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John

¹WHEN ALL THINGS BEGAN,
the Word already was.
The Word dwelt with God,
and what God was, the Word was. [Or: The Word was at the creation.]
²The Word, then, was with God at the beginning,
³and through him all things came to be;
no single thing was created without him.
⁴All that came to be was alive with his life, [Or: no single created thing came into being without him. There was life in him ...]
and that life was the light of men.
⁵The light shines on in the dark,
and the darkness has never mastered it.


⁶There appeared a man named John, sent from God;
⁷he came as a witness to testify to the light,
that all might become believers through him.
⁸He was not himself the light;
he came to bear witness to the light.
⁹The real light which enlightens every man
was even then coming into the world. [Or: The light was in being, light absolute, enlightening every man born unto the world.]


¹⁰He was in the world; [Or: The Word, then, was in the world.]
but the world, though it owed its being to him,
did not recognize him.
¹¹He entered his own realm,
and his own would not receive him.


¹²But to all who did receive him,
to those who have yielded him their allegiance,
he gave the right to become children of God,
¹³not born of any human stock,
or by the fleshly desire of a human father,
but the offspring of God himself.


¹⁴So the Word became flesh;
he came to dwell among us,
and we saw his glory,
such glory as befits the Father's only Son,
full of grace and truth.

¹⁵Here is John's testimony to him:
he cried aloud,
'This is the man I meant when I said,
"He comes after me, but takes rank before me";
for before I was born, he already was.'


¹⁶Out of his full store we have all received grace upon grace;
¹⁷for while the Law was given through Moses,
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
¹⁸No one has ever seen God;
but God's only Son,
he who is nearest to the Father's heart,
he has made him known. [Some witnesses read: but the only one, the one nearest to the Father's heart, has made him known; others read: but the only one, himself God, the nearest to the Father's heart, has made him known.]

The Testimony of John the Baptist c.27ce[ Jn.1.19-28 → ] - Mt.3.1-12, Mk.1.1-8, Lk.3.1-9

¹⁹THIS IS THE TESTIMONY which John gave when the Jews of Jerusalem sent a deputation of priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰He confessed without reserve and avowed, 'I am not the Messiah.' ²¹'What then? Are you Elijah?' 'No', he replied. 'Are you the prophet we await?' He answered 'No.' ²²'Then who are you?' they asked. 'We must give an answer to those who sent us. What account do you give of yourself?' ^{23 [ Is.40.3. ]} He answered in the words of the prophet Isaiah: 'I am a voice crying aloud in the wilderness, "Make the Lord's highway straight." '

²⁴Some Pharisees who were in the deputation ²⁵asked him, 'If you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet, why then are you baptizing?' ²⁶'I baptize in water,' John replied, 'but among you, though you do not know him, stands the one ²⁷who is to come after me. I am not good enough to unfasten his shoes.' ²⁸This took place at Bethany beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God (Bethabara-Bethany?)

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him. 'Look,' he said, 'there is the Lamb of God; it is he who takes away the sin of the world. ³⁰This is he of whom I spoke when I said, "After me a man is coming who takes rank before me"; for before I was born, he already was. ³¹I myself did not know who he was; but the very reason why I came, baptizing in water, was that he might be revealed to Israel.'

³²John testified further: 'I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting upon him. ³³I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize in water had told me, "When you see the Spirit coming down upon someone and resting upon him you will know that this is he who is to baptize in Holy Spirit." ³⁴I saw it myself, and I have borne witness. This is God's Chosen One.' [Some witnesses read: This is the Son of God.]

The First Disciples (Bethabara-Bethany?)

³⁵The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples when Jesus passed by. ³⁶John looked towards him and said, 'There is the Lamb of God.' ³⁷The two disciples heard him say this, and followed Jesus. ³⁸When he turned and saw them following him, he asked, 'What are you looking for?' They said, 'Rabbi' (which means a teacher), 'where are you staying?' 'Come and see', he replied. ³⁹So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent the rest of the day with him. It was then about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰One of the two who followed Jesus after hearing what John said was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹The first thing he did was to find [Some witnesses read: In the morning he found ...] his brother Simon. He said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which is the Hebrew for 'Christ'). ⁴²He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him, and said, 'You are Simon, son of John. You shall be called Cephas' (that is, Peter, the Rock).

