John 5:2-16

2There is a pool near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. Its name in the Jewish language is Bethesda. Round the pool, there is a building with five places that have a roof over them.

3A large number of sick people were lying in these places. Some of them were blind. Some of them could not walk properly. Some of them could not move their legs or their arms. [ They were waiting for when the water started to move.

4An angel would go down into the pool at certain times and move the water about. When that happened, all the sick people tried to get into the pool. The first person who got into the water became well, whatever his illness was.]

5One man who was lying there had been ill for 38 years.

6Jesus saw this man. He knew that the man had been ill like this for a very long time. So he asked the man, ‘Do you want to get well?’

7The sick man said, ‘Sir, I do not have anyone who will help me. I need somebody who will put me into the pool. When the water starts to move, I try to get in. But someone else always gets in before me.’

8Then Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.’

9The man became well immediately. He picked up his mat and he walked. The day when this happened was a Jewish day of rest.

10Because of this, the Jewish leaders spoke to the man that Jesus had made well. They said to him, ‘You must not carry your mat on our day of rest. You are not obeying the rules.’

11The man replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk.” ’

12So they asked him, ‘Who is this man? Who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’

13The man did not know who had made him well. Jesus had gone away and joined the crowd that was there.

14Some time after that, Jesus found the man in the temple. Jesus said to him, ‘See, you have become well. Stop doing wrong things. If you do not stop, something worse may happen to you.’

15Then the man went to the Jewish leaders. He told them that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16The Jewish leaders were angry because Jesus had made a man well on their day of rest. As a result, they began to cause a lot of trouble for Jesus.