, that you go and
bear fruit, and that your fruit might abide, so that whatever you ask the
Father in my name, it may be granted to you. 17These
instructions I am giving you, so that you will love one another.
For This the
World Hates You
18"If
the world hates you, be assured that it hated me first, before you. 19If
you were of the world, the world would like its own; but because you are not of
the world, and indeed rather I have chosen you out of the world, for this the
world hates you. 20Be
mindful of the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his
lord.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they took my
word to heart, they will take yours to heart also. 21But
all these things they will do against you because of my name, for they do not
know the One who sent me. 22If
I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but now, they have
no excuse for their sin. 23One
who hates me also hates my Father. 24If
I had not done works among them which no one else has done, they would have no
sin; but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25But
so that the word written about them in the law might be fulfilled, 'They hated
me without a cause.'
26"When
the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of
Truth, who flows forth from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27And
you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Chapter 16
1"These
things I have spoken to you so that you may not fall away. 2They
will cause you to be put out of the synagogue; but an hour is coming such that
everyone who kills you will reckon to be offering up religious service to God. 3And
these things they will do, because they have not known the Father, neither me. 4But
these things I have spoken to you, so that when the hour of them comes, you
might remember them, that I told you.
The Holy
Spirit Will Finish My Work
"And
I have not told you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. 5But
now, I am going to the one who sent me, and none of you is asking me, 'Where
are you going?' 6Instead,
because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7But
I am telling you the truth: it works out better for you that I go away, for if
I were not to go away, the Counselor would not come to you. Whereas if I go, I
will send him to you. 8And
when he has come, that one will refute the world concerning sin, and concerning
righteousness, and concerning judgement; 9concerning
sin, because they do not believe in me; 10concerning
righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will be observing me no
longer; 11and
concerning judgement, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
12"I
have many things yet to say, but you are not able at the present time to bear it. 13But
when that one comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you in all the truth.
For he will not speak from himself, but rather, whatever things he hears he
will speak; and he will report to you the things that are coming. 14That
one will glorify me, because from mine he will take, and report it to you. 15Everything
the Father has is mine; this is how I said, 'from mine he will be taking, and
report it to you.'
16"A
little while, and you will be observing me no longer; and another little while,
and you will see me."
The Disciples'
Pain Will Be Turned to Joy
17Then
some of his disciples said to one another, "What is this that he is saying
to us, 'A little while, and you will not be observing me; and another little while,
and you will see me'? And, 'because I am going to the Father'?" 18They
kept saying therefore, "What is this 'little while'? We don't know
what he is saying."
19Jesus
knew that they were wanting to query him, and he said to them, "Is it this
you are deliberating among yourselves about, that I said, 'A little while and
you will not be observing me, and another little while and you will see me'? 20Truly,
truly I say to you, You will weep and lament, and the world will be cheered.
You will be in pain. But your pain will be turned into joy. 21In
the case of the woman about to give birth, she has pain, because for her the
hour has come. But when she has delivered the child, no longer is she mindful
of the distress, because of the joy that a human being is brought forth into
the world. 22Thus
you also, now you do have pain; but I will see you again, and your hearts will
be cheered, and your joy, no one is taking away from you. 23And
in that day you will not query me at all. Truly, truly I say to you, whatever
you will ask the Father in my name, he will grant it to you. 24Up
to now you have not asked anything in my name; ask, and you will receive, so
that your joy may be full.
25"These
things I have spoken to you in allegories; an hour is coming when I will no
longer speak to you in allegories, but I will tell you about the Father
plainly. 26In that
day you will make requests in my name, and I am not saying to you that I will
make request of the Father on your behalf. 27For
the Father himself likes you, because you have liked me, and have believed that
I came forth from God. 28I
went forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am taking leave of
the world, and going my way back to the Father."
29His
disciples are saying, "There, now you are talking with clarity and not
speaking any allegory. 30Now
we know that you know all, and with you there is no need that someone query
you. By this we believe that you have come forth from God."