The Calling of Philip and Nathanael (Bethabara-Bethany?)

⁴³(43-44)The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He met Philip, who, like Andrew and Peter, came from Bethsaida, and said to him, 'Follow me.' ⁴⁵Philip went to find Nathanael, and told him, 'We have met the man spoken of by Moses in the Law, and by the prophets: it is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.' 'Nazareth!' ⁴⁶Nathanael exclaimed; 'can anything good come from Nazareth?' Philip said, 'Come and see.' ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said, 'Here is an Israelite worthy of the name; there is nothing false in him.' ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, 'How do you come to know me?' Jesus replied, 'I saw you under the fig-tree before Philip spoke to you.' ⁴⁹'Rabbi,' said Nathanael, 'you are the Son of God; you are king of Israel.' ⁵⁰so Jesus answered, 'Is this the ground of your faith, that I told you I saw you under the fig-tree? You shall see greater things than that.' ^{51 [ Dn.7.13. ]} Then he added, 'In truth, in very truth I tell you all, you shall see heaven wide open, and God's angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'

↑   2.The Wedding at Cana (Cana)

¹ON THE THIRD DAY there was a wedding at Cana-in-Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, ²and Jesus and his disciples were guests also. ³The wine gave out, so Jesus's mother said to him, 'They have no wine left.' ⁴He answered, 'Your concern, mother, is not mine. My hour has not yet come.' ⁵His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.' ⁶There were six stone water-jars standing near, of the kind used for Jewish rites of purification; each held from twenty to thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water', and they filled them to the brim. ⁸'Now draw some off', he ordered, 'and take it to the steward of the feast'; and they did so. ⁹The steward tasted the water now turned into wine, not knowing its source; though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He hailed the bridegroom ¹⁰and said, 'Everyone serves the best wine first, and waits until the guests have drunk freely before serving the poorer sort; but you have kept the best wine till now.'

¹¹This deed at Cana-in-Galilee is the first of the signs by which Jesus revealed his glory and led his disciples to believe in him.

¹²AFTER THIS he went down to Capernaum in company with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, but they did not stay there long.

The Cleansing of the Temple (Jerusalem)[ Jn.2.13-22 → ] - Mt.21.12-13, Mk.11.15-17, Lk.19.45-46

¹³As it was near the time of the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴There he found in the temple the dealers in cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and the money-changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵Jesus made a whip of cords and drove them out of the temple, sheep, cattle, and all. He upset the tables of the money-changers, scattering their coins. ¹⁶Then he turned on the dealers in pigeons: 'Take them out,' he said; 'you must not turn my Father's house into a market.' ^{17 [ Ps.69.9. ]} His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, 'Zeal for thy house will destroy me.' ¹⁸The Jews challenged Jesus: 'What sign', they asked, 'can you show as authority for your action?' ¹⁹'Destroy this temple,' Jesus replied, 'and in three days I will raise it again.' ²⁰They said, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this temple. Are you going to raise it again in three days?' ²¹But the temple he was speaking of was his body. ²²After his resurrection his disciples recalled what he had said, and they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus Knows All Men (Jerusalem)

²³WHILE HE WAS in Jerusalem for Passover many gave their allegiance to him when they saw the signs that he performed. ²⁴But Jesus for his part would not trust himself to them. He knew men so well, all of them, ²⁵that he needed no evidence from others about a man, for he himself could tell what was in a man.

↑   3.Jesus and Nicodemus (Jerusalem)

¹THERE WAS ONE of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish Council, ²who came to Jesus by night. 'Rabbi,' he said, 'we know that you are a teacher sent by God; no one could perform these signs of yours unless God were with him.' ³Jesus answered, 'In truth, in very truth I tell you, unless a man has been born over again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' ⁴'But how is it possible', said Nicodemus, 'for a man to be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?' ⁵Jesus answered, 'In truth I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born from water and spirit. ⁶Flesh can give birth only to flesh; it is spirit that gives birth to spirit. ⁷You ought not to be astonished, then, when I tell you that you must be born over again. ⁸The wind [wind and spirit are translations of the same Greek word, which has both meanings.] blows where it wills; you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from, or where it is going. So with everyone who is born from spirit.'

