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John

John was one of Jesus’ closest fol-lowers. He begins this fourth Gospelin a way that is very different fromthe other Gospels. The other three(Matthew, Mark and Luke) beginwith Jesus’ life. John’s first wordsare “In the beginning”. In Genesis,these words begin the story of thecreation of the world. John doesnot retell the creation story. Instead,he talks about the “Word” that wasthere in the beginning. What is thisWord? John says that the Word waswith God and was God. The Wordis Jesus, the Son of God, who cameinto the world as light and life. Thethemes of light and life are repeatedthroughout the book, as are otherthemes like truth, love and glory.John does not try to include all

or even most of the events in Je-sus’ life. In fact, he says that all thebooks in the world would not beenough to record everything that Je-sus did (21:25). John selects a fewevents that illustrate and reveal thedivine nature and mission of Jesus,the Christ (which means Messiah orGod’s Chosen King). John makes itclear that Jesus represents God. Heis not just a wise teacher. He ismore than a prophet. John showsin many different ways that Jesusis one with God. Jesus came so thatpeople could see God in real life.In John’s Gospel, Jesus talks to

people in a very personal way. Manyof these conversations are not in theother Gospels. For example, in John4 Jesus meets a woman at a wellin Samaria. Many Jewish people atthat time thought that Jews shouldavoid people from Samaria. Many

also thought that a man, especially aRabbi (a person who teaches aboutGod), should not talk to a womanalone. But Jesus was not concernedabout what people thought. He hon-oured this Samaritan woman byhaving a conversation with her. Healso revealed truths to her that, asfar as we know, he had not told any-one else. Jesus shows by this thatGod wants everyone to know him,not just one special group. Eternallife is for everyone, no matter whothey are, where they are from orwhat they have done.But the power of Jesus’ personal-

ity and message made some impor-tant leaders afraid. They saw thatJesus was a threat to their religiousand political system. So they ar-rested Jesus and put him on trial. Anangry crowd of people warned Pi-late, the Roman governor, “Anyonewho makes himself a king is againstCaesar. So if you let this man gofree, that means you are not Caesar’sfriend” (19:12). But John’s Gospelshows that Jesus was not the kind ofking that Pilate thought he was. Intruth, Jesus rules a completely dif-ferent kind of kingdom. He is ourLord and our God. The life he livedon earth shows us what God is likeand opens the way for a relationshipwith him.In the book of John, Jesus…Has always existed, is baptized and

finds followers (1:1-51)Shows his power with miracles and

teaches people (2:1 – 12:50)Teaches his followers and prays for

them (13:1 – 17:26)Is arrested, killed and buried (18:1 –

19:42)Rises from death and teaches his fol-

lowers (20:1 – 21:25)

John 1:1 2 John 1:18

Jesus, the Eternal Word of God

1 In the beginning, before the earthwas made,

the Word* was there.The Word was with God,and the Word was God.2He was there with Godin the beginning.3Everything was made through him.Nothing in all of God’s creation was

made without him.4 In him there was life,and that life was light for the people of

the world.5The light† shines in the darkness,and the darkness has not defeated‡ it.

6There was a man named John, whowas sent by God. 7He came to tell peopleabout the light. Through him all peoplecould hear about the one who is the lightand believe in him. 8 John was not thelight. But he came to tell people aboutthe light.9The true light,the one who brings light to all people,was about to make his appearance to the

world.10The Word was already in the world.The world was made through him,but the world did not accept who he was.11He came to the world that was his

own,and his own people did not welcome

him.

12But some people did accept him.They believed in him,and he gave them the rightto become children of God.13Yes, they became God’s children,but not by a physical birth.It did not involve any human desire or

wish.God himself made them his children.14The Word became humanand lived among us.We saw his divine greatness—the glory that belongs to the only Son of

the Father.He was filled with God’s grace and truth.

15 John spoke about him when hemade this public announcement: “Thisis the one I was talking about when Isaid, ‘The one who is coming after meis greater than I am, because he wasthere in the beginning, long before I wasborn.’”16He was so full of God’s grace and truththat we received from him one blessing

after another.¶17That is, the law was given to us

through Moses.Grace and truth came through Jesus

Christ.18No one has ever seen God.But the one and only Son,who is himself God,has shown us what God is like.He is so close to the Fatherthat when we have seen him,

*1:1Word The Greek word is “logos”, meaning any kind of communication. It couldbe translated “message”. Here, it is used as a symbolic name for Jesus, God’s ChosenKing (“Christ” or “Messiah”), who was sent by God to show and tell the world aboutGod and his love for all people. Also in verses 10,14.†1:5 light This means Jesus, the Word, who brought to the world understandingabout God. Also in verse 7.‡1:5 defeated Or “understood”.¶1:16 Literally, “For from his fullness we all received grace in place of grace.” Com-pare verse 14.

John 1:19 3 John 1:35

we have seen God.§John Tells About the Messiah

(Matt. 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8;Luke 3:1-9,15-17)

19The Jewish leaders in Jerusalemsent some priests and Levites to John toask him, “Who are you?”He told them the truth. 20Without any

hesitation he said openly and plainly, “Iam not the Messiah.”**

21They asked him, “Then who areyou? Are you Elijah?”He answered, “No, I am not Elijah.”They asked, “Are you the Prophet?”††He answered, “No, I am not the

Prophet.”22They said, “Then who are you? Give

us an answer to tell the people who sentus. What do you say about yourself?”

23Using the words of Isaiah theprophet, John said, “I am‘the voice of someone shouting in the

desert:Make a straight road ready for the

Lord!’”‡‡24These Jews were sent from the Phar-

isees. 25They said to John, “You say youare not the Messiah. You say you are notElijah or the Prophet. Then why do youbaptize people?”

26 John answered, “I have authorityto baptize people with water. But hereamong you is someone you don’t know.27He is the one who will come after me.

But I am not good enough even to be theslave who unties his sandals.”

28These things all happened atBethany on the other side of the JordanRiver. This is where John was baptizingpeople.

Jesus, the Lamb of God29The next day John saw Jesus com-

ing towards him and said, “Look, theLamb of God who takes away the sinsof the world! 30This is the one I wastalking about when I said, ‘Someone iscoming after me who is greater than Iam, because he was there in the begin-ning, long before I was born.’ 31 I did notknow then who he was. But I came bap-tizing people with water so that the peo-ple of Israel could know that he is theMessiah.”

32–34Then John said this for everyoneto hear: “The one who sent me to baptizepeople with water told me, ‘You will seethe Spirit come down and rest on a man.He is the one who will baptize with theHoly Spirit.’ I have seen this happen. Isaw the Spirit come down from heavenlike a dove and rest on this man. I did notknow until then who the Messiah was.So this is what I tell people: ‘He is theSon of God.’”¶¶

The First Followers of Jesus35The next day John was there again

and had two of his followers with him.

§1:18 But the one … seen God Or more literally, “The one and only Son, God, whois very close to the Father, has shown us what he is like.” Some other Greek copieshave “The only Son is very close to the Father and has shown us what he is like.”**1:20 the Messiah Literally, “Christ”, a Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Mes-siah”. See Christ and Messiah in the Word List.††1:21 Prophet They probably meant the prophet that God told Moses he wouldsend. See Deut. 18:15-19. Also in verse 25.‡‡1:23 Quote from Isa. 40:3.¶¶1:32-34 He is the Son of God Some very early Greek copies have “He is the chosenone of God.”

John 1:36 4 John 2:3

36He saw Jesus walking by and said,“Look, the Lamb of God!”

37The two followers heard him saythis, so they followed Jesus. 38 Jesusturned and saw the two men followinghim. He asked, “What do you want?”They said, “Rabbi, where are you stay-

ing?” (“Rabbi” means “Teacher”.)39He answered, “Come with me and

you will see.” So the two men went withhim and saw the place where he wasstaying. It was then about four o’clock,and they stayed there with him the restof that day.

40These men followed Jesus after theyhad heard about him from John. Oneof them was Andrew, the brother of Si-mon Peter. 41The first thing Andrew didwas to go and find his brother Simon.Andrew said to him, “We have foundthe Messiah.” (“Messiah” is the Hebrewword for “Christ”.§§)

42Then Andrew brought Simon to Je-sus. Jesus looked at him and said, “Youare Simon, the son of John. You willbe called Cephas.” (“Cephas” means “Pe-ter”.*)

43The next day, Andrew wanted themto go to Galilee. He found Philip, and Je-sus said to him, “Follow me.” 44Philipwas from the town of Bethsaida, thesame as Andrew and Peter. 45Philipfound Nathanael and told him, “We havefound the man that Moses wrote about inthe law. The prophets wrote about him

too. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph. He isfrom Nazareth.”

46But Nathanael said to Philip,“Nazareth! Can anything good comefrom Nazareth?”Philip answered, “Come and see.”47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to-

wards him and said, “This man comingis a true Israelite, one you can trust.”†

48Nathanael asked, “How do youknow me?”Jesus answered, “I saw you when you

were under the fig tree, before Philiptold you about me.”

49Then Nathanael said, “Teacher, youare the Son of God. You are the King ofIsrael.”

50 Jesus said to him, “Do you believethis just because I said I saw you underthe fig tree? You will see much greaterthings than that!” 51Then he said, “Yes,believe me when I say that you will allsee heaven open. You will see ‘angels ofGod going up and coming down’‡ on theSon of Man.”

The Wedding at Cana

2 Three days later, there was a wed-ding in the town of Cana in Galilee,

and Jesus’ mother was there. 2 Jesus andhis followers were also invited. 3At thewedding there was not enough wine, soJesus’ mother said to him, “They haveno more wine.”

§§1:41 Messiah, Christ These are both titles for the chosen king sent by God. SeeChrist and Messiah in the Word List.*1:42 Peter The Greek name “Peter”, like the Aramaic name “Cephas”, means“rock”.†1:47 one you can trust Literally, “in whom is no deceit”. In the Old Testament,Israel’s other name, Jacob, is explained with words that mean “deceit” or “trickery”,for which he was well known. See Gen. 27:35,36.‡1:51 Quote from Gen. 28:12, which is part of the story about Jacob’s dream of aladder with angels going up and coming down on it between heaven and earth. SeeGen. 28:10-17.

John 2:4 5 John 2:25

4 Jesus answered, “Mother, why areyou telling me this? The right time forme has not yet come.”

5His mother said to the servants, “Dowhat he tells you.”

6There were six stone water jars therethat were used by the Jews in their wash-ing ceremonies.¶ Each one held about 80to 120 litres.§

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill thejars with water.” So they filled them tothe top.

8Then he said to them, “Now dip someout and take it to the man in charge ofthe feast.”So they did what he said. 9Then the

man in charge tasted it, but the wa-ter had become wine. He did not knowwhere the wine had come from, but theservants who brought the water knew.He called the bridegroom 10 and said tohim, “People always serve the best winefirst. Later, when the guests are drunk,they serve the cheaper wine. But youhave saved the best wine until now.”

11This was the first of all the miracu-lous signs Jesus did. He did it in the townof Cana in Galilee. By this he showed hisdivine greatness, and his followers be-lieved in him.

12Then Jesus went to the town of Ca-pernaum. His mother and brothers andhis followers went with him. They allstayed there for a few days.

Jesus at the Temple(Matt. 21:12-13; Mark

11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46)13 It was almost time for the Jewish

Passover, so Jesus went to Jerusalem.14There in the Temple area he saw men

selling cattle, sheep and doves. He sawothers sitting at tables, exchanging andtrading people’s money. 15 Jesus madea whip with some pieces of rope andchased all the sheep and cattle out ofthe Temple area. He turned over thetables of the money traders and scat-tered their money. 16Then he said tothose who were selling pigeons, “Takethese things out of here! Don’t make myFather’s house a place for buying andselling!”

17This caused his followers to re-member these words written in theScriptures:My love for your Temple will destroy

me!**18 Some Jews said to Jesus, “Show us

a miracle as a sign from God. Prove thatyou have the right to do these things.”

19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this tem-ple and I will build it again in threedays.”

20They answered, “People worked 46years to build this Temple! Do you reallybelieve you can build it again in threedays?”

21But when Jesus said “this temple”,he was talking about his own body. 22Af-ter he was raised from death, his follow-ers remembered that he had said this.So they believed the Scriptures, and theybelieved what Jesus said.

Jesus and Nicodemus23 Jesus was in Jerusalem for the

Passover festival. Many people believedin him because they saw the miracu-lous signs he did there. 24But Jesus didnot trust them, because he knew how allpeople think. 25He did not need anyone

¶2:6 washing ceremonies The Jews had religious rules about washing in specialways before eating, before worshipping in the Temple and at other special times.Also in 3:25.§2:6 80 to 120 litres Literally, “2 or 3 metretas”.**2:17 Quote from Ps. 69:9.

John 3:1 6 John 3:21

to tell him what a person was like. Healready knew.

3 There was a man named Nicodemus,one of the Pharisees. He was an im-

portant Jewish leader. 2One night hecame to Jesus and said, “Teacher, weknow that you are a teacher sent fromGod. No one can do these miraculoussigns that you do unless they have God’shelp.”

3 Jesus answered, “I assure you, every-one must be born again.†† Anyone whois not born again cannot be in God’skingdom.”

4Nicodemus said, “How can a manwho is already old be born again? Canhe go back into his mother’s womb andbe born a second time?”

5 Jesus answered, “Believe me when Isay that everyone must be born fromwa-ter and the Spirit. Anyone who is notborn from water and the Spirit cannotenter God’s kingdom. 6The only life peo-ple get from their human parents is phys-ical. But the new life that the Spirit givesa person is spiritual. 7Don’t be surprisedthat I told you, ‘You must be born again.’8The wind blows wherever it wants to.You hear it, but you don’t know whereit is coming from or where it is going. Itis the same with everyone who is bornfrom the Spirit.”

