John 5:2-16

2Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It had five porches.

3Under these porches a large number of sick people—people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed—used to lie.

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

6Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time. So Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?”

7The sick man answered Jesus, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.”

8Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.”

9The man immediately became well, picked up his cot, and walked. That happened on a day of rest—a holy day.

10So the Jews told the man who had been healed, “This is a day of rest—a holy day. You’re not allowed to carry your cot today.”

11The man replied, “The man who made me well told me to pick up my cot and walk.”

12The Jews asked him, “Who is the man who told you to pick it up and walk?”

13But the man who had been healed didn’t know who Jesus was. (Jesus had withdrawn from the crowd.)

14Later, Jesus met the man in the temple courtyard and told him, “You’re well now. Stop sinning so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”

15The man went back to the Jews and told them that Jesus was the man who had made him well.

16The Jews began to persecute Jesus because he kept healing people on the day of rest—a holy day.