⁹Nicodemus replied, 'How is this possible?' ¹⁰'What!' said Jesus. 'Is this famous teacher of Israel ignorant of such things? ¹¹In very truth I tell you, we speak of what we know, and testify to what we have seen, and yet you all reject our testimony. ¹²If you disbelieve me when I talk to you about things on earth, how are you to believe if I should talk about the things of heaven?

¹³'No one ever went up into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man whose home is in heaven. [Some witnesses omit: whose home is in heaven.] ¹⁴This Son of Man must be lifted up as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, ¹⁵so that everyone who has faith in him may in him possess eternal life.

¹⁶'God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not die but have eternal life. ¹⁷It was not to judge the world that God sent his Son into the world, but that through him the world might be saved.

¹⁸'The man who puts his faith in him does not come under judgement; but the unbeliever has already been judged in that he has not given his allegiance to God's only Son. ¹⁹Here lies the test: the light has come into the world, but men preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Bad men all hate the light and avoid it, for fear their practices should be shown up. ²¹The honest man comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that God is in all he does.'

Jesus and John the Baptist (Aenon)

²²AFTER THIS, Jesus went into Judaea with his disciples, stayed there with them, and baptized. ²³John too was baptizing at Aenon, near to Salim, because water was plentiful in that region; and people were constantly coming for baptism. ²⁴This was before John's imprisonment.

²⁵Some of John's disciples had fallen into a dispute with Jews about purification; ²⁶so they came to him and said, 'Rabbi, there was a man with you on the other side of the Jordan, to whom you bore your witness. Here he is, baptizing, and crowds are flocking to him.' ²⁷John's answer was: 'A man can have only what God gives him. ²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, "I am not the Messiah; I have been sent as his forerunner." ²⁹It is the bridegroom to whom the bride belongs. The bridegroom's friend, who stands by and listens to him, is overjoyed at hearing the bridegroom's voice. This joy, this perfect joy, is now mine. ³⁰As he grows greater, I must grow less.'

He Who Comes from Heaven (Aenon)

³¹He who comes from above is above all others; he who is from the earth belongs to the earth and uses earthly speech. ³²He who comes from heaven [Some witnesses insert: is above all and ...] bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his witness. ³³To accept his witness is to attest that God speaks true; ³⁴for he whom God sent utters the words of God, so measureless is God's gift of the Spirit. ³⁵The Father loves the Son and has entrusted him with all authority. ³⁶He who puts his faith in the Son has hold of eternal life, but he who disobeys the Son shall not see that life; God's wrath rests upon him.

↑   4.Jesus and the Woman of Samaria (Sychar)

¹A REPORT NOW REACHED the Pharisees: 'Jesus is winning and baptizing more disciples than John'; ²although, in fact, it was only the disciples who were baptizing and not Jesus himself. ³When Jesus learned this, he left Judaea and set out once more for Galilee. ⁴He had to pass through Samaria, ⁵and on his way came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph ⁶and the spring called Jacob's well. It was about noon, and Jesus, tired after his journey, sat down by the well.

⁷(8) The disciples had gone away to the town to buy food. ⁸(7) Meanwhile a Samaritan woman came to draw water. ⁹Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' The Samaritan woman said, 'What! You, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan woman?' (Jews and Samaritans, it should be noted, do not use vessels in common. [Or: Jews, it should be noted, are not on familiar terms with Samaritans; some witnesses omit these words.]) ¹⁰Jesus answered her, 'If only you knew what God gives, and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.' ¹¹'Sir,' the woman said, 'you have no bucket and this well is deep. How can you give me "living water"? ¹²Are you a greater man than Jacob our ancestor, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, he and his sons, and his cattle too?' ¹³Jesus said, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water that I shall give him will never suffer thirst any more. The water that I shall give him will be an inner spring always welling up for eternal life.' ¹⁵'Sir,' said the woman, 'give me that water, and then I shall not be thirsty, nor have to come all this way to draw.'