9Nicodemus asked, “How is all thispossible?”

10 Jesus said, “You are an importantteacher of Israel, and you still don’t un-derstand these things? 11The truth is, we

talk about what we know. We tell aboutwhat we have seen. But you people don’taccept what we tell you. 12 I have toldyou about things here on earth, but youdo not believe me. So I’m sure you willnot believe me if I tell you about heav-enly things! 13The only one who hasever gone up to God in heaven is the onewho came down from heaven—the Sonof Man. 14Remember the bronze snakethat Moses lifted up in the desert?‡‡Well, the Son of Man must be lifted uplike that. 15Then everyone who believesin him can have eternal life.¶¶

16 “Yes, this is how God showed hisgreat love for the world: he gave his onlySon so that everyone who believes inhim would not be lost but have eternallife. 17God sent his Son into the world.He did not send him to judge the worldguilty, but to save the world throughhim. 18People who believe in God’s Sonare not judged guilty. But people whodo not believe are already judged, be-cause they have not believed in God’sonly Son. 19They are judged by this fact:the light§§ has come into the world. Butthey did not want light. They wanteddarkness, because they were doing evilthings. 20Everyone who does evil hatesthe light. They will not come to the light,because they do not want the light toshow the bad things they have done.21But anyone who follows the true waycomes to the light. Then the light willshow that God is at work in all they do.”

††3:3 born again In this verse and in verse 7 this phrase could be translated “bornfrom above”.‡‡3:14 Moses lifted … desert When God’s people were dying from snake bites, Godtold Moses to put a brass snake on a pole for them to look at and be healed. SeeNum. 21:4-9.¶¶3:15 Some scholars think that Jesus’ words to Nicodemus end here.§§3:19 light This means Jesus, the Word, who brought to the world understandingabout God.

John 3:22 7 John 4:10

Jesus and John the Baptizer22After this, Jesus and his followers

went into the area of Judea. There hestayed with his followers and baptizedpeople. 23 John was also baptizing peo-ple at Aenon, a place near Salim withplenty of water. People were going thereto be baptized. 24This was before Johnwas put in prison.

25 Some of John’s followers had anargument with another Jew about re-ligious washing.* 26Then they came toJohn and said, “Teacher, remember theman who was with you on the other sideof the Jordan River? He is the one youwere telling everyone about. He is alsobaptizing people, and many are going tohim.”

27 John answered, “A person can re-ceive only what God gives. 28You your-selves heard me say, ‘I am not the Mes-siah. I am only the one God sent to pre-pare the way for him.’ 29 I am like thefriend of the bridegroom at a wedding.The bride is for the bridegroom, not forthe friend. The friend just waits for in-structions from the bridegroom. And heis happy to do whatever the bridegroomwants. That’s how I feel now. I could notbe happier. 30Hemust become more andmore important, and I must become lessimportant.The One Who Comes From Heaven31 “The one who comes from above is

greater than all others. The one who isfrom the earth belongs to the earth. Hetalks about things that are on the earth.But the one who comes from heaven isgreater than all others. 32He tells whathe has seen and heard, but people don’t

accept what he says. 33Whoever acceptswhat he says has shown his agreementthat God speaks the truth. 34The onesent by God always has words from Godbecause God gives him the Spirit with-out limit. 35The Father loves the Son andhas given him power over everything.36Whoever believes in the Son has eter-nal life. But those who do not obey theSon will never have that life. They can-not escape God’s anger.”Jesus Talks to a Woman in Samaria

4 Jesus learned that the Pharisees hadheard the report that he was mak-

ing and baptizing more followers thanJohn. 2 (But really, Jesus himself didnot baptize anyone; his followers bap-tized people for him.) 3 So he left Judeaand went back to Galilee. 4The road toGalilee took him through the country ofSamaria.

5 In Samaria Jesus came to the towncalled Sychar, which is near the fieldthat Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Ja-cob’s well was there. Jesus was tiredfrom his long trip, so he was sitting be-side the well. About noon, 7 a Samaritanwoman came to the well to get some wa-ter, and Jesus said to her, “Please giveme a drink.” 8This happened while hisfollowers were in town buying food.

9The woman answered, “I am sur-prised that you ask me for a drink! Youare a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman!”(Jews have nothing to do with Samari-tans.†)

10 Jesus answered, “You have no ideawhat God has for you. And you don’tknow who is here asking you for a drink.If you knew, you would have asked me,

*3:25 religious washing The Jews had religious rules about washing in special waysbefore eating, before worshipping in the Temple and at other special times. So thisreminded John’s followers of baptism (verse 26), another kind of religious washing.†4:9 Jews…with Samaritans Or “Jews don’t use things that Samaritans have used.”

John 4:11 8 John 4:35

and I would have given you fresh, life-giving water.”

11The woman said, “Sir, where willyou get that living water? The well isvery deep, and you have nothing to getwater with. 12Are you greater than ourancestor Jacob? He is the one who gaveus this well. He drank water from it him-self, and his sons and all his animalsdrank water that came from this well.”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone whodrinks this water will be thirsty again.14But anyone who drinks the water Igive will never be thirsty again. The wa-ter I give people will be like a springflowing inside them. It will bring themeternal life.”

15The woman said to Jesus, “Sir, giveme this water. Then I will never bethirsty again and won’t have to comeback here to get more water.”

16 Jesus told her, “Go and get your hus-band and come back.”

17The woman answered, “But I haveno husband.”Jesus said to her, “You are right to say

you have no husband. 18That’s because,although you have had five husbands,the man you live with now is not yourhusband. That much was the truth.”

19The woman said, “Sir, I can see thatyou are a prophet.‡ 20Our ancestors wor-shipped on this mountain. But you Jewssay that Jerusalem is the place wherepeople must worship.”

21 Jesus said, “Believe me,¶ the time iscoming when you people will worshipthe Father without being on this moun-tain or in Jerusalem. 22There is so muchyou Samaritans don’t understand aboutthe one you worship. We Jews worshiphimwith a fuller understanding, because

it is through the Jews that he is sav-ing the world. 23But the time is comingwhen the true worshippers will worshipthe Father in spirit and truth. In fact, thattime is now here. And these are the kindof people the Father wants to be his wor-shippers. 24God is spirit. So the peoplewho worship him must worship in spiritand truth.”

25The woman said, “I know that theMessiah is coming, the one called Christ.When he comes, he will explain every-thing to us.”

26Then Jesus said to her, “He is talk-ing to you now. I am that One.”

27 Just then Jesus’ followers cameback from town. They were surprisedbecause they saw Jesus talking with awoman. But none of them asked her,“What do you want?” or asked him,“Why are you talking with her?”

28Then the woman left her water jarand went back to town. She told the peo-ple there, 29 “A man told me everythingI have ever done. Come and see him.Maybe he is the Messiah.” 30 So the peo-ple left the town and went to see Jesus.

31While the woman was in town,Jesus’ followers were begging him,“Teacher, eat something!”

32But Jesus answered, “I have food toeat that you know nothing about.”

33 So the followers asked each other,“Has someone already brought himsome food?”

34 Jesus said, “My food is to do whatthe one who sent me wants me to do. Myfood is to finish the work that he gaveme to do. 35When you plant, you alwayssay, ‘Four more months to wait beforewe gather the grain.’ But I tell you, openyour eyes and look at the fields. They are

‡4:19 prophet A prophet often knows things that are hidden to other people.¶4:21 Believe me Literally, “Believe me, woman.” Unlike today, “woman” was apolite way to address any woman.

John 4:36 9 John 5:4

ready for harvesting now. 36Even now,the people who harvest the crop are be-ing paid. They are bringing in those whowill have eternal life. So now the peoplewho plant can be happy together withthose who harvest. 37 It is true when wesay, ‘One person plants, but another per-son harvests the crop.’ 38 I sent you toharvest a crop that you did not work for.Others did the work, and you get theprofit from their work.”

39Many of the Samaritans in that townbelieved in Jesus. They believed becauseof what the woman had told them abouthim. She had told them, “He told meeverything I have ever done.” 40TheSamaritans went to Jesus. They beggedhim to stay with them. So he stayedthere two days. 41And many more peo-ple believed in Jesus because of thethings he said.

42The people said to the woman,“First we believed in Jesus because ofwhat you told us. But nowwe believe be-cause we have heard him ourselves. Weknow now that he really is the one whowill save the world.”

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son(Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10)

43Two days later Jesus left and wentto Galilee. 44 Jesus had said before thata prophet is not honoured in his owncountry. 45When he arrived in Galilee,the people there welcomed him, butonly because they had seen everythinghe had done at the Passover festival inJerusalem.

46 Jesus went to visit Cana in Galileeagain. Cana is where he had changed the

water into wine. One of the king’s impor-tant officials lived in the town of Caper-naum. This man’s son was sick. 47Theman heard that Jesus had come fromJudea and was now in Galilee. So hewent to Jesus and begged him to cometo Capernaum and heal his son, who wasalmost dead. 48 Jesus said to him, “Youpeople must see miraculous signs andwonders before you will believe in me.”

49The king’s official said, “Sir, comebefore my little son dies.”

50 Jesus answered, “Go. Your son willlive.”The man believed what Jesus told him

and went home. 51On the way home, theman’s servants came and met him. Theysaid, “Your son is well.”

52The man asked, “What time did myson begin to get well?”They answered, “It was about one

o’clock yesterday when the fever lefthim.”

53The father knew that one o’clockwas the same time that Jesus had said,“Your son will live.” So the man and ev-eryone in his house believed in Jesus.

54That was the second miraculoussign that Jesus did after coming fromJudea to Galilee.

Jesus Heals a Man at a Pool

5 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalemfor a special Jewish festival. 2 In

Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, thereis a pool with five covered porches. InAramaic it is called Bethzatha.§ 3–4Manysick people were lying on the porches be-side the pool. Some of them were blind,some were lame, and some were paral-

§5:2 Bethzatha Also called Bethsaida or Bethesda, a pool of water north of the Tem-ple in Jerusalem.

John 5:5 10 John 5:27

ysed.** 5One of the men lying there hadbeen sick for 38 years. 6 Jesus saw himlying there and knew that he had beensick for a very long time. So he askedhim, “Do you want to be well?”

7The sick man answered, “Sir, thereis no one to help me get into the waterwhen it starts moving. I try to be the firstone into the water. But when I try, some-one else always goes in before I can.”

8Then Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick upyour mat and walk.” 9 Immediately theman was well. He picked up his mat andstarted walking.The day all this happened was a Sab-

bath day. 10 So the Jewish leaders said tothe man who had been healed, “Today isthe Sabbath. It is against our law for youto carry your mat on the Sabbath day.”

11But he answered, “The man whomade me well told me, ‘Pick up your matand walk.’”

12They asked him, “Who is the manwho told you to pick up your mat andwalk?”

13But the man who had been healeddid not know who it was. There weremany people there, and Jesus had left.

14 Later, Jesus found the man at theTemple and said to him, “See, you arewell now. But stop sinning or somethingworse may happen to you!”

15Then the man left and went back tothe Jews who questioned him. He toldthem that Jesus was the one who madehim well.

16 Jesus was doing all this on the Sab-bath day. So these Jews began trying tomake trouble for him. 17But he said tothem, “My Father never stops working,and so I work too.”

18This made them even more deter-mined to kill him. They thought it wasbad enough that he was breaking the lawabout the Sabbath day. And now he wassaying that God is his Father, makinghimself equal with God!

Jesus Has God’s Authority19But Jesus answered, “I assure you

that the Son can do nothing alone. Hedoes only what he sees his Father do-ing. The Son does the same things thatthe Father does. 20The Father loves theSon and shows him everything he does.This man was healed. But the Father willshow the Son greater things than this todo. Then you will all be amazed. 21TheFather raises the dead and gives themlife. In the same way, the Son gives lifeto those he wants to.

22 “Also, the Father judges no one. Hehas given the Son power to do all thejudging. 23God has done this so that allpeople will respect the Son just as theyrespect the Father. Anyone who does notrespect the Son does not respect the Fa-ther who sent him.

24 “I assure you, anyone who hearswhat I say and believes in the one whosent me has eternal life. They will notbe judged guilty. They have already leftdeath and have entered into life. 25Be-lieve me, an important time is coming.That time is already here. People whoare dead will hear the voice of the Sonof God. And those who listen will live.26 Life comes from the Father himself. Sothe Father has also allowed the Son togive life. 27And the Father has given himthe power to judge all people because heis the Son of Man.

**5:3-4 At the end of verse 3, some Greek copies add “and they waited for the waterto move, because sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and shookthe water. After this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sicknesshe had.”

John 5:28 11 John 6:8

28 “Don’t be surprised at this. A timeis coming when all people who aredead and in their graves will hear hisvoice. 29Then they will come out of theirgraves. Those who have done good inthis life will rise and have eternal life.But those who have done evil will riseto be judged guilty.

30 “I can do nothing alone. I judge onlythe way I am told. And my judgement isright, because I am not trying to pleasemyself. I want only to please the onewho sent me.

Proof of Jesus’ Authority31 “If I tell people about myself, they

cannot be sure that what I say is true.32But there is someone else who tellspeople about me, and I know that whathe says about me is true.

33 “You sent men to John, and he toldyou what is true. 34 I don’t need any-one to tell people about me, but I re-mind you of what John said so that youcan be saved. 35 John was like a lampthat burned and gave light, and youwerehappy to enjoy his light for a while.

36 “But I have a proof about myselfthat is greater than anything John said.The things I do are my proof. These arewhat my Father gave me to do. Theyshow that the Father sent me. 37Andthe Father who sent me has given proofabout me himself. But you have neverheard his voice. You have never seenwhat he looks like. 38The Father’s teach-ing does not live in you, because youdon’t believe in the one the Father sent.39You carefully study the Scriptures.You think that they give you eternallife. These same Scriptures tell about me!40But you refuse to come to me to havethat life.

