John 5:1-9

Contemporary English Version

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

5 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for another Jewish festival.^[a] ²In the city near the sheep gate was a pool with five porches, and its name in Hebrew was Bethzatha.^[b]

^3-4Many sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying close to the pool.^[c]

⁵Beside the pool was a man who had been sick for 38 years. ⁶When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”

⁷The man answered, “Sir, I don't have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone else always gets there first.”

⁸Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat and walk!” ⁹Right then the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking around. The day on which this happened was a Sabbath.

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Footnotes

5.1 another Jewish festival: Either the Festival of Shelters or Passover.
5.2 Bethzatha: Some manuscripts have “Bethesda” and others have “Bethsaida.”
5.3,4 pool: Some manuscripts add, “They were waiting for the water to be stirred, because an angel from the Lord would sometimes come down and stir it. The first person to get into the pool after that would be healed.”