¹⁶Jesus replied, 'Go home, call your husband and come back.' ¹⁷She answered, 'I have no husband.' 'You are right', said Jesus, 'in saying that you have no husband, ¹⁸for, although you have had five husbands, the man with whom you are now living is not your husband; you told me the truth there.' ¹⁹'Sir,' she replied, 'I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the temple where God should be worshipped is in Jerusalem.' ²¹'Believe me,' said Jesus, 'the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem. ²²You Samaritans worship without knowing what you worship, while we worship what we know. It is from the Jews that salvation comes. ²³But the time approaches, indeed it is already here, when those who are real worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Such are the worshippers whom the Father wants. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.' ²⁵The woman answered, 'I know that Messiah' (that is Christ) 'is coming. When he comes he will tell us everything.' ²⁶Jesus said, 'I am he, I who am speaking to you now.'

²⁷At that moment his disciples returned, and were astonished to find him talking with a woman; but none of them said, 'What do you want?' or, 'Why are you talking with her?' ²⁸The woman put down her water-jar and went away to the town, where she said to the people, ²⁹'Come and see a man who has told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?' ³⁰They came out of the town and made their way towards him.

³¹Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, 'Rabbi, have something to eat.' ³²But he said, 'I have food to eat of which you know nothing.' ³³At this the disciples said to one another, 'Can someone have brought him food?' ³⁴But Jesus said, 'It is meat and drink for me to do the will of him who sent me until I have finished his work.

³⁵'Do you not say, "Four months more and then comes harvest"? But look, I tell you, look round on the fields; they are already white, ripe for harvest. ³⁶The reaper is drawing his pay and gathering a crop for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ³⁷That is how the saying comes true: "One sows, and another reaps." ³⁸I sent you to reap a crop for which you have not toiled. Others toiled and you have come in for the harvest of their toil.'

³⁹Many Samaritans of that town came to believe in him because of the woman's testimony: 'He told me ⁴⁰everything I ever did.' So when these Samaritans had come to him they pressed him to stay with them; and ⁴¹he stayed there two days. Many more became believers because of what they heard from his own lips. ⁴²They told the woman, 'It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard him ourselves; and we know that this is in truth the Saviour of the world.'

The Healing of the Official's Son (Cana)[ Jn.4.43-54 → ] - Mt.8.5-13, Lk.7.1-10

⁴³WHEN THE TWO DAYS were over he set out for Galilee; ⁴⁴for Jesus himself declared that a prophet is without honour in his own country. ⁴⁵On his arrival in Galilee the Galileans gave him a welcome, because they had seen all that he did at the festival in Jerusalem; they had been at the festival themselves.

⁴⁶Once again he visited Cana-in-Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. An officer in the royal service was there, whose son was lying ill at Capernaum. ⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come from Judaea into Galilee, he came to him and begged him to go down and cure his son, who was at the point of death. ⁴⁸Jesus said to him, 'Will none of you ever believe without seeing signs and portents?' ⁴⁹The officer pleaded with him, 'Sir, come down before my boy dies.' ⁵⁰Then Jesus said, 'Return home; your son will live.' The man believed what Jesus said and started for home. ⁵¹When he was on his way down his servants met him with the news, 'Your boy is going to live.' ⁵²So he asked them what time it was when he got better. They said, 'Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.' ⁵³The father noted that this was the exact time when Jesus had said to him, 'Your son will live', and he and all his household became believers.

⁵⁴This was now the second sign which Jesus performed after coming down from Judaea into Galilee.

↑   5. The Healing at the Pool (Jerusalem)

¹LATER ON JESUS WENT UP to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. [Some witnesses read: for the Jewish festival.] ²Now at the Sheep-Pool in Jerusalem there is a place with five colonnades. Its name in the language of the Jews is Bethesda. ³In these colonnades there lay a crowd of sick people, blind, lame, and paralysed. [Some manuscripts add: waiting for the disturbance of the water;] ⁴[some witnesses further insert: (4) for from time to time an angel came down into the pool and stirred up the water. The first to plunge in after this disturbance recovered from whatever disease had afflicted him.] ⁵Among them was a man who had been crippled for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and was aware that he had been ill a long time, he asked him, 'Do you want to recover?' ⁷'Sir,' he replied, 'I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is disturbed, but while I am moving, someone else is in the pool before me.' ⁸Jesus answered, 'Rise to your feet, take up your bed and walk.' ⁹The man recovered instantly, took up his stretcher, and began to walk.