31Jesus
answered them, "For now you believe. 32Behold,
an hour is coming, and indeed has come, that you will be scattered apart, each
to his own, and me you will have abandoned, alone. Yet I am not alone, because
the Father is with me.
33"These
things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you do
have tribulation; but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world."
Chapter 17
Jesus Prays
for Himself
1Jesus
spoke these things, and when he had lifted up his eyes to heaven, he said:
"Father,
the hour has come; glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you; 2inasmuch
as to him you have granted jurisdiction of all flesh, so that to all flesh that you
have given him, he may grant eternal life. 3And
this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you have
sent, Jesus Christ. 4I
have glorified you upon the earth, having finished the work which you have
given me to do. 5And
now, Father, glorify thou me, along with yourself, with the glory which I used
to have along with you, before the existence of the world.
Jesus Prays for
His Disciples
6"I
have made known your name to the humans of the world that you have given to me.
They had been yours, and you gave them to me, and they have taken your word to
heart. 7Now
they are persuaded that all the things you have given to me are indeed from you; 8for
the sayings which you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted and
knew for sure that I came forth from you, and they believed that you had sent
me. 9I am
making request concerning them; not concerning the world am I making request,
but only concerning those whom you have given to me. For they are yours; 10indeed
everything of mine is yours, and of yours is mine. And I am glorified in them; 11yes,
no longer am I to be in the world, yet they are in the world, and I am coming
to you. O holy Father, keep them in your name, that flesh that you have given to me, so that they may be one, just as
we are one. 12While
I was with them, I kept them in your name, that flesh that you have given to me, and I stood guard, and not one of them
met destruction, except the Son of Destruction, so that the scripture may be
brought to completion.
13"But
now I am coming to you, and I am speaking these things in the world, so that
they may have in them my joy brought to completion. 14I
have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not
of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15I
am not asking that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from
the evil one. 16They
are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify
them in the truth; your word is truth. 18Just
as you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19And
on their behalf I sanctify myself, so that they also may be ones sanctified in
truth.
Jesus Prays
for All Believers
20"And
not concerning these only am I making request, but also concerning the ones who
through their word believe in me, 21that
they all may be one. Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so let them
also be in us, so that the world might believe that you sent me. 22The
glory which you have given to me, I also have given to them, so that they may
be one, just as we are one: 23I
in them, and you in me, so that they may become fully developed into one, that
the world may know that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you
loved me.
24"O
Father, that flesh that you have
given to me, I desire that where I am, they might also be with me, so that they
may behold that glory of mine, which you have given to me, for you loved me
before the foundation of the world.
25"O
righteous Father, indeed the world has not known you, but I have known you, and
these have known that you sent me. 26And
I have made known to them your name, and will do so in the future, so that the
love with which you have loved me might always be in them, and I also in
them."
Chapter 18
Gethsemane
1After
he said these things, Jesus went forth with his disciples to the other side of
the wadi Kidron, where there was a garden, into which he himself went, and also
his disciples. 2And
Judas, the one betraying him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there
with his disciples.
Jesus Arrested
3Judas
therefore, after taking the cohort and some guards, from the high priests and
from the Pharisees, comes there, with lamps and torches and weapons. 4Then,
aware of all the things coming upon him, Jesus went forward, and he says to
them, "Whom are you seeking?"
5They
answered him, "Jesus the Nazarene."
He
says to them, "I am he.
And
Judas the one betraying him is also standing there with them. 6When
therefore he said, "I am he,"
they moved away backward, and fell to the ground. 7Again
therefore, he asked them, "Whom are you seeking?"
And
they said, "Jesus the Nazarene."
8Jesus
answered, "I told you that I am he.
If therefore it is me you are seeking, allow these to go their way." 9In
order that the word which he had said would be fulfilled: "Of those you
have given me, I have not lost even one."
10Then
Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the servant of the high priest,
and cut off his right ear. And the name of the servant was Malchus. 11Jesus
therefore said to Peter, "Put the sword in the sheath. The cup which the
Father has given me, am I not to drink it?"