41 “I don’t want praise from you or anyother human. 42But I know you—I knowthat you have no love for God. 43 I havecome from my Father and speak for him,but you don’t accept me. But when otherpeople come speaking only for them-selves, you accept them. 44You like tohave praise from each other. But younever try to get the praise that comesfrom the only God. So how can you be-lieve? 45Don’t think that I will be theone to stand before the Father and ac-cuse you. Moses is the one to accuseyou. And he is the one you hoped wouldsave you. 46 If you really believed Moses,you would believe me, because he wroteabout me. 47But you don’t believe whathe wrote, so you can’t believe what Isay.”

Jesus Feeds More Than 5000(Matt. 14:13-21; Mark6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17)

6 Later, Jesus went across Lake Galilee(also known as Lake Tiberias). 2A

great crowd of people followed him be-cause they saw the miraculous signs hedid in healing the sick. 3 Jesus went upinto the hills and sat there with his fol-lowers. 4 It was almost the time for theJewish Passover festival.

5 Jesus looked up and saw a crowd ofpeople coming towards him. He said toPhilip, “Where can we buy enough breadfor all these people to eat?” 6He askedPhilip this question to test him. Jesus al-ready knew what he planned to do.

7Philip answered, “We would all haveto work a month†† to buy enough breadfor each person here to have only a littlepiece!”

8Another follower there was Andrew,the brother of Simon Peter. Andrew said,

††6:7 We … month Or “It would cost 200 silver coins.” See silver coin in the WordList.

John 6:9 12 John 6:28

9 “Here is a boy with five loaves of barleybread and two little fish. But that is notenough for so many people.”

10 Jesus said, “Tell everyone to sitdown.” This was a place with a lot ofgrass, and about 5000 men sat downthere. 11 Jesus took the loaves of breadand gave thanks for them. Then he gavethem to the people who were waiting toeat. He did the same with the fish. Hegave them as much as they wanted.

12They all had plenty to eat. Whenthey had finished, Jesus said to his fol-lowers, “Gather up the pieces of fish andbread that were not eaten. Don’t wasteanything.” 13 So they gathered up thepieces that were left. The people hadstarted eating with only five loaves ofbarley bread. But the followers filledtwelve large baskets with the pieces offood that were left.

14The people saw this miraculous signthat Jesus did and said, “He must bethe Prophet‡‡ who is coming into theworld.”

15 Jesus knew that the people plannedto come and take him and make himtheir king. So he left and went back intothe hills alone.

Jesus Walks on Water(Matt. 14:22-27; Mark 6:45-52)

16That evening Jesus’ followers wentdown to the lake. 17 It was dark now, andJesus had not yet come back to them.They got into a boat and started go-ing across the lake to Capernaum. 18Thewind was blowing very hard, and thewaves on the lake were becoming big-ger. 19They rowed the boat for aboutfive or six kilometres.¶¶ Then they sawJesus. He was walking on the water,

coming towards the boat. They wereafraid. 20But he said to them, “Don’t beafraid. It’s me.” 21When he said this,they were glad to take him into the boat.And then the boat reached the shore atthe place where they wanted to go.

The People Look for Jesus22The next day came. Some people

had stayed on the other side of the lake.They knew that Jesus had not gone withhis followers in the boat. They knew thatthe followers had left in the boat with-out him. And they knew it was the onlyboat that was there. 23But then someboats from Tiberias came and landednear the place where the people hadeaten the day before. This was wherethey had eaten the bread after the Lordgave thanks. 24The people saw that Je-sus and his followers were not therenow. So they got into the boats and wentto Capernaum to find Jesus.

Jesus, the Bread of Life25The people found Jesus on the

other side of the lake. They asked him,“Teacher, when did you get here?”

26He answered, “Why are you lookingfor me? Is it because you sawmiraculoussigns? The truth is, you are looking forme because you ate the bread and weresatisfied. 27But earthly food spoils andruins. So don’t work to get that kind offood. But work to get the food that staysgood and gives you eternal life. The Sonof Man will give you that food. He is theonly one qualified by God the Father togive it to you.”

28The people asked Jesus, “What arethe works God wants us to do before hewill send the Son of Man?”

‡‡6:14 Prophet They probably meant the prophet that God told Moses he wouldsend. See Deut. 18:15-19.¶¶6:19 five or six kilometres Literally, “25 or 30 stadia”.

John 6:29 13 John 6:55

29 Jesus answered, “The only workGod wants you to do is this: to believein the one he has already sent.”

30 So the people asked, “What miracu-lous sign will you do for us? If we can seeyou do a miracle, then we will believeyou. What will you do? 31Our ancestorswere givenmanna to eat in the desert. Asthe Scriptures say, ‘He gave them breadfrom heaven to eat.’”§§

32 Jesus said, “I can assure you thatMoses was not the one who gave yourpeople bread from heaven. But my Fa-ther gives you the true bread fromheaven. 33The bread that God givescomes down from heaven and gives lifeto the world.”

34The people said, “Sir, from now ongive us bread like that.”

35Then Jesus said, “I am the breadthat gives life. No one who comes to mewill ever be hungry. No one who be-lieves in me will ever be thirsty. 36As Ihave said before, you have seen what Ican do.* But you do not believe in me.37Everything the Father has for me willcome to me. And anyone who comes tome, I will never reject. 38 I came downfrom heaven to do what God wants, notwhat I want. 39 I must not lose anyoneGod has given me. But I must raise themup on the last day. This is what the onewho sent me wants me to do. 40Every-one who sees the Son and believes inhim has eternal life. I will raise them upon the last day. This is what my Fatherwants.”

41 Some Jews began to complain aboutJesus because he said, “I am the breadthat comes down from heaven.” 42Theysaid, “This is Jesus. We know his fa-

ther and mother. He is only Joseph’sson. How can he say, ‘I came down fromheaven’?”

43But Jesus said, “Stop complaining toeach other. 44The Father is the one whosent me, and he is the one who bringspeople to me. I will raise them up onthe last day. Anyone the Father does notbring to me cannot come to me. 45 It iswritten in the prophets: ‘God will teachthem all.’† People listen to the Fatherand learn from him. They are the oneswho come to me. 46 I don’t mean thatthere is anyone who has seen the Father.The only one who has ever seen the Fa-ther is the one who came from God.

47 “I can assure you that anyone whobelieves in me has eternal life. 48 I amthe bread that gives life. 49Your ances-tors ate the manna God gave them inthe desert, but it didn’t keep them fromdying. 50Here is the bread that comesdown from heaven. Whoever eats thisbread will never die. 51 I am the liv-ing bread that came down from heaven.Whoever eats this breadwill live forever.This bread is my body. I will give mybody so that the people in the world canhave life.”

52Then the Jews began to argueamong themselves. They said, “How canthis man give us his body to eat?”

53 Jesus said, “Believe me when I saythat you must eat the body of the Sonof Man, and you must drink his blood.If you don’t do this, you have no reallife. 54Those who eat my body and drinkmy blood have eternal life. I will raisethem up on the last day. 55My body istrue food, and my blood is true drink.

§§6:31 Quote from Ps. 78:24.*6:36 what I can do Or “me”, which is in many Greek copies, but not in two of theoldest and best copies.†6:45 Quote from Isa. 54:13.

John 6:56 14 John 7:14

56Those who eat my body and drink myblood live in me, and I live in them.

57 “The Father sent me. He lives, andI live because of him. So everyone whoeats my body will live because of me. 58 Iam not like the bread that your ances-tors ate. They ate that bread, but theystill died. I am the bread that came downfrom heaven. Whoever eats this breadwill live forever.”

59 Jesus said all this while he wasteaching in the synagogue in the townof Capernaum.

Many Followers Leave Jesus60When Jesus’ followers heard this,

many of them said, “This teaching is toohard. Who can accept it?”

61 Jesus already knew that his follow-ers were complaining about this. So hesaid, “Is this teaching a problem for you?62Then what would you think if you sawthe Son of Man going up to where hecame from? 63My teachings are spiri-tual food, and they give life. Physicalthings are of no use for this. It is theSpirit who gives life. 64But some of youdon’t believe.” (Jesus knew the peoplewho did not believe. He knew this fromthe beginning. And he knew the one whowould betray him to his enemies.) 65 Je-sus said, “That is why I said, ‘Anyone theFather does not help to come to me can-not come.’”

66After Jesus had said these things,many of his followers left and stoppedfollowing him.

67 Jesus asked the twelve apostles, “Sodo you want to leave too?”

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord,where would we go? You are the onlyone who has the words that give eternallife. 69We believe in you. We know thatyou are the Holy One from God.”

70Then Jesus answered, “I chose alltwelve of you. But one of you is a devil.”

71He was talking about Judas, the sonof Simon Iscariot. Judas was one of thetwelve apostles, but later he would handJesus over to his enemies.

Jesus and His Brothers

7 After this, Jesus went from town totown in Galilee. He could not travel

around in Judea, because the Jewishleaders there wanted to kill him. 2 Itwas time for the Jewish Festival of Shel-ters. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Youshould leave here and go to the festivalin Judea. Then your followers there cansee the miracles you do. 4 If you wantto be well known, you must not hidewhat you do. If you can do such amazingthings, let the whole world see.” 5 Jesus’brothers said this because even they didnot believe in him.

6 Jesus said to them, “The right timefor me has not yet come, but any time isright for you to go. 7The world cannothate you. But the world hates me, be-cause I tell the people in the world thatthey do evil things. 8 So you go to thefestival. I’m not going, because the righttime for me has not yet come.” 9AfterJesus said this, he stayed in Galilee.

10 So his brothers left to go to the fes-tival. After they left, Jesus went too, buthe did not let people see him. 11At thefestival the Jewish leaders were lookingfor him. They said, “Where is that man?”

12There was a large group of peoplethere. Many of them were talking se-cretly to each other about Jesus. Somepeople said, “He is a good man.” But oth-ers said, “No, he fools the people.” 13Butno one was brave enough to talk abouthim openly. They were afraid of the Jew-ish leaders.

Jesus Teaches in Jerusalem14When the festival was about half fin-

ished, Jesus went to the Temple area

John 7:15 15 John 7:37

and began to teach. 15The Jewish lead-ers were amazed and said, “How did thisman learn so much? He never had thekind of teaching we had!”

16 Jesus answered, “What I teach is notmy own. My teaching comes from theone who sent me. 17People who reallywant to do what God wants will knowthat my teaching comes from God. Theywill know that this teaching is not myown. 18 If I taught my own ideas, I wouldjust be trying to get honour for myself.But if I am trying to bring honour tothe one who sent me, I can be trusted.Anyone doing that is not going to lie.19Didn’t Moses give you the law? Butyou don’t obey that law. If you do, thenwhy are you trying to kill me?”

20The people answered, “A demon ismaking you crazy! We are not trying tokill you.”

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one mir-acle on a Sabbath day, and you wereall surprised. 22But you obey the lawMoses gave you about circumcision—and sometimes you do it on a Sab-bath day. (But really, Moses is not theone who gave you circumcision. It camefrom our ancestors who lived beforeMoses.) Yes, you often circumcise babyboys on a Sabbath day. 23This showsthat someone can be circumcised on aSabbath day to obey the Law of Moses.So why are you angry with me for heal-ing a person’s whole body on the Sab-bath day? 24 Stop judging by the waythings look. Judge by what is reallyright.”

Is Jesus the Messiah?25Then some of the people who lived

in Jerusalem said, “This is the man theyare trying to kill. 26But he is teachingwhere everyone can see and hear him.And no one is trying to stop him fromteaching. Maybe the leaders have de-

cided that he really is the Messiah. 27Butwhen the real Messiah comes, no onewill know where he comes from. And weknow where this man’s home is.”

28 So, as Jesus continued teaching inthe Temple area, he said boldly, “Yes,you think you know me and where Icame from! But I am not the one who de-cided that I should be here. You do notknow the one who sent me, but he canbe trusted. 29 I know him because I comefrom him. He is the one who sent me.”

30When Jesus said this, the peopletried to grab him. But no one was ableeven to touch him, because the righttime for him had not yet come. 31Butmany of the people believed in Jesus.They said, “Do you really think the Mes-siah would do more miraculous signsthan this man has done?”Temple Police Sent to Arrest Jesus32The Pharisees heard what the peo-

ple were saying about Jesus. So the lead-ing priests and the Pharisees sent someTemple police to arrest him. 33Then Je-sus said, “I will be with you a little whilelonger. Then I will go back to the onewho sent me. 34You will look for me,but you will not findme. And you cannotcome where I am.”

35These Jews said to each other,“Where will this man go that we can-not find him? Will he leave the coun-try and go to the other places our peo-ple live? Will he even teach those whoare not Jews? 36He says, ‘You will lookfor me, but you will not find me.’ Healso says, ‘You cannot come where I am.’What does this mean?”Jesus Talks About the Holy Spirit37The last day of the festival came. It

was the most important day. On that dayJesus stood up and boldly announced,“Whoever is thirsty may come to me and

John 7:38 16 John 8:7

drink. 38 If anyone believes in me, riversof living water will flow out from theirheart. That is what the Scriptures say.”39 Jesus was talking about the Spirit. TheSpirit had not yet been given to people,because Jesus had not yet been raised toglory. But later, those who believed inJesus would receive the Spirit.

The People Argue About Jesus40When the people heard the things

that Jesus said, some of them said, “Thisman really is the Prophet.”‡

41Other people said, “He is theMessiah.”And others said, “The Messiah will

not come from Galilee. 42The Scripturessay that the Messiah will come fromthe family of David. And they say thathe will come from Bethlehem, the townwhere David lived.” 43 So the people didnot agree with each other about Jesus.44 Some of the people wanted to arresthim. But no one tried to do it.

Some Jewish LeadersRefuse to Believe

45The Temple police went back to theleading priests and the Pharisees. Thepriests and the Pharisees asked, “Whydidn’t you bring Jesus?”