¹⁰That day was a Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, 'It is the Sabbath. You are not allowed to carry your bed on the Sabbath.' ¹¹He answered, 'The man who cured me said, "Take up your bed and walk." ' ¹²They asked him, 'Who is the man who told you to take up your bed and walk?' ¹³But the cripple who had been cured did not know; for the place was crowded and Jesus had slipped away. ¹⁴A little later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, 'Now that you are well again, leave your sinful ways, or you may suffer something worse.' ¹⁵The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him.

¹⁶It was works of this kind done on the Sabbath that stirred the Jews to persecute Jesus. ¹⁷He defended himself by saying, 'My Father has never yet ceased his is work, and I am working too.' ¹⁸This made the Jews still more determined to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, but, by calling God his own Father, he claimed equality with God.

The Authority of the Son (Jerusalem)

¹⁹To this charge Jesus replied, 'In truth, in very truth I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he does only what he sees the Father doing: what the Father does, the Son does. ²⁰For the Father loves the Son and shows him all his works, and will show greater yet, to fill you with wonder. ²¹As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to men, as he determines. ²²And again, the Father does not judge anyone, but has given full jurisdiction to the Son; ²³it is his will that all should pay the same honour to the Son as to the Father. To deny honour to the Son is to deny it to the Father who sent him.

²⁴'In very truth, anyone who gives heed to what I say and puts his trust in him who sent me has hold of eternal life, and does not come up for judgement, but has already passed from death to life. ²⁵In truth, in very truth I tell you, a time is coming, indeed it is already here, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear shall come to life. ²⁶For as the Father has life-giving power in himself, so has the Son, by the Father's gift.

²⁷'As Son of Man, he has also been given the right to pass judgement. ²⁸Do not wonder at this, because the time is coming when all who are in the grave shall hear his voice and come out: ²⁹those who have done right will rise to life; those who have done wrong will rise to hear their doom. ³⁰I cannot act by myself; I judge as I am bidden, and my sentence is just, because my aim is not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

Witnesses to Jesus

³¹'If I testify on my own behalf, that testimony does not hold good. ³²There is another who bears witness for me, and I know that his testimony holds. ³³Your messengers have been to John; you have his testimony to the truth. ³⁴Not that I rely on human testimony, but I remind you of it for your own salvation. ³⁵John was a lamp, burning brightly, and for a time you were ready to exult in his light. ³⁶But I rely on a testimony higher than John's. There is enough to testify that the Father has sent me, in the works my Father gave me to do and to finish—the very works I have in hand. ³⁷This testimony to me was given by the Father who sent me, although you never heard his voice, or saw his form. ³⁸But his word has found no home in you, for you do not believe the one whom he sent. ³⁹You study the scriptures diligently, supposing that in having them you have eternal life; yet, although their testimony points to me, ⁴⁰you refuse to come to me for that life.

⁴¹'I do not look to men for honour, ⁴²But with you it is different, as I know well, for you have no love for God in you. ⁴³I have come accredited by my Father, and you have no welcome for me; if another comes self-accredited you will welcome him. ⁴⁴How can you have faith so long as you receive honour from one another, and care nothing for the honour that comes from him who alone is God? ⁴⁵Do not imagine that I shall be your accuser at the Father's tribunal. Your accuser is Moses, the very Moses on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶If you believed Moses you would believe what I tell you, for it was about me that he wrote. ⁴⁷But if you do not believe what he wrote, how are you to believe what I say?'