Jesus Taken to
Hananiah
12Then
the cohort and its chiliarch and the guards from the Jews took Jesus prisoner
and bound him, 13and
they led him to Hananiah first, for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was
high priest for that year. 14And
Caiaphas was the one having advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man
die instead of the people.
Peter's First Denial
15And
Simon Peter was following Jesus, along with another disciple. And that other
disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered with Jesus into the
courtyard of the high priest, 16but
Peter had stopped outside, at the door. The other disciple therefore, who was
known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doormaid, and brought Peter
in. 17Then
the maidservant, the doorkeeper, says to Peter, "You are not also one of
this man's disciples, are you?"
He
says, "No I am not."
18And
the servants and the guards stood by a fire they had made, for it was cold, and
they were warming themselves. So Peter also was with them, standing and warming
himself.
The High Priest Questions Jesus
19The
high priest, then, questioned Jesus, about his disciples and about his
teaching.
20Jesus
answered him, "I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in a
synagogue or in the temple, where all the Jews come together. 21Why
ask me? Ask the ones who have heard, what I spoke to them. You see, they know
what things I said."
22As
he was saying these things, one of the guards standing by gave him a whack,
saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?"
23Jesus
answered him, "If I spoke wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if
acceptably, why are you hitting me?"
24Then
Hannaniah sent him, bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
Peter's Second and Third Denials
25And
Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore to him, "Are
you not also one of his disciples?"
He
denied it and said, "No I am not."
26One
of the servants of the high priest, who was a relative of him whose ear Peter
had cut off, says, "Did I not see you with him in the garden?" 27Again
therefore, Peter denied it, and immediately a rooster crowed.
Jesus Before Pilate and Herod
28They
then are leading Jesus away from Caiaphas toward the Praetorium; and it was
very early. And they entered not into the Praetorium, so that they would not be
defiled but rather might eat the Passover. 29So
Pilate came outside to them. And he says, "This man? You are bringing what
kind of charge against him?"
30They
answered, and said to him, "If he were not doing wrong, we would not have
brought him over to you."
31Pilate
therefore said to them, "You take him, and you judge him according to your
law."
The
Jews said to him, "For us it is not lawful to execute anyone." 32So
the word of Jesus would be fulfilled, which he had spoken indicating by what means
of death he was going to die.
33So
Pilate went back into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus, and he said to him,
"You are the king of the Jews?"
34Jesus
answered, "From yourself are you saying this, or have others told you
about me?"
35Pilate
answered, "Am I a Jew? It was your people and your chief priests who
handed you over to me. What have you done?"
36Jesus
answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this
world, my servants would have fought so that I not be handed over to the Jews.
But in fact my kingship is not from here."
37Pilate
therefore said to him, "So then you are a king."
Jesus
answered, "You are saying that I am a king; I, for this reason have been
born, and for this reason have come into the world: to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth hears my voice."
38Pilate
says to him, "What is truth?" And with that said, he went out again
to the Jews, and says to them, "I find in him no causa capitalis. 39But
there is a custom with you that I release to you one prisoner during the
Passover. Would you therefore have me release to you the king of the
Jews?"
40They
then shouted back, saying, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas
was a bandit.
Chapter 19
1At
that time therefore, Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. 2And
the soldiers, after weaving a wreath of thorns, set it on his head, and threw a
purple robe around him. 3Then
they were approaching him and saying, "Hail, O king of the Jews," and
giving him slaps in the face.
4And
Pilate went outside again, and says to them, "Look, I am bringing him out
to you, so that you will know that I find no causa capitalis in him." 5Jesus
came outside therefore, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And
Pilate says to them, "Behold the man."
6When
therefore the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out,
saying, "Crucify! Crucify!"
Pilate
says to them, "You take him yourselves and crucify him. As for me, I do
not find causa capitalis in him.
7The
Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law, he deserves
to die because he called himself the son of God."