46The Temple police answered, “Wehave never heard anyone say such amaz-ing things!”

47The Pharisees answered, “So he hasfooled you too! 48You don’t see any ofthe leaders or any of us Pharisees believ-ing in him, do you? 49But those people

out there know nothing about the law.They are under God’s curse!”

50But Nicodemus was there in thatgroup. He was the one who had gone tosee Jesus before.¶ He said, 51 “Our lawwill not let us judge anyone without firsthearing them and finding out what theyhave done.”

52The Jewish leaders answered, “Youmust be from Galilee too! Study theScriptures. You will find nothing abouta prophet§ coming from Galilee.”

A Woman Caught in Adultery53Then they all left and went home.

8 But Jesus went to the Mount ofOlives. 2Early the next morning he

went back to the Temple area. The peo-ple all came to him, and he sat down andbegan to teach them.

3The teachers of the law and the Phar-isees brought a woman they had caughtin bed with a man who was not herhusband. They forced her to stand infront of the people. 4They said to Je-sus, “Teacher, this woman was caught inthe act of adultery. 5The Law of Mosescommands us to stone to death any suchwoman.What do you say we should do?”

6They were saying this to trick Je-sus. They wanted to catch him say-ing something wrong that they coulduse as a charge against him. But Jesusstooped down and started writing on theground with his finger. 7They continuedto ask him their question. So he stood upand said, “Anyone here who has neversinned should throw the first stone at

‡7:40 Prophet They probably meant the prophet that God told Moses he would send.See Deut. 18:15-19.¶7:50 He was the one … before The story about Nicodemus going and talking toJesus is in John 3:1-21.§7:52 a prophet Two early Greek copies have “the Prophet”, which would meanthe “prophet like Moses” mentioned in Deut. 18:15. In Acts 3:22 and 7:37 this isunderstood to be the Messiah, as in verse 40 above.

John 8:8 17 John 8:26

her.” 8Then Jesus stooped down againand wrote on the ground.

9When they heard this, they began toleave one by one. The older men leftfirst, and then the others. Jesus was leftalone with the woman standing there infront of him. 10He looked up again andsaid to her, “Where did they all go?**Didno one judge you guilty?”

11 She answered, “No one, sir.”Then Jesus said, “I don’t judge you ei-

ther. You can go now. But don’t go backto your life of sin.”††

Jesus Is the Light of the World12Once again, Jesus talked to the peo-

ple. He said, “I am the light of the world.Whoever follows me will never live indarkness. They will have the light thatgives life.”

13But the Pharisees said to Jesus,“When you talk about yourself, you arethe only one to say that these things aretrue. So we cannot accept what you say.”

14 Jesus answered, “Yes, I am sayingthese things about myself. But peoplecan believe what I say, because I knowwhere I came from. And I know whereI am going. But you don’t know where Icame from or where I am going. 15Youjudge me the way people judge otherpeople. I don’t judge anyone. 16But if Ijudge, my judging is true, because whenI judge I am not alone. The Father whosent me is with me. 17Your own law saysthat when two witnesses say the samething, you must accept what they say.18 I am one of the witnesses who speaks

about myself. And the Father who sentme is my other witness.”

19The people asked, “Where is yourfather?”Jesus answered, “You don’t know me

or my Father. But if you knew me, youwould know my Father too.” 20 Jesussaid these things while he was teachingin the Temple area, near the place wherethe Temple offerings were collected. Butno one arrested him, because the righttime for him had not yet come.Some People Don’t Understand Jesus

21Again, Jesus said to these people, “Iwill leave you. You will look for me, butyou will die without forgiveness for yoursin. You cannot come where I am going.”

22This caused the Jewish leaders thereto ask themselves, “Will he kill himself?Is that why he said, ‘You cannot comewhere I am going’?”

23But Jesus said to them, “You peo-ple are from here below, but I am fromabove. You belong to this world, but Idon’t belong to this world. 24 I told youthat you would die without forgivenessfor your sins. Yes, if you don’t believethat I AM,‡‡ you will die without forgive-ness for your sins.”

25They asked, “Then who are you?”Jesus answered, “Before I say any-

thing, I wonder why I am even talkingto you!¶¶ 26There are so many things Icould say to criticize you. But I tell peo-ple what I have heard from the one whosent me. He speaks the truth.”

**8:10 Where did they all go? Literally, “Woman, where are they?” Unlike today,“Woman” was a polite way to address any woman.††8:11 The oldest and best Greek copies do not have verses 7:53 – 8:11. Other copieshave this section in different places.‡‡8:24 I AM This is like the name of God used in the Old Testament. See Exod. 3:14;also Isa. 41:4; 43:10. It can also mean “I am he,” meaning “I am the Messiah.” Alsoin verses 28,58.¶¶8:25 Before … you Or “I am what I have told you from the beginning.”

John 8:27 18 John 8:52

27They did not understand that he wastalking about his Father. 28 So he saidto them, “You will lift up§§ the Son ofMan. Then you will know that I AM. Youwill know that whatever I do is not bymy own authority. You will know thatI say only what the Father has taughtme. 29The one who sent me is with me.I always do what pleases him. So he hasnot left me alone.” 30While he was say-ing these things, many people believedin him.Jesus Talks About Freedom From Sin

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who be-lieved in him, “If you continue to followmy teaching, you are really my follow-ers. 32You will know the truth, and thetruth will make you free.”

33They answered, “We are Abraham’sdescendants. And we have never beenslaves. So why do you say that we willbe free?”

34 Jesus said, “The truth is, everyoneliving a sinful life is a slave—a slave tosin. 35A slave does not stay with a familyforever. But a son belongs to the familyforever. 36 So if the Son makes you free,you are really free. 37 I know you areAbraham’s descendants. But you want tokill me, because you don’t want to acceptmy teaching. 38 I am telling you what myFather has shown me. But you do whatyour father has told you.”

39They said, “Our father is Abraham.”Jesus said, “If you were really Abra-

ham’s descendants, you would do whatAbraham did. 40 I am someone who hastold you the truth I heard from God. Butyou are trying to kill me. Abraham didnothing like that. 41 So you are doingwhat your own father did.”

But they said, “We are not like chil-dren who never knew who their fatherwas. God is the only Father we have.”

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were re-ally your Father, you would love me.I came from God, and now I am here.I did not come by my own authority.God sent me. 43You don’t understandthe things I say, because you cannot ac-cept my teaching. 44Your father is thedevil. You belong to him. You want to dowhat he wants. He was a murderer fromthe beginning. He was always againstthe truth. There is no truth in him. Heis like the lies he tells. Yes, the devil is aliar. He is the father of lies.

45 “I am telling you the truth, andthat’s why you don’t believe me. 46Canany of you prove that I am guilty of sin?If I tell the truth, why don’t you believeme? 47Whoever belongs to God acceptswhat he says. But you don’t accept whatGod says, because you don’t belong toGod.”

Jesus Talks AboutHimself and Abraham

48The Jews there answered, “We sayyou are a Samaritan. We say a demonis making you crazy! Are we not rightwhen we say this?”

49 Jesus answered, “I have no demonin me. I give honour to my Father, butyou give no honour to me. 50 I am nottrying to get honour for myself. There isone who wants this honour for me. Heis the judge. 51 I promise you, whoevercontinues to obeymy teaching will neverdie.”

52They said to Jesus, “Now we knowthat you have a demon in you! EvenAbraham and the prophets died. Butyou say, ‘Whoever obeys my teaching

§§8:28 lift upMeaning to be nailed to a cross and “lifted up” on it to die. It may alsohave a second meaning: to be “lifted up” from death to heaven.

John 8:53 19 John 9:19

will never die.’ 53Do you think you aregreater than our father Abraham? Hedied, and so did the prophets. Who doyou think you are?”

54 Jesus answered, “If I give honourto myself, that honour is worth nothing.The one who gives me honour is my Fa-ther. And you say that he is your God.55But you don’t really know him. I knowhim. If I said I did not know him, I wouldbe a liar like you. But I do know him, andI do what he says. 56Your father Abra-ham was very happy that he would seethe day when I came. He saw that dayand was happy.”

57The Jews said to Jesus, “What? Howcan you say you have seen Abraham?You are not even 50 years old!”

58 Jesus answered, “The fact is, beforeAbraham was born, I AM.” 59When hesaid this, they picked up stones to throwat him. But Jesus hid, and then he leftthe Temple area.

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9While Jesus was walking, he sawa man who had been blind since

the time he was born. 2 Jesus’ followersasked him, “Teacher, why was this manborn blind? Whose sin made it happen?Was it his own sin or that of his parents?”

3 Jesus answered, “It was not any sinof this man or his parents that causedhim to be blind. He was born blind sothat he could be used to show what greatthings God can do. 4While it is daytime,we must continue doing the work of theone who sent me. The night is coming,and no one can work at night. 5WhileI am in the world, I am the light of theworld.”

6After Jesus said this, he spat on thedirt, made some mud and put it on theman’s eyes. 7 Jesus told him, “Go andwash in Siloam Pool.” (Siloam means“Sent”.) So the man went to the pool,

washed and came back. He was now ableto see.

8His neighbours and some others whohad seen him begging said, “Look! Isthis the same man who always sits andbegs?”

9 Some people said, “Yes! He is theone.” But others said, “No, he can’t bethe same man. He only looks like him.”So the man himself said, “I am that

same man.”10They asked, “What happened? How

did you get your sight?”11He answered, “Theman they call Je-

sus made some mud and put it on myeyes. Then he told me to go to Siloamand wash. So I went there and washed.And then I could see.”

12They asked him, “Where is thisman?”He answered, “I don’t know.”Some Pharisees Have Questions13Then the people brought the man to

the Pharisees. 14The day Jesus hadmademud and healed the man’s eyes was aSabbath day. 15 So the Pharisees askedthe man, “How did you get your sight?”He answered, “He put mud on my

eyes. I washed, and now I can see.”16 Some of the Pharisees said, “That

man does not obey the law about theSabbath day. So he is not from God.”Others said, “But someone who is

a sinner cannot do these miraculoussigns.” So they could not agree with eachother.

17They asked the man again, “Since itwas your eyes he healed, what do yousay about him?”He answered, “He is a prophet.”18The Jewish leaders still did not be-

lieve that this really happened to theman—that he was blind and was nowhealed. But later they sent for his par-ents. 19They asked them, “Is this your

John 9:20 20 John 10:3

son? You say he was born blind. So howcan he see?”

20His parents answered, “We knowthat this man is our son. And we knowthat he was born blind. 21But we don’tknow why he can see now. We don’tknow who healed his eyes. Ask him.He is old enough to answer for him-self.” 22They said this because they wereafraid of the Jewish leaders. The lead-ers had already decided that they wouldpunish anyone who said Jesus was theMessiah. They would stop them fromcoming to the synagogue. 23That is whyhis parents said, “He is old enough. Askhim.”

24 So the Jewish leaders called themanwho had been blind. They told him tocome in again. They said, “You shouldhonour God and tell us the truth. Weknow that this man is a sinner.”

25The man answered, “I don’t know ifhe is a sinner. But I do know this: I wasblind, and now I can see.”

26They asked, “What did he do to you?How did he heal your eyes?”

27He answered, “I have already toldyou that. But you would not listen to me.Why do you want to hear it again? Doyou want to be his followers too?”

28At this they shouted insults at himand said, “You are his follower, not us!We are followers of Moses. 29We knowthat God spoke to Moses. But we don’teven knowwhere this man comes from!”

30The man answered, “This is reallystrange! You don’t knowwhere he comesfrom, but he healed my eyes. 31We allknow that God does not listen to sinners,but he will listen to anyone who wor-ships and obeys him. 32This is the firsttime we have ever heard of anyone heal-ing the eyes of someone born blind. 33 So

hemust be fromGod. If he were not fromGod, he could not do anything like this.”

34The Jewish leaders answered, “Youwere born full of sin! Are you trying toteach us?” And they told the man to getout of the synagogue and to stay out.

Spiritual Blindness35When Jesus heard that they had

forced the man to leave, he found himand asked him, “Do you believe in theSon of Man?”

36The man said, “Tell me who he is,sir, so I can believe in him.”

37 Jesus said to him, “You have alreadyseen him. The Son of Man is the one talk-ing with you now.”

38The man answered, “Yes, I believe,Lord!” Then he bowed and worshippedJesus.

39 Jesus said, “I came into this world sothat the world could be judged. I cameso that people who are blind* could see.And I came so that people who thinkthey see would become blind.”

40 Some of the Pharisees were nearJesus. They heard him say this. Theyasked, “What? Are you saying that weare blind too?”

41 Jesus said, “If you were really blind,you would not be guilty of sin. But yousay that you see, so you are still guilty.”

The Shepherd and His Sheep

10 Jesus said, “It is certainly truethat when a man enters the sheep

pen, he should use the gate. If he climbsin some other way, he is a robber. Heis trying to steal the sheep. 2But theone who takes care of the sheep entersthrough the gate. He is the shepherd.3Theman who guards the gate opens thegate for the shepherd. And the sheep lis-

*9:39 people who are blind Jesus is talking about people who are spiritually blind(without understanding), not physically blind.

John 10:4 21 John 10:29

ten to the voice of the shepherd. He callshis own sheep by name and leads themout. 4When he has all his own sheeptogether, he walks ahead of them. Thesheep follow him, because they knowhis voice. 5But sheep will never followsomeone they don’t know. They will runaway, because they don’t know that per-son’s voice.”

6 Jesus told the people this story, butthey did not understand what it meant.

Jesus Is the Good Shepherd7 So Jesus said again, “I assure you,

I am the gate for the sheep. 8All thosewho came before me were thieves androbbers. The sheep did not listen tothem. 9 I am the gate. Whoever entersthrough me will be saved. They willbe able to come in and go out. Theywill find everything they need. 10A thiefcomes to steal, kill and destroy. But Icame to give life—life that is more thanyou can imagine now.

