John 5

₁There was a Jewish feast and Jesus went to Jerusalem. ₂At the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool. The Hebrew name of the pool was Bethesda. At the pool there were 5 pillars with a roof. _3-4A lot of sick people were lying near the pool. Some of them were blind and some were crippled. They could not walk. ₅Near the pool was a man who had been sick for 38 years. ₆Jesus saw the man lying there and He knew that the man had been sick for a long time. Then Jesus asked him: ‘Do you want to get better?’

₇The sick man said to Jesus: ‘Sir, I do not have anyone to help me and to put me into the pool when the water starts to move. Every time the water starts to move, I try to get in, but other people always get in before me.’

₈Jesus said to him: ‘Stand up, take your sleeping-mat and walk.’ ₉The man was healed immediately. He took his sleeping-mat and he walked. This happened on a Sabbath day. ₁₀When the Jews saw the man who was healed, they said to him: ‘This is the Sabbath day. You may not carry your sleeping-mat on the Sabbath day.’

₁₁The man said to the Jews: ‘The Man who healed me said I must take my sleeping-mat and walk.’

₁₂The Jews asked him: ‘Who is the Man who told you to take your sleeping-mat and walk?’ ₁₃The man who was healed did not know who had healed him because Jesus was no longer there. He had gone away because there were too many people. ₁₄Later Jesus went to the man in the temple and Jesus said to him: ‘You are healed. Do not sin again, because then something will happen to you that is worse than the disease you had.’

₁₅Then the man went to the Jews and he told them that it was Jesus who had healed him. ₁₆The Jews then started to plan bad things that they wanted to do to Jesus because He had healed the man on the Sabbath day. ₁₇Jesus said to them: ‘My Father has not stopped working and this is why I keep on working, even on the Sabbath day.’

₁₈The Jews then tried to kill Jesus. They wanted to kill Him because He had broken_the_law of the Sabbath day and also because He had said that God was his Father, because that meant that Jesus had said He was God.

₁₉Jesus said to the Jews: ‘I tell you this and it is sure: I am the Son but I can not do anything on my own. I do only what I see my Father is doing. Everything that the Father does I also do. ₂₀The Father loves the Son and the Father shows the Son everything that He does. The Father will show Me even more wonderful things, more wonderful than healing a sick man. When I, the Son, do these wonderful things, you will be amazed. ₂₁The Father gives life to dead people so that they can rise and live again. I, the Son, do the same. I also make people live again when I want to give life to them.

₂₂The Father does not judge anyone. No, He said that I, the Son, must judge people ₂₃so that everyone will honour the Son as they honour the Father. If someone does not honour the Son, then he does not honour the Father, because it is the Father who has sent the Son to the world. ₂₄I tell you this and it is sure: Everyone who listens to what I, the Son, say, and who believes in God who has sent Me, has eternal_life. They are not spiritually_dead. They were dead but God gave them life.

₂₅I tell you this and it is sure: The time will come and it is here already when people who are spiritually_dead will hear the Son of God speaking to them. Everyone who listens to Me and believes will start to live_spiritually. ₂₆The Father has the power to give life to people. He also gave this power to the Son. I can also give life to people. ₂₇The Father also said that the Son may judge people because I am the Son of man.

₂₈Don't be surprised when I say this: There will come a time when all the people who are dead and in their graves will hear the Son calling them. ₂₉All the people who have done good will come out of their graves. They will live again and they will have eternal_life. But all the people who have done bad things will live again so that the Son can judge them.

₃₀I, the Son, can not decide to do something. I listen to what the Father says to Me and then I judge people. Yes, my judgement is right, because it is not I who decide what to do. I just do what my Father, who has sent Me to the world, wants Me to do.’

₃₁Jesus said to the Jews: ‘If I tell people about Myself, then they do not know if my words are true, so then my words are worthless. ₃₂But there is another Person who says who I am, and that is God. I know the things that He says about Me are true. ₃₃You sent people to John the Baptist and he told the truth about Me. ₃₄I don't need anyone to tell people about Me. I say these things to you so that you can believe and that God can save you. ₃₅John was like a burning light that shone brightly and you were happy to enjoy his light for a short time.

₃₆There are other things that say who I am, things that say it better than what John has said. And those are the things that the Father told Me to do. The things I do show that the Father has sent Me to the world.

₃₇The Father who has sent Me also said who I am, but you have never heard the Father speaking to you and you have never seen his face. ₃₈You do not have the Father's message in your hearts, because the Father has sent Me to the world, but you do not believe in Me.

₃₉You read the Old_Testament to find out how you can get eternal_life and it is the Old_Testament that says who I am. ₄₀But you don't want to come to Me to find eternal_life.

₄₁I do not ask that people must honour Me. ₄₂But I know you, and I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ₄₃I did not decide to come to the world. It was the Father who sent Me and you do not accept Me. But if someone else comes because he has decided himself to come, you will accept him. ₄₄You can not believe because you love it when other people say you are good. That is more important to you than if God says you are good.

₄₅Don't think that I will accuse you before the Father and say what you have done wrong. You think that Moses will help you, but he is the one who will tell the Father what you have done wrong. ₄₆You did not believe Moses, who wrote about Me. That is why you do not believe in Me. ₄₇If you do not believe what Moses wrote, then you will not believe what I say.’