8When
therefore Pilate heard this information, he was more afraid, 9and
he entered the Praetorium again, and says to Jesus, "Where are you
from?" But Jesus did not give him an answer.
10Pilate
then says to him, "To me you are not speaking? Do you not know, that I
have authority to free you, and I have authority to crucify you?"
11Jesus
answered, "You would have no authority over me if it had not been given
you from above. Because of this, the one who handed me over to you has the
greater guilt."
12From
this point on Pilate tried to free him; but the Jews shouted out, saying,
"If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar! Everyone calling
himself a king is opposing Caesar."
13When
therefore Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside, and he sat down
on the judgement seat, at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew called
Gabbatha. 14And it
was Preparation for the Passover, about 6:00 am. And he says to the Jews,
"Behold, your king."
15They
then shouted out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!"
Pilate
says to them, "Shall I crucify your king?"
The
chief priests responded, "We have no king but Caesar."
16At
that time therefore he handed him over to them, to be crucified.
The
Crucifixion
They
took Jesus therefore. 17And
carrying the cross by himself, he proceeded forth, to what is called the Skull
Place, which in Hebrew is pronounced Gulgolta, 18where
they crucified him, and with him, two others, one on this side and one on the
other, and Jesus in the middle. 19And
Pilate also wrote a notice and put it on the cross, and it was inscribed:
"JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS." 20Many
of the Jews therefore read this notice, because the place where Jesus was
crucified was close to the city, and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in
Greek.
21The
chief priests of the Jews therefore were saying to Pilate, "Do not write
'The King of the Jews,' but rather: 'He SAID, I am King of the Jews.'"
22Pilate
answered, "What I have written I have written."
23The
soldiers then, when they crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four
shares, a share for each soldier, plus the tunic. For the tunic was seamless,
woven continuously from the top through the whole. 24They
said therefore to one another, "We should not tear it, but cast lots as to
whose it shall be." So that the scripture would be fulfilled,
"They divided my garments
among
them;
and
cast lots
over
my clothing,"
those things therefore the soldiers did.
25And
near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, and his mother's sister; and the Mary belonging to Clopas, and
the Magdalene Mary. 26Jesus
therefore, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, says
to his mother, "Dear woman, behold your son."
27Then
he says to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that time
on, that disciple took her into his own home.
Jesus' Death
28Jesus,
knowing that after these things, all things were now completed, next says,
"I am thirsty," so that the scripture would be fulfilled.
29A container
full of vinegar was sitting there, so after sticking a sponge full of the
vinegar around a hyssop stem, they held it out to his mouth. 30When
therefore he had received the vinegar, Jesus said, "It is finished."
And after he bowed his head, he gave up his spirit.
31The
Jews therefore, since it was Preparation Day,
asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken away, so that the
bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath; for that day was great
among Sabbaths. 32The
soldiers came therefore, and broke the legs of the first one, and of the other
crucified with him, 33but
when they came to Jesus they realized he was already dead, and did not in his
case break the legs. 34But
one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came
out blood and water. 35And
the one who has seen has borne witness, and his testimony is reliable, and he
knows that he is saying something true; so you may believe. 36And
these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled:
"Not a bone of it shall be
broken."
37And
again, another scripture says:
"They shall look upon him
whom
they have pierced."
Jesus' Burial
38And
after these things, Joseph from Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but
secretly because of the fear of the Jews, made request of Pilate that he might
take the body of Jesus; and Pilate consented. He went therefore, and took his
body. 39And
Nicodemus, the one who earlier had come to Him by night, came as well, carrying
a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40They
then took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as
is the burial custom with the Jews. 41And
there was in the place where he was crucified, a garden, and in the garden a
new tomb, one in which no one had ever yet been laid. 42So,
since it was Preparation for the Jews, and because the tomb was close at hand,
that is where they laid Jesus.
Chapter 20
The Empty Tomb
1And
on the first day of the week, very early while still dark, Mary the Magdalene
is coming to the tomb; and she sees the stone having been removed from the
tomb. 2She
runs therefore, and goes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one whom
Jesus loved, and she says to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the
tomb, and we don't know where they have put him."