↑   6.The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Bethsaida)[ Jn.6.1-14 → ] - Mt.14.13-21, Mk.6.30-44, Lk.9.10-17

¹SOME TIME LATER Jesus withdrew to the farther shore of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias), ²and a large crowd of people followed who had seen the signs he performed in healing the sick. ³Then Jesus went up the hill-side and sat down with his disciples. ⁴It was near the time of Passover, the great Jewish festival. ⁵Raising his eyes and seeing a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, 'Where are we to buy bread to feed these people?' ⁶This he said to test him; Jesus himself knew what he meant to do. ⁷Philip replied, 'Twenty pounds [Literally: 200 denarii.] would not buy enough bread for every one of them to have a little.' ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, ⁹'There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes; but what is that among so many?' ¹⁰Jesus said, 'Make the people sit down.' There was plenty of grass there, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to the people as they sat there. He did the same with the fishes, and they had as much as they wanted. ¹²When everyone had had enough, he said to his disciples, 'Collect the pieces left over, so that nothing may be lost.' ¹³This they did, and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left uneaten of the five barley loaves.

¹⁴When the people saw the sign Jesus had performed, the word went round, 'Surely this must be the prophet that was to come into the world.' ¹⁵Jesus, aware that they meant to come and seize him to proclaim him king, withdrew again to the hills by himself.

Walking on the Water (Lake of Gennesaret)[ Jn.6.16-21 → ] - Mt.14.22-27, Mk.6.45-52

¹⁶At nightfall his disciples went down to the sea, got into their boat, ¹⁷and pushed off to cross the water to Capernaum. Darkness had already fallen, and Jesus is had not yet joined them. ¹⁸By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea grew rough. ¹⁹When they had rowed three or four miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat. They were terrified, ²⁰but he called out, 'It is I; do not be afraid.' ²¹Then they were ready to take him aboard, and immediately the boat reached the land they were making for.

Jesus the Bread of Life (Capernaum)

²²NEXT MORNING the crowd was standing on the opposite shore. They had seen only one boat there, and Jesus, they knew, had not embarked with his disciples, who had gone away without him. ²³Boats from Tiberias, however, came ashore [Some witnesses read: Other boats from Tiberias came ashore ...] near the place where the people had eaten the bread over which the Lord gave thanks. [Some witnesses omit: which ... thanks.] ²⁴When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were any longer there, they themselves went aboard these boats and made fur Capernaum in search of Jesus. ²⁵They found him on the other side. 'Rabbi,' they said, 'when did you come here?' ²⁶Jesus replied, 'In very truth I know that you have not come looking for me because you saw signs, but because you ate the bread and your hunger was satisfied. ²⁷You must work, not for this perishable food, but for the food that lasts, the food of eternal life.

'This food the Son of Man will give you, for he it is upon whom the Father has set the seal of his authority.' ²⁸'Then what must we do', they asked him, 'if we are to work as God would have us work?' ²⁹Jesus replied, 'This is the work that God requires: believe in the one whom he has sent.'

³⁰They said, 'What sign can you give us to see, so that we may believe you? What is the work you do? ^{31 [ Ex.16.13-14, Ps.78.24. ]} Our ancestors had manna to eat in the desert, as Scripture says, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat."' ³²Jesus answered, 'I tell you this: the truth is, not that Moses gave you the bread from heaven, but that my Father gives you the real bread from heaven. ³³The bread that God gives comes down [Or: is he who comes down ...] from heaven and brings life to the world.' ³⁴They said to him, 'Sir, give us this bread now and always.' ³⁵Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty. ³⁶But you, as I said, do not believe although you have seen. [Some witnesses add: me.] ³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the man who comes to me I will never turn away. ³⁸I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹It is his will that I should not lose even one of all that he has given me, but raise them all up on the last day. ⁴⁰For it is my Father's will that everyone who looks upon the Son and puts his faith in him shall possess eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.'

⁴¹At this the Jews began to murmur disapprovingly because he said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven.' ⁴²They said, 'Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph; we know his father and mother. How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven"?' ⁴³Jesus answered, 'Stop murmuring among yourselves. ⁴⁴No man can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise him up on the last day. ^{45 [ Is.54.13, Jr.31.33. ]} It is written in the prophets: "And they shall all be taught by God." Everyone who has listened to the Father and learned from him comes to me.