11 “I am the good shepherd, and thegood shepherd gives his life for thesheep. 12The worker who is paid to keepthe sheep is different from the shepherd.The paid worker does not own the sheep.So when he sees a wolf coming, he runsaway and leaves the sheep alone. Thenthe wolf attacks the sheep and scattersthem. 13The man runs away because heis only a paid worker. He does not reallycare about the sheep.

14–15 “I am the shepherd who cares forthe sheep. I know my sheep just as theFather knows me. And my sheep knowme just as I know the Father. And I givemy life for these sheep. 16 I have other

sheep that are not in this flock here. Imust lead them too. They will listen tomy voice. And there will be one flockand one shepherd.† 17The Father lovesme because I give up my life. I give upmy life so that I can get it back again.18No one takes my life away from me. Igive my own life freely. I have the rightto give my life, and I have the right toget it back again. This is what the Fathertold me.”

19Again the Jews were divided overwhat Jesus was saying. 20Many of themsaid, “A demon has come into him andmade him crazy. Why listen to him?”

21But others said, “These aren’t thewords of someone controlled by a de-mon. A demon cannot heal the eyes ofa blind man.”The Jewish Leaders Against Jesus22 It was winter, and the time came for

the Festival of Dedication‡ at Jerusalem.23 Jesus was in the Temple area atSolomon’s Porch. 24The Jewish leadersgathered around him. They said, “Howlong will you make us wonder aboutyou? If you are the Messiah, then tell usclearly.”

25 Jesus answered, “I have told you al-ready, but you did not believe. I do mira-cles by my Father’s authority. These mir-acles show who I am. 26But you stillrefuse to believe, because you are not mysheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice. Iknow them, and they follow me. 28 I givemy sheep eternal life. They will neverdie. And while they are under my care,no one can take them from me. 29My Fa-ther is the one who gave them to me, and

†10:16 Jesus means he has followers who are not Jews. See John 11:52.‡10:22 Festival of Dedication Hanukkah, or “Festival of Lights”, a special week inDecember celebrating the time in 165 BC when the Jerusalem Temple was madepure and ready again for Jewish worship. Before then it had been under the controlof a foreign (Greek) army and used for the worship of false gods.

John 10:30 22 John 11:13

he is greater than all.¶ No one can stealmy sheep from his hand. 30The Fatherand I are one.”

31Again the Jewish leaders therepicked up stones to kill Jesus. 32Buthe said to them, “The many wonderfulthings you have seen me do are from theFather. Which of these good things doyou want to kill me for?”

33They answered, “We are not killingyou for any good thing you did. But yousay things that insult God. You are onlya man, but you say you are equal to God!That is why we are trying to kill you!”

34 Jesus answered, “It is written inyour law that God said, ‘I said youare gods.’§ 35This Scripture called thosepeople gods—the people who receivedGod’s message. And Scripture is alwaystrue. 36 So why do you accuse me of in-sulting God for saying, ‘I am God’s Son’?I am the one God chose and sent intothe world. 37 If I don’t do what my Fa-ther does, then don’t believe what I say.38But if I do what my Father does, youshould believe in what I do. You mightnot believe in me, but you should believein the things I do. Then you will knowand understand that the Father is in meand I am in the Father.”

39They tried again to arrest Jesus, buthe escaped from them.

40Then he went back across the Jor-dan River to the place where John be-gan his work of baptizing people. Jesusstayed there, 41 and many people cameto him. They said, “John never did anymiraculous signs, but everything Johnsaid about this man is true.” 42Andmanypeople there believed in Jesus.

The Death of Lazarus

11 There was a man named Lazaruswho was sick. He lived in the

town of Bethany, where Mary and hersister Martha lived. 2 (Mary is the samewoman who put perfume on the Lordand wiped his feet with her hair.) Mary’sbrother was Lazarus, the man who wasnow sick. 3 So Mary and Martha sentsomeone to tell Jesus, “Lord, your dearfriend Lazarus is sick.”

4When Jesus heard this he said, “Thissickness will not end in his death. It ishappening for the glory of God. That is,it will bring glory to God’s Son.” 5 Jesusloved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.6 So when he heard that Lazarus wassick, he stayed where he was for twomore days 7 and then said to his follow-ers, “We should go back to Judea.”

8They answered, “But Teacher, theJewish leaders there tried to stone youto death. That was only a short time ago.Now you want to go back there?”

9 Jesus answered, “We have onlytwelve hours of light in the day, don’tyou agree? If you walk in the day, youwill not stumble and fall because youhave the light of this world.** 10But ifyou wait until night, you will stumblebecause you are walking without light.”

11Then Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarusis now sleeping, but I am going there towake him.”

12The followers answered, “But, Lord,if he can sleep, he will get well.” 13Theythought Jesus meant that Lazarus wasliterally sleeping, but he really meantthat Lazarus was dead.

¶10:29My Father … all Some of the oldest Greek copies have “What my Father hasgiven me is greater than all.” There are many variations in the early Greek copies.§10:34 Quote from Ps. 82:6.**11:9 the light of this world This could simply refer to the sun, but see John 8:12,where Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” See also 9:4,5 and 12:35.

John 11:14 23 John 11:42

14 So then Jesus said plainly, “Lazarusis dead. 15And I am glad I was not there.I am happy for you because now you willbelieve in me. We will go to him now.”

16Then Thomas (called “the Twin”)said to the other followers, “We will gotoo. We will die there with Jesus.”

Jesus in Bethany17When Jesus came to Bethany, he

heard that Lazarus had already beendead and in the tomb for four days.18Bethany was about three kilometres††from Jerusalem. 19Many Jews had cometo see Martha and Mary. They cameto comfort them about their brotherLazarus.

20When Martha heard that Jesus wascoming, she went out to greet him. ButMary stayed at home. 21Martha said toJesus, “Lord, if you had been here, mybrother would not have died. 22But Iknow that even now God will give youanything you ask.”

23 Jesus said, “Your brother will rise tolive again.”

24Martha answered, “I know that hewill rise to live again at the time of theresurrection on the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrec-tion. I am life. Everyone who believes inme will have life, even if they die. 26Andeveryone who lives and believes in mewill never really die. Martha, do you be-lieve this?”

27Martha answered, “Yes, Lord. I be-lieve that you are the Messiah, the Sonof God. You are the one who was comingto the world.”

Jesus Cries28After Martha said these things, she

went back to her sister Mary. She calledMary away from the crowd and spoke

to her alone. She said, “The Teacher ishere, and he is asking for you.” 29WhenMary heard this, she immediately left togo to where he was. 30He had not yetcome into the village. He was still atthe place where Martha had met him.31Those who were in the house com-forting Mary saw her get up and leavequickly. They thought she was going tothe tomb to cry there. So they followedher. 32Mary went to the place where Je-sus was. When she saw him, she bowedat his feet and said, “Lord, if you hadbeen here, my brother would not havedied.”

33When Jesus saw Mary crying andthe people with her crying too, he wasvery upset and deeply troubled. 34Heasked, “Where did you put him?”They said, “Lord, come and see.”35 Jesus cried.36And the people nearby said, “Look!

He loved Lazarus very much!”37But some of them said, “Jesus

healed the eyes of the blind man. Whydidn’t he help Lazarus and stop him fromdying?”Jesus Raises Lazarus From Death38Again feeling very upset, Jesus

came to the tomb. It was a cave with alarge stone covering the entrance. 39Hesaid, “Move the stone away.”Martha said, “But, Lord, it has been

four days since Lazarus died. There willbe a bad smell.” Martha was the sister ofthe dead man.

40Then Jesus said to her, “Rememberwhat I told you? I said that if you be-lieved, you would see God’s greatness.”

41 So they moved the stone away fromthe entrance. Then Jesus looked up andsaid, “Father, I thank you that you haveheard me. 42 I know that you always

††11:18 three kilometres Literally, “15 stadia”.

John 11:43 24 John 12:6

hear me. But I said these things becauseof the people here around me. I wantthem to believe that you sent me.” 43Af-ter Jesus said this, he called in a loudvoice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The deadman came out. His hands and feet werewrapped with pieces of cloth. He alsohad a cloth wrapped around his face.Jesus said to the people, “Take off the

cloth and let him go.”The Plan to Kill Jesus

(Matt. 26:1-5; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2)45There were many Jews who had

come to visit Mary. When they saw whatJesus did, many of them believed in him.46But some of them went to the Phar-isees and told themwhat Jesus had done.47Then the leading priests and Phariseescalled a meeting of the high council.They said, “What should we do? Thisman is doing many miraculous signs.48 If we let him continue doing thesethings, everyone will believe in him.Then the Romans will come and takecontrol of our Temple and our nation.”

49One of the men there was Caiaphas.He was the high priest that year. He said,“You people know nothing! 50 It is betterfor one man to die for the people thanfor the whole nation to be destroyed. Butyou don’t realize this.”

51Caiaphas did not think of this him-self. As that year’s high priest, he wasreally prophesying that Jesus would diefor the entire nation. 52Yes, he would diefor the Jewish nation. But he would alsodie for God’s other children scattered allover the world. He would die to bringthem all together and make them onepeople.

53That day the Jewish leaders beganplanning to kill Jesus. 54That is why Je-sus stopped travelling around openly inJudea. He went away to a town calledEphraim in an area near the desert. Hestayed there with his followers.

55 It was almost time for the JewishPassover festival and many people fromthe country went to Jerusalem. Theywent to do all that was necessary tomake themselves pure for the festival.56The people were looking for Jesus.They stood in the Temple area askingeach other, “Is he coming to the festi-val?What do you think?” 57But the lead-ing priests and the Pharisees had given aspecial order about Jesus. They said thatanyone who knew where he was musttell them so that they could arrest him.

A Woman Honours Jesus(Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9)

12 Six days before the Passover festi-val began, Jesus went to Bethany.

That is where Lazarus lived, the man Je-sus had raised from death. 2There theyhad a dinner for Jesus. Martha servedthe food, and Lazarus was one of the peo-ple eating with Jesus. 3Mary brought inhalf a litre‡‡ of expensive perfume madeof pure nard. She poured the perfume onJesus’ feet. Then she wiped his feet withher hair. And the sweet smell from theperfume filled the whole house.

4 Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ follow-ers, was there—the one who would laterhand Jesus over to his enemies. Judassaid, 5 “That perfume was worth a fullyear’s pay.¶¶ It should have been sold,and the money should have been givento those who are poor.” 6But Judas didnot really care about poor people. He

‡‡12:3 half a litre Literally, “litra” (327 grammes).¶¶12:5 a full year’s pay Literally, “300 denarii”. One Roman denarius, a silver coin,was the average pay for one day’s work.

John 12:7 25 John 12:26

said this because he was a thief. He wasthe one who kept the money bag for thegroup of followers, and he often stolemoney from it.

7 Jesus answered, “Don’t stop her. Itwas right for her to save this perfumefor today—the day for me to be preparedfor burial. 8 If you want to help the poor,they are always nearby.§§ But you willnot always have me.”Some Priests Plan to Kill Lazarus9When the people heard that Jesus

was in Bethany, many of them wentthere to see him. They also went thereto see Lazarus, the one Jesus had raisedfrom death. 10 So the leading priestsmade plans to kill Lazarus too. 11Theywanted to kill him because he was thereason many Jews were leaving themand believing in Jesus.Jesus Enters Jerusalem Like a King

(Matt. 21:1-11; Mark11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40)

12The next day the people inJerusalem heard that Jesus was comingthere. These were the crowds of peoplewho had come to the Passover festival.13They took branches of palm trees andwent out to meet Jesus. They shouted,“‘Praise* Him!Welcome! God bless the one who comes

in the name of the Lord!’†God bless the King of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a donkey and rode onit, as the Scriptures say,15 “Do not be afraid, people of Zion!‡Look! Your king is coming.

He is riding on a young donkey.Ӧ16The followers of Jesus did not un-

derstand at that time what was happen-ing. But after he was raised to glory, theyunderstood that this was written abouthim. Then they remembered that theyhad done these things for him.

17There were many people with Jesuswhen he raised Lazarus from death andtold him to come out of the tomb. Nowthey were telling others about what Je-sus had done. 18That is why so manypeople went out to meet him—becausethey had heard about this miraculoussign he did. 19 So the Pharisees said toeach other, “Look! Our plan is not work-ing. The people are all following him!”Jesus Talks About Life and Death20 Some of the people who went to

Jerusalem to worship at the Passoverfestival were not Jews. 21They wentto Philip, who was from Bethsaida inGalilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meetJesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew.Then Andrew and Philip went and toldJesus.

23 Jesus said to them, “The time hascome for the Son of Man to receive hisglory. 24 I can tell you for sure that agrain of wheat must fall to the groundand die before it can grow and producemany more grains of wheat. If it doesn’tdie, it will never be more than a sin-gle grain. 25Those who love the life theyhave now will lose it. But whoever iswilling to give up their life in this worldwill keep it. They will have eternal life.26Whoever wants to serve me must fol-

§§12:8 If you want … nearby See Deut. 15:11.*12:13 Praise Literally, “Hosanna”, a Hebrew word used in praying to God for help.Here, it was probably a shout of celebration used in praising God or his Messiah.†12:13 Quote from Ps. 118:25-26.‡12:15 people of Zion Literally, “Daughter Zion”, meaning the city of Jerusalem.See Zion in the Word List.¶12:15 Quote from Zech. 9:9.

John 12:27 26 John 12:46

low me. Yes, my servants must be withme everywhere I am. My Father will givehonour to anyone who serves me.

Jesus Talks About His Death27 “Now I am very troubled. What

should I say? Should I say, ‘Father saveme from this time of suffering’? No, Icame to this time so that I could suffer.28 Father, do what will bring you glory!”Then a voice came from heaven, “I

have already brought glory to myself. Iwill do it again.”