3Peter
therefore went out, and the other disciple also, and they were going toward the
tomb. 4And the
two were running together; and the other disciple ran faster ahead, and came to
the tomb first. 5And
after stooping down, he sees the linen cloths lying there. He did not enter inside,
however. 6Then
comes Simon Peter also, following behind him. And he entered into the tomb, and
he observes the linen cloths lying there, 7and
also the sweat cloth which used to be on his head, except not lying with the
linen cloths, but folded up in one place apart. 8Then
at that time the other disciple entered, the one who had arrived to the tomb
first; and he saw and believed. 9For
they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
Jesus Appears
to Mary of Magdala
10The
disciples then went back to their own homes. 11But
Mary stayed with the tomb, and there she stands, outside, weeping. 12As
she thus was weeping, she stooped down into the tomb, and she beholds two
angels in white, one sitting at the head and one sitting at the foot of where
the body of Jesus had been lying.
13And
they say to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She
says to them, "They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they
have put him."
14When
she had said these things, she looked toward the rear, and beholds Jesus having
been standing; and she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15Jesus
says to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?"
She,
thinking he is the gardener, says to him, "Sir, if it is you who took him,
tell me where you put him, and I will get him.
16Jesus
says to her, "Mary."
She
when she turned around, says to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which
means Teacher).
17Jesus
says to her, "Do not cleave to me, for I have not yet ascended to the
Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them: 'I am ascending to my Father and
your Father; to my God and your God.'"
18Mary
goes, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and also announcing those things he had said to
her.
Jesus Appears
to the Ten Apostles
19Then,
when it was evening on that first day of the week, with the doors locked where
the disciples were, because of the fear of the Jews, Jesus appeared, and stood
in their midst. And he says to them, "Peace be with you." 20And
when he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. Therefore
the disciples rejoiced, seeing the Lord.
21Then
Jesus again said to them, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me,
so also I send you." 22And
having said this, he blew, and says to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23Whose
ever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; whose ever you retain, they are
retained."
Jesus Appears
to Thomas
24But
Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one who was called the Twin, was not with them
when Jesus came. 25So
the other disciples were telling him, "We have seen the Lord."
But
he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put
my finger into the place from the nails, and put my hands into his side, there
is no way I will believe."
26And
after eight days, his disciples again were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus
is appearing, even though the doors were locked. And he stood in the midst, and
said, "Peace be with you." 27Thereupon
he says to Thomas, "Bring your finger here, and see my hands, and bring
your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but
believing."
28Thomas
responded and said to him, "My Lord and my God."
29Jesus
says to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are
those believing without having seen."
30While
therefore Jesus did also do many other signs in the sight of his disciples
which are not written in this book, 31these
have been written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God, and that believing, you might have life through his name.
Chapter 21
Resurrection
Fish & Bread
1After
these things, Jesus revealed himself another time to his disciples, on the Sea
of Tiberius. And this is how he revealed himself.
2Simon Peter,
and Thomas called the Twin, and Nathaniel from Cana of Galilee, and the sons of
Zebedee, and two other disciples of his, were together. 3Simon
Peter says to them, "I am going to fish."
They
say to him, "We are also coming with you."
They
went, and embarked in the boat. And throughout that night, they caught nothing.
4And now that
it is turning morning, Jesus had stood at the shoreline. However, the disciples
have not realized that it is Jesus. 5Jesus
therefore says to them, "Children, have you no fish?"
They
answered, "No."
6And
he said to them, "Cast the net into the area to the right of the boat, and
you will find something." They cast it therefore, and they were not strong
enough to retrieve it, because of a fullness of fish.
7So
that disciple whom Jesus loved says to Peter, "It is the Lord." When
therefore Simon Peter heard that it is the Lord, he fastened his cloak around
himself, for he was stripped for work, and he threw himself into the lake 8(for
they were not far from shore, but only about two hundred cubits away), while
the other disciples came in the boat, towing the fish net. 9As
they get down therefore onto the beach, they see a fire of coals established,
and fish lying on it, and bread.