29The people standing there heard thevoice. They said it was thunder.But others said, “An angel spoke to

him!”30 Jesus said, “That voice was for you

and not for me. 31Now is the time forthe world to be judged. Now the ruler ofthis world§ will be thrown out. 32 I willbe lifted up** from the earth. When thathappens, I will draw all people to my-self.” 33 Jesus said this to show how hewould die.

34The people said, “But our law saysthat the Messiah will live forever. Sowhy do you say, ‘The Son of Man mustbe lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

35Then Jesus said, “The light†† will bewith you for only a short time more. Sowalk while you have the light. Then thedarkness will not catch you. People whowalk in the darkness don’t know wherethey are going. 36 So put your trust in thelight while you still have it. Then youwill be people who belong to the light.”When Jesus finished saying these things,

he went away to a place where the peo-ple could not find him.

Some People Refuseto Believe in Jesus

37The people saw all these miraculoussigns Jesus did, but they still did notbelieve in him. 38This was to give fullmeaning to what Isaiah the prophet said:“Lord, who believed what we told them?Who has seen the Lord’s power?”‡‡39This is why the people could not be-lieve. Because Isaiah also said,40 “God made the people blind.He closed their minds.He did this so that they would not see

with their eyesand understand with their minds.‘If they understood,’ he said, ‘they might

turn to me,and I would heal them.’”¶¶41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’divine greatness. So he spoke about him.

42But many people believed in Jesus.Even many of the Jewish leaders be-lieved in him, but they were afraid of thePharisees, so they did not say openly thatthey believed. They were afraid theywould be ordered to stay out of the syna-gogue. 43They loved praise from peoplemore than praise from God.Jesus’ Teaching Will Judge People44 Jesus made this bold announce-

ment: “Everyone who believes in me re-ally believes in the one who sent me.45Everyone who sees me really sees theone who sent me. 46 I came into this

§12:31 ruler of this world See Satan in the Word List.**12:32 lifted up Meaning to be nailed to a cross and “lifted up” on it to die. It mayalso have a second meaning: to be “lifted up” from death to heaven. Also in verse34.††12:35 light This means Jesus, as in John 1:5-9. Also, it is a symbol of goodnessand truth, qualities associated with the Messiah and his kingdom.‡‡12:38 Quote from Isa. 53:1.¶¶12:40 Quote from Isa. 6:10.

John 12:47 27 John 13:18

world as a light. I came so that every-one who believes in me will not stay indarkness.

47 “I did not come into the world tojudge people. I came to save them. SoI am not the one who judges those whohear my teaching and do not obey. 48Butthere is a judge for all those who refuseto believe in me and do not accept whatI say. The message I have spoken willjudge them on the last day. 49That is be-cause what I taught was not frommyself.The Father who sent me told me whatto say. Every word I speak is from him.50And I know that whatever he says todo will bring eternal life. So the things Isay are exactly what the Father has toldme to say.”Jesus Washes His Followers’ Feet

13 It was almost time for thePassover festival. Jesus knew

that the time had come for him to leavethis world and go back to the Father. Je-sus had always loved the people in theworld who were his. Now was the timehe showed them his love the most.

2 Jesus and his followers were at theevening meal. The devil had already per-suaded Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, tohand Jesus over to his enemies. 3The Fa-ther had given Jesus power over every-thing. Jesus knew this. He also knew thathe had come from God. And he knewthat he was going back to God. 4 So whilethey were eating, Jesus stood up andtook off his robe. He got a towel andwrapped it around his waist. 5Then hepoured water into a bowl and began towash the followers’ feet.§§ He dried theirfeet with the towel that was wrappedaround his waist.

6He came to Simon Peter. But Petersaid to him, “Lord, why would you washmy feet?”

7 Jesus answered, “You don’t knowwhat I am doing now. But later you willunderstand.”

8Peter said, “No! You will never washmy feet.”Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash your

feet, you are not one of my people.”9 Simon Peter said, “Lord, after you

wash my feet, wash my hands and myhead too!”

10 Jesus said, “After a person has had abath, his whole body is clean. He needsonly to wash his feet. And you are clean,but not all of you.” 11 Jesus knew whowould hand him over to his enemies.That is why he said, “Not all of you areclean.”

12When Jesus had finished washingtheir feet, he put on his clothes and wentback to the table. He asked, “Do youunderstand what I have just done foryou? 13You call me ‘Teacher’. And youcall me ‘Lord’. And this is right, becausethat is what I am. 14 I am your Lord andTeacher. But I washed your feet like aservant. So you also should wash eachother’s feet. 15 I did this as an examplefor you. So you should serve each otherjust as I served you. 16Believe me, slavesare not better than their master. Thosewho are sent to do something are notgreater than the one who sent them. 17 Ifyou know these things, great blessingswill be yours if you do them.

18 “I am not talking about all of you. Iknow the people I have chosen. But whatthe Scriptures say must happen: ‘Theman who shared my food has turned

§§13:5 wash … feet A social custom of the first century, because people wore opensandals on very dusty roads. It was a humble duty, usually done by a servant. Alsoin verses 6-14.

John 13:19 28 John 14:2

against me.’* 19 I am telling you this nowbefore it happens. Then when it hap-pens, you will believe that I AM.† 20 I as-sure you, whoever accepts the person Isend also accepts me. And whoever ac-cepts me also accepts the one who sentme.”

Jesus Tells Who WillTurn Against Him

(Matt. 26:20-25; Mark14:17-21; Luke 22:21-23)

21After Jesus said these things, he feltvery troubled. He said openly, “Believeme when I say that one of you will turnagainst me.”

22His followers all looked at eachother. They did not understand who Je-sus was talking about. 23One of the fol-lowers was next to Jesus and was lean-ing close to him. This was the one Jesusloved very much. 24 Simon Peter madesigns to this follower to ask Jesus whohe was talking about.

25That follower leaned closer to Jesusand asked, “Lord, who is it?”

26 Jesus answered him, “I will dip thisbread into the dish. The man I give itto is the one.” So Jesus took a pieceof bread, dipped it and gave it to Ju-das son of Simon Iscariot. 27When Ju-das took the bread, Satan entered him.Jesus said to Judas, “What you will do—do it quickly!” 28No one at the table un-derstood why Jesus said this to Judas.29 Since Judas was the one in charge ofthe money, some of them thought thatJesus meant for him to go and buy somethings they needed for the feast. Or theythought that Jesus wanted him to go andgive something to the poor.

30 Judas ate the bread Jesus gave him.Then he immediately went out. It wasnight.

Jesus Talks About His Death31When Judas was gone, Jesus said,

“Now is the time for the Son of Manto receive his glory. And God will re-ceive glory through him. 32 If God re-ceives glory through him, he will giveglory to the Son of Man through himself.And that will happen very soon.”

33 Jesus said, “My children, I will bewith you only a short time more. Youwill look for me, but I tell you now whatI told the Jewish leaders: where I am go-ing you cannot come.

34 “I give you a new command: loveeach other. You must love each otherjust as I have loved you. 35 If you loveeach other, then everyone will know thatyou are my followers.”

Jesus Says Peter Will Deny Him(Matt. 26:31-35; Mark

14:27-31; Luke 22:31-34)36 Simon Peter asked Jesus, “Lord,

where are you going?”Jesus answered, “Where I am going

you cannot follow me now. But you willcome later.”

37Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I fol-low you now? I am ready to die for you!”

38 Jesus answered, “Will you reallygive your life for me? The truth is, beforethe cockerel crows, you will say threetimes that you don’t know me.”

Jesus Comforts His Followers

14 Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled.Trust in God, and trust in me.

2There are many rooms in my Father’s*13:18 has turned against me Literally, “has lifted up his heel against me”. Quotefrom Ps. 41:9.†13:19 I AM This is like the name of God used in the Old Testament. See Isa. 41:4;43:10; Exod. 3:14. It can also mean “I am he,” meaning “I am the Messiah.”

John 14:3 29 John 14:27

house. I would not tell you this if it werenot true. I am going there to preparea place for you. 3When I have finishedmaking it ready for you, I will comeback. Then I will take you with me sothat you can be where I am. 4You knowthe way to the place where I am going.”

5Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t knowwhere you are going, so how can weknow the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, thetruth and the life. The only way to theFather is through me. 7Now that youhave all known me, you will know myFather too. Yes, now you know the Fa-ther. You have seen him.”

8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us theFather. That is all we need.”

9 Jesus answered, “I have been withyou followers of mine a long time. Soyou, Philip, should know me. Anyonewho has seen me has seen the Father too.So why do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?10Don’t you believe that I am in the Fa-ther and the Father is in me? The things Ihave told you don’t come from me. TheFather lives in me, and he is doing hisown work. 11Believe me when I say thatI am in the Father and the Father is inme. Or believe because of the miracles Ihave done.

12 “I can assure you that whoever be-lieves in me will do the same things Ihave done. And they will do even greaterthings than I have done, because I amgoing to the Father. 13And if you ask foranything in my name, I will do it for you.Then the Father’s glory will be shownthrough the Son. 14 If you ask me for any-thing in my name, I will do it.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit15 “If you love me, you will do what I

command. 16 I will ask the Father, and hewill give you another Helper‡ to be withyou forever. 17The Helper is the Spiritof truth.¶ The people of the world can-not accept him, because they don’t seehim or know him. But you know him.He lives with you, and he will be in you.

18 “I will not leave you all alone likeorphans. I will come back to you. 19 In avery short time the people in the worldwill not see me any more. But you willsee me. You will live because I live. 20Onthat day you will know that I am in theFather. You will know that you are inme and I am in you. 21Those who reallylove me are the ones who not only knowmy commands but also follow them. MyFather will love such people, and I willlove them. I will make myself known tothem.”

22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot)said, “Lord, how will you make yourselfknown to us, but not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered, “All who love mewill obey my teaching. My Father willlove them. And my Father and I willcome to them and live with them. 24Butanyone who does not love me will notobey my teaching. This teaching thatyou have heard from me is not reallymine. It is from my Father who sent me.

25 “I have told you all these thingswhile I am with you. 26But the Helperwill teach you everything and cause youto remember all that I told you. ThisHelper is the Holy Spirit that the Fatherwill send in my name.

27 “I leave you peace. It is my ownpeace I give you. I give you peace in a

‡14:16 Helper Or “Comforter”, the Holy Spirit (see Holy Spirit in the Word List).Also in verse 26.¶14:17 Spirit of truth That is, the Holy Spirit. It was his work to help Jesus’ followersunderstand God’s truth. See John 16:13.

John 14:28 30 John 15:19

different way than the world does. Sodon’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid. 28Youheard me say to you, ‘I am leaving, butI will come back to you.’ If you lovedme, you would be happy that I am goingback to the Father, because the Fatheris greater than I am. 29 I have told youthis now, before it happens. Then whenit happens, you will believe.

30 “I will not talk with you muchlonger. The ruler of this world§ is com-ing. He has no power over me. 31But theworld must know that I love the Father.So I do exactly what the Father told meto do.“Come now, let’s go.”

Jesus Is Like a Vine

15 Jesus said, “I am the true vine,and my Father is the gardener.

2He cuts off every branch** of mine thatdoes not produce fruit.†† He also trimsevery branch that produces fruit to pre-pare it to produce even more. 3You havealready been prepared to produce morefruit by the teaching I have given you.4 Stay joined to me and I will stay joinedto you. No branch can produce fruitalone. It must stay connected to the vine.It is the same with you. You cannot pro-duce fruit alone. You must stay joined tome.

5 “I am the vine, and you are thebranches. If you stay joined to me, and Ito you, you will produce plenty of fruit.But separated fromme you won’t be ableto do anything. 6 If you don’t stay joinedto me, you will be like a branch thathas been thrown out and has dried up.All the dead branches like that are gath-

ered up, thrown into the fire and burned.7 Stay joined together with me, and fol-low my teachings. If you do this, you canask for anything you want, and it willbe given to you. 8 Show that you are myfollowers by producing much fruit. Thiswill bring honour‡‡ to my Father.

9 “I have loved you as the Father hasloved me. Now continue in my love.10 I have obeyed my Father’s commands,and he continues to love me. In the sameway, if you obey my commands, I willcontinue to love you. 11 I have told youthese things so that you can have thetrue happiness that I have. I want youto be completely happy. 12This is whatI command you: love each other as Ihave loved you. 13The greatest love peo-ple can show is to die for their friends.14You are my friends if you do what Itell you to do. 15 I no longer call you ser-vants, because servants don’t know whattheir master is doing. But now I call youfriends, because I have told you every-thing that my Father told me.

16 “You did not choose me. I choseyou. And I gave you this work: to go andproduce fruit—fruit that will last. Thenthe Father will give you anything youask for in my name. 17This is my com-mand: love each other.

Jesus Warns His Followers18 “If the world hates you, remember

that they hated me first. 19 If you be-longed to the world, the world wouldlove you as it loves its own people. ButI have chosen you to be different fromthose in the world. So you don’t belong

§14:30 ruler of this world See Satan in the Word List.**15:2 branch The “branches” are Jesus’ followers. See verse 5.††15:2 produce fruitMeaning the way Jesus’ followers must live to show they belongto him. See verses 7-10.‡‡15:8 honour Or “glory”. See glory in the Word List.

John 15:20 31 John 16:11

to the world, and that is why the worldhates you.

20 “Remember what I told you: Slavesare not respected more than their mas-ter. If people mistreated me, they willmistreat you too. And if they acceptedmy teaching, they will accept yours too.21They will do to you whatever they didto me, because you belong to me. Theydon’t know the one who sent me. 22 If Ihad not come and spoken to the peopleof the world, they would not be guilty ofsin. But now I have spoken to them. Sothey have no excuse for their sin.

23 “Whoever hates me also hates myFather. 24 I did things among the peopleof the world that no one else has everdone. If I had not done those things, theywould not be guilty of sin. But they haveseen what I did, and still they hate meand my Father. 25But this happened tomake clear the full meaning of what iswritten in their law: ‘They hated me forno reason.’¶¶

26 “I will send you the Helper§§ fromthe Father. The Helper is the Spirit oftruth*who comes from the Father. Whenhe comes, he will tell people about me.27And you will tell people about me too,because you have been with me from thebeginning.

16 “I have told you all this so thatyou won’t lose your faith when

you face troubles. 2People will tell youto leave their synagogues and never

come back. In fact, the time will comewhen they will think that killing youwould be doing a service for God. 3Theywill do this because they have notknown the Father, and they have notknown me. 4 I have told you all this nowto prepare you. So when the time comesfor these things to happen, you will re-member that I warned you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit“I did not tell you these things at

the beginning, because I was with youthen. 5Now I am going back to the onewho sent me. And none of you asks me,‘Where are you going?’ 6But you arefilled with sadness because I have toldyou all this. 7 Let me assure you, it isbetter for you that I go away. I say thisbecause when I go away I will send theHelper to you. But if I did not go, theHelper would not come.

8 “When the Helper comes, he willshow the people of this world howwrong they are. He will show who isguilty of sin, who has God’s approval andwho will get God’s judgement.† 9TheHelper will show them they are the sin-ners because they don’t believe in me.10He will show them they are wrongabout who is approved by God. Clearly,I am the one approved because I am go-ing to the Father, and youwill not see methen. 11And he will show them they arewrong about who really deserves God’s

¶¶15:25 They hated me for no reason These words could be from Ps. 35:19 or Ps.69:4.§§15:26 Helper Or “Comforter”. Also in 16:7,8.*15:26 Spirit of truth The Holy Spirit (see Holy Spirit in the Word List). It was hiswork to help Jesus’ followers understand God’s truth. See John 16:13.†16:8 who is … judgement Literally, “about sin and about righteousness and aboutjudgement”. Jesus uses these terms to answer the accusations of the Pharisees andother Jewish leaders against him. When they accused him of being a sinner, hewarned them to judge justly (righteously). See John 7:24.

John 16:12 32 John 16:33

judgement. Yes, in fact, their leader‡ hasalready been judged guilty.

12 “I have so much more to tell you,but it is too much for you to accept now.13But when the Spirit of truth comes, hewill lead you into all truth. He will notspeak his own words. He will speak onlywhat he hears and will tell you whatwill happen in the future. 14The Spiritof truth will bring glory to me by tellingyou what he receives fromme. 15All thatthe Father has is mine. That is why I saidthat the Spirit will tell you what he re-ceives from me.Sadness Will Turn Into Happiness16 “After a short time you won’t see

me. Then after another short time youwill see me again.”

17 Some of the followers said to eachother, “What does he mean when hesays, ‘After a short time you won’t seeme. Then after another short time youwill see me again’? And what does hemean when he says, ‘Because I am go-ing to the Father’?” 18They also asked,“What does he mean by ‘a short time’?We don’t understand what he is saying.”

19 Jesus saw that the followers wantedto ask him about this. So he said to them,“Are you asking each other what I meantwhen I said, ‘After a short time youwon’tsee me. Then after another short timeyou will see me again’? 20The truth is,you will cry and be sad, but the worldwill be happy. You will be sad, but thenyour sadness will change to happiness.

21 “When a woman gives birth to ababy, she has pain, because her time hascome. But when her baby is born, sheforgets the pain. She forgets because sheis so happy that a child has been borninto the world. 22 It is the same with

you. Now you are sad, but I will see youagain, and you will be happy. You willhave a joy that no one can take away.23 In that day you will not have to ask meabout anything. And I assure you, my Fa-ther will give you anything you ask himfor in my name. 24You have never askedfor anything in this way before. But askin my name, and you will receive. Andyou will have the fullest joy possible.

Victory Over the World25 “I have told you these things, using

words that hide the meaning. But thetime will come when I will not use wordslike that to tell you things. I will speakto you in plain words about the Father.26Then you will be able to ask the Fatherfor things in my name. I am not sayingthat I will have to ask the Father for you.27The Father himself loves you becauseyou have loved me. And he loves youbecause you have believed that I camefrom God. 28 I came from the Father intothe world. Now I am leaving the worldand going back to the Father.”

29Then his followers said, “You are al-ready speaking plainly to us. You arenot using words that hide the meaning.30We can see now that you know allthings. You answer our questions evenbefore we ask them. This makes us be-lieve that you came from God.”

31 Jesus said, “So now you believe?32 Listen to me. A time is coming whenyou will be scattered, each to your ownhome. In fact, that time is already here.You will leave me, and I will be alone.But I am never really alone, because theFather is with me.

33 “I have told you these things so thatyou can have peace in me. In this world

‡16:11 their leader Literally, “the ruler of this world”, meaning Satan. See Satan inthe Word List.

John 17:1 33 John 17:25

you will have troubles. But be brave! Ihave defeated the world!”

Jesus Prays for Himselfand His Followers

17 After Jesus said these things,he looked towards heaven and

prayed, “Father, the time has come. Giveglory to your Son so that the Son can giveglory to you. 2You gave the Son powerover all people so that he could give eter-nal life to all those you have given tohim. 3And this is eternal life: that peo-ple can know you, the only true God, andthat they can know Jesus Christ, the oneyou sent. 4 I finished the work you gaveme to do. I brought you glory on earth.5And now, Father, give me glory withyou. Give me the glory I had with youbefore the world was made.

6 “You gave me some followers fromthe people of this world. And I haveshown them what you are like. Theyalready belonged to you, but then yougave them to me. And they have obeyedyour teaching. 7Now they know that ev-erything I have came from you. 8 I toldthem the words you gave me, and theyaccepted them. They know that I camefrom you, and they believe you sent me.9 I pray for them now. I am not pray-ing for the people in the world. But I ampraying for these followers you gave me,because they are yours. 10All I have isyours, and all you have is mine. And myglory is seen in them.

11 “Now I am coming to you. I willnot stay in the world, but these follow-ers of mine are still in the world. HolyFather, keep them safe by the powerof your name—the name you gave me.Then they will be one, just as you andI are. 12While I was with them, I keptthem safe by the power of the name yougave me. I protected them. And only oneof them was lost—the one who was sure

to be lost. This was to show the truth ofwhat the Scriptures said would happen.

13 “I am coming to you now. But Ipray these things while I am still in theworld. I say all this so that these fol-lowers can have the true happiness thatI have. I want them to be completelyhappy. 14 I have given them your teach-ing. And the world has hated them, be-cause they don’t belong to the world, justas I don’t belong to the world.

15 “I am not asking you to take themout of the world. But I am asking thatyou keep them safe from the Evil One.16They don’t belong to the world, justas I don’t belong to the world. 17Makethem ready for your service throughyour truth. Your teaching is truth. 18 Ihave sent them into the world, just asyou sent me into the world. 19 I am mak-ing myself completely ready to serveyou. I do this for them so that they alsomight be fully qualified for your service.

20 “I pray not only for these followersbut also for those who will believe inme because of their teaching. 21 Father,I pray that all who believe in me willbe as one. May they be united, just asyou are one with me and I am one withyou. I pray that they will be one with us.Then the world will believe that you sentme. 22 I have given them the glory thatyou gave me. I gave them this glory sothat they will be united, just as you andI are united as one. 23 I will be one withthem, and you will be one with me. Sothey will be completely united. Then theworld will know that you sent me andthat you loved them just as you lovedme.

24 “Father, I want these people youhave given me to be with me where Iwill be. I want them to see my glory—the glory you gave me because you lovedme before the world was made. 25 Fa-ther, you are the one who does what is

John 17:26 34 John 18:17

right. The world does not know you, butI know you, and these followers of mineknow that you sent me. 26 I showed themwhat you are like, and I will show themagain. Then the same love you have forme will be at work in them, and I willlive in them.”

Jesus Is Arrested(Matt. 26:47-56; Mark

14:43-50; Luke 22:47-53)

18When Jesus finished praying, heleft with his followers and went

across the Kidron Valley. He went intoa garden there, his followers still withhim.

2 Judas, the one responsible for hand-ing Jesus over, knew where this placewas. He knew because Jesus often metthere with his followers. 3 So Judas ledsome Roman soldiers to the garden,along with some Temple police from theleading priests and the Pharisees. Thesoldiers and Temple police were carry-ing torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus already knew everything thatwould happen to him. So he went outand asked them, “Who are you lookingfor?”

5They answered, “Jesus fromNazareth.”He said, “I am Jesus.”¶ (Judas, the one

responsible for handing Jesus over, wasstanding there with them.) 6When Jesussaid, “I am Jesus,” the men moved backand fell to the ground.

7He asked them again, “Who are youlooking for?”They said, “Jesus from Nazareth.”8 Jesus said, “I told you that I am Je-

sus. So if you are looking for me, let

these other men go free.” 9This was toshow the truth of what Jesus said earlier:“I have not lost anyone you gave me.”

10 Simon Peter had a sword, which hepulled out. He struck the servant of thehigh priest and cut off his right ear. (Theservant’s name was Malchus.) 11 Jesussaid to Peter, “Put your sword back inits place! I must drink from the cup§ theFather has given me.”

Jesus Is Brought Before Annas(Matt. 26:57-58; Mark14:53-54; Luke 22:54)

12Then the soldiers with their com-mander and the Jewish Temple policearrested Jesus. They tied him 13 andbrought him first to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the highpriest that year. 14He was also the onewho had told the other Jewish leadersthat it would be better if one man diedfor all the people.Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus

(Matt. 26:69-70; Mark14:66-68; Luke 22:55-57)

15 Simon Peter and another one of Je-sus’ followers went with Jesus. This fol-lower knew the high priest. So he wentwith Jesus into the courtyard of the highpriest’s house. 16But Peter waited out-side near the door. The follower whoknew the high priest came back out-side and spoke to the girl in charge ofthe gate. Then he brought Peter inside.17The girl at the gate said to Peter, “Areyou also one of the followers of thatman?”Peter answered, “No, I am not!”

¶18:5 I am Jesus Literally, “I am”, which could have the same meaning here that ithas in 8:24,28,58; 13:19. Also in verse 8.§18:11 cup A symbol of suffering. Jesus used the idea of drinking from a cup tomean accepting the suffering he would face in the terrible events that were soon tocome.

John 18:18 35 John 18:36

18 It was cold, so the servants andguards had built a charcoal fire. Theywere standing around it, warming them-selves and Peter was standing with them.

The High Priest Questions Jesus(Matt. 26:59-66; Mark

14:55-64; Luke 22:66-71)19The high priest asked Jesus ques-

tions about his followers and what hetaught them. 20 Jesus answered, “I havealways spoken openly to all people. I al-ways taught in the synagogues and inthe Temple area. All the Jews come to-gether there. I never said anything in se-cret. 21 So why do you question me? Askthe people who heard my teaching. Theyknow what I said.”

22When Jesus said this, one of theguards standing there hit him. The guardsaid, “You should not talk to the highpriest like that!”

23 Jesus answered, “If I said some-thing wrong, tell everyone here whatwas wrong. But if what I said is right,then why do you hit me?”

24 So Annas sent Jesus to Caiaphas thehigh priest. He was still tied.

Peter Lies Again(Matt. 26:71-75; Mark

14:69-72; Luke 22:58-62)25 Simon Peter was standing by the

fire, keeping himself warm. The otherpeople said to Peter, “Aren’t you one ofthe followers of that man?”Peter denied it. He said, “No, I am

not.”26One of the servants of the high

priest was there. He was a relative of themanwhose ear Peter had cut off. The ser-

vant said, “I think I saw you with him inthe garden!”

27But again Peter said, “No, I was notwith him!” As soon as he said this, acockerel crowed.

Jesus Is Brought Before Pilate(Matt. 27:1-2,11-31;

Mark 15:1-20; Luke 23:1-25)28Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus

from Caiaphas’ house to the Roman gov-ernor’s palace. It was early in the morn-ing. The Jews would not go inside thepalace. They did not want to make them-selves unclean,** because they wanted toeat the Passover meal. 29 So Pilate wentoutside to them and asked, “What do yousay this man has done wrong?”

30They answered, “He is a bad man.That is why we brought him to you.”

31Pilate said to them, “You take himyourselves and judge him by your ownlaw.”The Jewish leaders answered, “Our

law says he should be killed. But yourlaw does not allow us to execute any-one.” 32By saying this they showed howJesus would die the way he said hewould.††

33Then Pilate went back inside thepalace. He called for Jesus and askedhim, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

34 Jesus said, “Is that your own ques-tion, or did other people tell you aboutme?”

35Pilate said, “I am not a Jew! Itwas your own people and their lead-ing priests who handed you over to me.What have you done wrong?”

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not thekind that this world knows. If it were,my servants would fight so that I would

**18:28 unclean Going into a non-Jewish place would ruin the special cleansing theJews did to make themselves fit for worship. See John 11:55.††18:32 By saying this … said he would Jesus had said he would die by crucifixion,that is, by Roman law, not Jewish law. See John 12:32-33 and the note there.

John 18:37 36 John 19:18

not be handed over to the Jewish lead-ers. No, my kingdom is not from here.”

37Pilate said, “So you are a king.”Jesus answered, “You say that I am a

king. I was born for this: to tell peopleabout the truth. That is why I came intothe world. And everyone who belongs tothe truth listens to me.”

38Pilate said, “What is truth?” Then hewent out to the Jewish leaders again andsaid to them, “I can find nothing againstthis man. 39But it is one of your customsfor me to free one prisoner to you duringthe Passover festival. Do you want me tofree this ‘king of the Jews’?”

40They shouted back, “No, not him!Let Barabbas go free!” (Barabbas was arebel.)