10Jesus
says to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have now caught." 11Simon
Peter therefore got up, and dragged the net to the beach, very full of fish,
153 of them; and though there were so
many, the net was not torn.
12Jesus
says to them, "Come, eat breakfast." And not one of the disciples got
up the courage to challenge him, "Who are you?" For they knew it was
the Lord. 13Jesus
comes, and he takes the bread and distributes to them, and the fish likewise. 14This
was now the third time Jesus had revealed himself to the disciples after having
risen from the dead.
Jesus
Reappoints Peter
15When
therefore they had eaten breakfast, Jesus says to Simon Peter, "Simon son
of John, do you love me more than these?"
He
says to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
He
says to him, "Feed my lambs."
16Again,
he says to him a second time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
He
says to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
He
says to him, "Pastor my sheep."
17He
says to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter
was hurt that he said to him the third time, "Do you love me." And he
says to him, "Lord, you know all. You know that I love you."
Jesus
says to him, "Feed my sheep." 18Truly,
truly I say to you: When you were younger, you would dress yourself, and walk
around where you wanted; but after you have become old, you will stretch out
your hand, and someone else will dress you, and lead you somewhere you will not
want." 19This he
said signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And having said
this, he says to him, "Follow me."
And What About
John?
20Peter
turned around, and sees the disciple
whom Jesus loved following, that is, the one who in the supper had leaned back
onto His chest and said, "Lord, who is the one betraying you?" 21So
when he saw this one, Peter says to Jesus, "Lord, and what about
him?"
22Jesus
says to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?
You follow me." 23This
therefore is the word that got out to the brothers: that that disciple would
not die. But Jesus had not said to him that he would not die; rather, "If
I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?"
24That
disciple is the one who is bearing witness to these things, and the one who
wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
25And
there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if written in detail, I
reckon not even the world itself would be able to hold the books that would be
written.
SHOULD “THE PERICOPE OF THE ADULTERESS” BE INCLUDED?
John 7:53-
8:11
PROBLEM: Did the apostle John, the author of the gospel of John, write this section? Did the apostles who laid the scriptural foundation for the church intend that this story of the woman caught in adultery be part of that foundation? Does the passage have weight and authority equal to that of scripture? This passage is not found in any Greek manuscript dated before the fifth century. It is not found in the earliest translations of the Bible into other languages, such as the old Syriac, fourth century; the old Latin, fourth century; the Georgian Bible, fifth century; the Slavic Bible, and the Coptic Bible, as late as the ninth century. It was not in the gospel of John when the decision was made to include John in the canons of scripture: the Muratorian Canon, A.D. 170; Codex Barococcio, A.D. 206; Eusebius' "Ecclesiastical History," c. 340; the Council of Hippo, A.D. 393; and the Council of Carthage, A.D. 397. No Greek church father prior to the 12th century comments on the passage.
Moreover, when you translate this passage from the Greek,
you see that there is a very marked change in the style of Greek, compared to
the rest of the gospel of John. The most obvious change is in the more frequent
use of the particle de all of a sudden,
and conversely a sudden decrease in the use of the particle oun.
On the
style of Greek, you can check it out yourself and see, that the passage John
7:53 to 8:11 is not written in the style of John. John does not use the Greek
word "de" near as often as the other gospel writers, but in this
passage, it is found MUCH more often than in the rest of John.
Out of
the other 867 verses in the gospel of John, the word "de" is found
203 times, or in an average of 23% of the verses, while in these 12 verses,
John 7:53 to 8:11, the word "de" is found 11 times, or an average of
92% of the verses. Another change in style is an increase of participial
phrases. For these reasons and others, I feel no uncertainty in flatly
declaring that the passage is not written in the style of the apostle John.
Probably the foremost authority
on questions of authenticity of passages in the Greek text is the book "A
Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament," by Bruce M. Metzger on
behalf of and in cooperation with the Editorial Committee of the United Bible Societies'
Greek New Testament: Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M.