19 Then Pilate ordered that Jesusbe taken away and whipped.

2The soldiers did what Pilate ordered.And they made a crown from thornybranches and put it on his head. Thenthey put a purple robe‡‡ around him.3They kept coming up to him and say-ing, “We salute you, king of the Jews!”And they kept hitting him in the face.

4Again Pilate came out and said tothe Jewish leaders, “Look! I am bring-ing Jesus out to you. I want you to knowthat I find nothing I can charge himwith.” 5Then Jesus came out wearingthe crown of thorns and the purple robe.Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

6When the leading priests and theTemple police saw Jesus they shouted,“Kill him on a cross! Kill him on a cross!”But Pilate answered, “You take him

and nail him to a cross yourselves. I findnothing I can charge him with.”

7The Jewish leaders answered, “Wehave a law that says hemust die, becausehe said he is the Son of God.”

8When Pilate heard this, he becamevery afraid. 9 So he went back insidethe palace and asked Jesus, “Where areyou from?” But Jesus did not answerhim. 10Pilate said, “You refuse to speakto me? Remember, I have the power tomake you free or to kill you on a cross.”

11 Jesus answered, “The only poweryou have over me is the power given toyou by God. So the one who handed meover to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12After this, Pilate tried to let Jesusgo free. But the Jewish leaders shouted,“Anyone who makes himself a king isagainst Caesar. So if you let this mango free, that means you are not Caesar’sfriend.”

13When Pilate heard this, he broughtJesus out to the place called “The StonePavement”. (In Aramaic the name isGabbatha.) Pilate sat down on the judge’sseat there. 14 It was now almost noon onthe day of Preparation for Passover. Pi-late said to the Jewish leaders, “Here isyour king!”

15They shouted, “Take him away!Take him away! Kill him on a cross!”Pilate asked them, “Do you want me

to kill your king on a cross?”The leading priests answered, “The

only king we have is Caesar!”16Then Pilate handed Jesus over to the

soldiers with orders for him to be killedon a cross. So they took him away.

Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross(Matt. 27:32-44; Mark

15:21-32; Luke 23:26-43)17 Jesus carried his own cross to a

place called “The Place of the Skull”. (InAramaic the name of this place is “Gol-gotha”.) 18There they nailed Jesus to thecross. They also nailed two other men to

‡‡19:2 purple robe Probably a soldier’s robe that looked like the purple robes wornby kings. They put this on Jesus to make fun of him for claiming to be a king.

John 19:19 37 John 19:36

crosses. They put them on each side ofJesus with him in the middle.

19Pilate told them to write a sign andput it on the cross. The sign said, “je-sus of nazareth, the king of the jews”.20The sign was written in Aramaic, inLatin and in Greek. Many of the Jewsread this sign, because the place whereJesus was nailed to the cross was nearthe city.

21The leading Jewish priests said toPilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of theJews.’ But write, ‘This man said, I am theKing of the Jews.’”

22Pilate answered, “I will not changewhat I have written.”

23After the soldiers nailed Jesus to thecross, they took his clothes and dividedthem into four parts. Each soldier gotone part. They also took his tunic. Itwas all one piece of cloth woven fromtop to bottom. 24 So the soldiers said toeach other, “We should not tear this intopieces. Let’s throw lots to see who willget it.” This happened to make clear thefull meaning of what the Scriptures say:“They divided my clothes among them,and they threw lots for what I was wear-

ing.”¶¶So that is what the soldiers did.

25 Jesus’ mother stood near his cross.Her sister was also standing there withMary the wife of Clopas and with MaryMagdalene. 26 Jesus saw his mother. Healso saw the follower he loved verymuch standing there. He said to hismother, “Look at him, Mother. He is nowyour son.” 27Then he said to the fol-lower, “She is your mother now.” So af-

ter that, this follower took Jesus’ motherto live in his home.

Jesus Dies(Matt. 27:45-56; Mark

15:33-41; Luke 23:44-49)28 Later, Jesus knew that everything

had been done. To make the Scripturescome true he said, “I am thirsty.”§§29There was a jar full of sour wine there,so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it.They put the sponge on a branch ofa hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus’mouth. 30When he tasted the wine, hesaid, “It is finished.” Then he bowed hishead and died.

31This day was Preparation Day. Thenext day was a special Sabbath day. TheJewish leaders did not want the bod-ies to stay on the cross on the Sabbathday. So they asked Pilate to order thatthe legs of the men be broken. And theyasked that the bodies be taken downfrom the crosses. 32 So the soldiers cameand broke the legs* of the two men onthe crosses beside Jesus. 33But when thesoldiers came close to Jesus, they sawthat he was already dead. So they did notbreak his legs.

34But one of the soldiers stuck hisspear into Jesus’ side. Immediatelyblood and water came out. 35The onewho reports this saw it happen. So heknows that what he says is true. He issharing these truths with you so that youalso can believe. 36These things hap-pened to give full meaning to the Scrip-tures that said, “None of his bones will

¶¶19:24 Quote from Ps. 22:18.§§19:28 I am thirsty See Ps. 22:15; 69:21.*19:32 broke the legs The legs were broken to make those on the crosses die morequickly.

John 19:37 38 John 20:14

be broken”† 37 and “People will look atthe one they stabbed.”‡

Jesus Is Buried(Matt. 27:57-61; Mark

15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56)38 Later, a man named Joseph from

Arimathea asked Pilate for the body ofJesus. (Joseph was a follower of Jesus,but he did not tell anyone, because hewas afraid of the Jewish leaders.) Pilatesaid Joseph could take Jesus’ body, so hecame and took it away.

39Nicodemus went with Joseph. Hewas the man who had come to Je-sus before and talked to him at night.He brought about 30 kilogrammes¶ ofspices—a mixture of myrrh and aloes.40These two men took Jesus’ body andwrapped it in pieces of linen cloth withthe spices. (This is how the Jews burypeople.) 41 In the place where Jesus waskilled on the cross, there was a garden.In the garden there was a new tomb. Noone had ever been buried there before.42The tomb was nearby. So the men putJesus in that tomb. They didn’t havemuch time because it was the Jewish dayof preparation for the Sabbath.

Jesus Has Risen From Death(Matt. 28:1-10; Mark16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12)

20 Early on Sunday morning, whileit was still dark, Mary Magdalene

went to the tomb. She saw that the largestone had beenmoved away from the en-trance. 2 So she ran to Simon Peter andthe other follower (the one Jesus lovedvery much). She said, “They have taken

the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’tknow where they have put him.”

3 So Peter and the other followerstarted going to the tomb. 4They wereboth running, but the other follower ranfaster than Peter and reached the tombfirst. 5He bent down and looked in. Hesaw the pieces of linen cloth lying there,but he did not go in.

6When Simon Peter finally reachedthe tomb, he went in and saw the piecesof linen lying there. 7He also saw thecloth that had been around Jesus’ head.It was rolled up and laid in a differentplace from the pieces of linen. 8Thenthe other follower went in—the one whohad reached the tomb first. He saw whathad happened and believed. 9 (Thesefollowers did not yet understand fromthe Scriptures that Jesus must rise fromdeath.)Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

(Mark 16:9-11)10Then the followers went back home.

11But Mary stood outside the tomb, cry-ing. While she was crying, she bentdown and looked inside the tomb. 12 Shesaw two angels dressed in white sit-ting where Jesus’ body had been. Onewas sitting where the head had been;the other was sitting where the feet hadbeen.

13The angels asked Mary, “Why areyou crying?”§Mary answered, “They have taken

away the body of my Lord, and Idon’t know where they have put him.”14When Mary said this, she turned

†19:36 Quote from Ps. 34:20. The idea is from Exod. 12:46; Num. 9:12.‡19:37 Quote from Zech. 12:10.¶19:39 30 kilogrammes Literally, “100 litras”.§20:13Why are you crying Literally, “Woman, why are you crying?” Unlike today,“Woman” was a polite way to address any woman. Also in verse 15.

John 20:15 39 John 21:2

around and saw Jesus standing there.But she did not know it was Jesus.

15He asked her, “Why are you crying?Who are you looking for?”She thought he was the man in charge

of the garden. So she said to him, “Didyou take him away, sir? Tell me whereyou have put him. I will go and get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”She turned towards him and said

in Aramaic, “Rabboni”, which means“Teacher”.

17 Jesus said to her, “You don’t need tohold on to me! I have not yet gone backup to the Father. But go to my follow-ers** and tell them this: ‘I am going backto my Father and your Father. I am goingback to my God and your God.’”

18Mary Magdalene went to the follow-ers and told them, “I saw the Lord!” Andshe told them what he had said to her.

Jesus Appears to His Followers(Matt. 28:16-20; Mark

16:14-18; Luke 24:36-49)19The day was Sunday, and that same

evening the followers were together.They had the doors locked because theywere afraid of the Jewish leaders. Sud-denly, Jesus was standing there amongthem. He said, “Peace be with you!”20As soon as he said this, he showedthem his hands and his side. When thefollowers saw the Lord, they were veryhappy.

21Then Jesus said again, “Peace bewith you. It was the Father who sentme, and I am now sending you in thesame way.” 22Then he breathed on themand said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Ifyou forgive the sins of anyone, their sinsare forgiven. If there is anyone whose

sins you don’t forgive, their sins are notforgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas24Thomas (called “the Twin”) was one

of the twelve, but he was not withthe other followers when Jesus came.25They told him, “We saw the Lord.”Thomas said, “That’s hard to believe. Iwill have to see the nail holes in hishands, put my finger where the nailswere and put my hand into his side. Onlythen will I believe it.”

26A week later the followers were inthe house again, and Thomas was withthem. The doors were locked, but Jesuscame and stood among them. He said,“Peace be with you!” 27Then he said toThomas, “Put your finger here. Look atmy hands. Put your hand here in myside. Stop doubting and believe.”

28Thomas said to Jesus, “My Lord andmy God!”

29 Jesus said to him, “You believe be-cause you see me. Great blessings belongto the people who believe without seeingme!”

Why John Wrote This Book30 Jesus did many other miraculous

signs that his followers saw, which arenot written in this book. 31But these arewritten so that you can believe that Je-sus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Then,by believing, you can have life throughhis name.Jesus Appears to Seven Followers

21 Later, Jesus appeared again tohis followers by Lake Galilee.††

This is how it happened: 2 Simon Peter,Thomas (called “the Twin”), Nathanael

**20:17 followers Literally, “brothers”.††21:1 Lake Galilee Literally, “Lake of Tiberias”, another name for Lake Galilee. SeeJohn 6:1.

John 21:3 40 John 21:20

from Cana in Galilee, the two sons ofZebedee and two other followers weretogether. 3 Simon Peter said, “I am goingout to fish.”The other followers said, “We will go

with you.” So they all went out and gotinto the boat. They fished all night butcaught nothing.

4Early the next morning Jesus stoodon the shore. But the followers did notknow it was Jesus. 5Then he said tothem, “Friends, have you caught anyfish?”They answered, “No.”6He said, “Throw your net into the

water on the right side of your boat. Youwill find some fish there.” So they didthis. They caught so many fish that theycould not pull the net back into the boat.

7The follower Jesus loved very muchsaid to Peter, “That man is the Lord!”When Peter heard him say it was theLord, he wrapped his coat around him-self. (He had taken his clothes off towork.) Then he jumped into the water.8The other followers went to shore inthe boat. They pulled the net full of fish.They were not very far from shore, onlyabout 100metres.‡‡ 9When they steppedout of the boat and onto the shore, theysaw some fish cooking over a charcoalfire. There was also some bread to eat.10Then Jesus said, “Bring some of thefish that you caught.”

11 Simon Peter got into the boat andpulled the net to the shore. It was fullof big fish—153 of them! But even withthat many fish, the net did not tear. 12 Je-sus said to them, “Come and eat.” Noneof the followers wanted to look foolishby asking him, “Who are you?” Theyknew he was the Lord. 13 Jesus walked

over to get the bread and gave it to them.He also gave them the fish.

14This was now the third time Jesusappeared to his followers after he wasraised from death.

Jesus Talks to Peter15When they finished eating, Jesus

said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son ofJohn, do you love me more than theseother men love me?”Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know

that I love you.”Then Jesus said to him, “Take care of

my lambs.”¶¶16Again Jesus said to him, “Simon,

son of John, do you love me?”Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know

that I love you.”Then Jesus said, “Take care of my

sheep.”17A third time Jesus said, “Simon, son

of John, do you love me?”Peter was sad because Jesus asked him

three times, “Do you love me?” He said,“Lord, you know everything. You knowthat I love you!”Jesus said to him, “Take care of my

sheep. 18The truth is, when you wereyoung, you tied your own belt and wentwhere you wanted. But when you areold, you will put out your hands, andsomeone else will tie your belt. They willlead you where you don’t want to go.”19 (Jesus said this to give a sign of howPeter would die to give glory to God.)Then he said to Peter, “Follow me!”

20Peter turned and saw the followerJesus loved very much walking behindthem. (This was the follower who hadleaned against Jesus at the supper andsaid, “Lord, who is it that will hand you

‡‡21:8 100 metres Literally, “200 cubits”.¶¶21:15 lambs Jesus uses this word and the word “sheep” in verses 16 and 17 tomean his followers, as in John 10.

John 21:21 41 John 21:25

over?”) 21When Peter saw him behindthem, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what abouthim?”

22 Jesus answered, “Maybe I want himto live until I come. That should not mat-ter to you. You follow me!”

23 So a story spread among the follow-ers of Jesus. They were saying that thisfollower would not die. But Jesus didnot say he would not die. He only said,“Maybe I want him to live until I come.That should not matter to you.”

24That follower is the one who istelling these things. He is the one whohas now written them all down. Weknow that what he says is true.

25There are many other things that Je-sus did. If every one of them were writ-ten down, I think the whole world wouldnot be big enough for all the books thatwould be written.