Metzger, and Allen Wikgren. The following is a quote from it concerning this
passage:
"The evidence for the non-Johannine
origin of the pericope of the adulteress is overwhelming. It is absent from
such early and diverse manuscripts as p66, 75 Ŕ B L N T W X Y d q y 0141 0211 22 33 124 157 209 788
828 1230 1241 1242 1253 2193 al.
Codices A and C are defective in this part of John, but it is highly probable
that neither contained the pericope, for careful measurement discloses that
there would not have been space enough on the missing leaves to include the
section along with the rest of the text. In the East the passage is absent from
the oldest form of the Syriac version (syrc,s and the best manuscripts of syrp), as well as from the Sahidic
and the sub-Achmimic versions and the older Bohairic manuscripts. Some Armenian
manuscripts and the Old Georgian version omit it. In the West the passage is
absent from the Gothic version and from several Old Latin manuscripts (ita,1,*,q). No Greek Church Father prior
to Euthymius Zigabenus (twelfth century) comments on the passage, and Euthymius
declares that the accurate copies of the Gospel do not contain it.
When one adds to this impressive and
diversified list of external evidence the consideration that the style and
vocabulary of the pericope differ noticeably from the rest of the Fourth Gospel
(see any critical commentary), and that it interrupts the sequence of 7:52 and
8:12 ff., the case against its being of Johannine authorship appears to be
conclusive.
At the same time the account has all the
earmarks of historical veracity. It is obviously a piece of oral tradition
which circulated in certain parts of the Western church and which was
subsequently incorporated into various manuscripts at various places. Most
copyists apparently thought that it would interrupt John's narrative least if
it were inserted after 7:52 (D E (F) G H K M U g p 28 700 892 al). Others placed it after 7:36
(ms. 225) or after 7:44 (several Georgian mss.) or after 21:25 (1 565 1076 1570
1582 armmss) or after
Luke 21:38 (f13). Significantly enough, in many
of the witnesses which contain the passage it is marked with asterisks or
obeli, indicating that, though the scribes included the account, they were
aware that it lacked satisfactory credentials.
Sometimes it is stated that the pericope
was deliberately expunged from the Fourth Gospel because it was liable to be
understood in a sense too indulgent to adultery. But, apart from the absence of
any instance elsewhere of scribal excision of an extensive passage because of
moral prudence, this theory fails "to explain why the three preliminary
verses (vii 53; viii 1-2), so important as apparently descriptive of the time
and place at which all the discourses of c. viii were spoken, should have been
omitted with the rest" (Hort, "Notes on Select Readings," pp. 86
f.).
Although the Committee was unanimous that
the pericope was originally no part of the Fourth Gospel, in deference to the
evident antiquity of the passage a majority decided to print it, enclosed
within double square brackets, at its traditional place following Jn
7:52."
The
Committee included it in its traditional place "in deference to its
antiquity." But they omitted scores of other passages that are even older
than the pericope. So why did they choose to include this particular passage?
Probably because of its relatively large size, and because it is so well known
and loved. They are unanimous that the passage is not original holy writ, but
include it because it probably is truth. However, I would like the criterion
for inclusion of a passage to be not whether or not it is true, but whether or
not the apostles intended it to have the authority of scripture. Truth and
authority are not the same. “2+2=4” is truth, but it is not scripture. God did
not inspire one of his apostles or prophets to put it among the foundational
truths that are authoritative original holy writ. So it is with the Pericope of
the Adulteress. I would think we want our translations of the gospel of John to
be 100% pure scripture, all the real thing.
Nevertheless,
I decided to include the passage in the text of John, with a footnote
indicating that it may not be original scripture. Though I personally consider
it New Testament pseudepigrapha] I know it is a beloved story. So
I decided to leave it in my text of the gospel of John, considering that it
probably does no harm, unlike the spurious ending that tradition has added on
to the gospel of Mark.
To download the gospel of John, with footnotes, click here.