⁴⁶'I do not mean that anyone has seen the Father. He who has come from God has seen the Father, and he alone. ⁴⁷In truth, in very truth I tell you, the believer possesses eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead. ⁵⁰I am speaking of the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat, and never die. ⁵¹I am that living bread which has come down from heaven: if anyone eats this bread he shall live for ever. Moreover, the bread which I will give is my own flesh; I give it for the life of the world.'

⁵²This led to a fierce dispute among the Jews. 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' they said. ⁵³Jesus replied, 'In truth, in very truth I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you can have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood possesses eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵My flesh is real food; my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells continually in me and I dwell in him. ⁵⁷As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me shall live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread which came down from heaven; and it is not like the bread which our fathers ate: they are dead, but whoever eats this bread shall live for ever,'

⁵⁹THIS WAS SPOKEN in synagogue when Jesus was teaching in Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

⁶⁰Many of his disciples on hearing it exclaimed, 'This is more than we can stomach! Why listen to such talk?' ⁶¹Jesus was aware that his disciples were murmuring about it and asked them, 'Does this shock you? ⁶²What if you see the Son of Man ascending to the place where he was before? ⁶³The spirit alone gives life; the flesh is of no avail; the words which I have spoken to you are both spirit and life. ⁶⁴And yet there are some of you who have no faith.' For Jesus knew all along who were without faith and who was to betray him. ⁶⁵So he said, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.'

⁶⁶From that time on, many of his disciples withdrew and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus asked the Twelve, 'Do you also want to leave me?' ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? Your words are words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We have faith, and we know that you are the Holy One of God.' ⁷⁰Jesus answered, 'Have I not chosen you, all twelve? ⁷¹Yet one of you is a devil.' He meant Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. He it was who would betray him, and he was one of the Twelve.

↑   7.The Unbelief of Jesus' Brothers (Jerusalem)

¹AFTERWARDS JESUS went about in Galilee. He wished to avoid Judaea because the Jews were looking for a chance to kill him. ²As the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was close at hand, ³his brothers said to him, 'You should leave this district and go into Judaea, so that your disciples there may see the great things you are doing. ⁴Surely no one can hope to be in the public eye if he works in seclusion. If you really are doing such things as these, show yourself to the world.' ⁵For even his brothers had no faith in him. ⁶Jesus said to them, 'The right time for me has not yet come, but any time is right for you. ⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates me for exposing the wickedness of its ways. ⁸Go to the festival yourselves. I am not [Some witnesses read: not yet.] going up to this festival because the right time for me has not yet come.' ⁹With this answer he stayed behind in Galilee.

Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles (Jerusalem)

¹⁰Later, when his brothers had gone to the festival, he went up himself, not publicly, but almost in secret. ¹¹The Jews were looking for him at the festival and asking, 'Where is he?', ¹²and there was much whispering about him in the crowds. 'He is a good man', said some. 'No,' said others, 'he is leading the people astray.' ¹³However, no one talked about him openly, for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴WHEN THE FESTIVAL was already half over, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. ¹⁵The Jews were astonished: 'How is it', they said, 'that this untrained man has such learning?' ¹⁶Jesus replied, 'The teaching that I give is not my own; it is the teaching of him who sent me. ¹⁷Whoever has the will to do the will of God shall know whether my teaching comes from him or is merely my own. ¹⁸Anyone whose teaching is merely his own, aims at honour for himself. But if a man aims at the honour of him who sent him he is sincere, and there is nothing false in him.

¹⁹'Did not Moses give you the Law? Yet you all break it. Why are you trying to kill me?' ²⁰The crowd answered, 'You are possessed! Who wants to kill you?' ²¹Jesus replied, 'Once only have I done work on the Sabbath, and you are all taken aback. ²²But consider: Moses gave you the law of circumcision (not that it originated with Moses but with the patriarchs) and you circumcise on the Sabbath. ²³Well then, if a child is circumcised on the Sabbath to avoid breaking the Law of Moses, why are you indignant with me for giving health on the Sabbath to the whole of a man's body? ²⁴Do not judge superficially, but be just in your judgements.'

Is This the Christ? (Jerusalem)

²⁵At this some of the people of Jerusalem began to say, 'Is not this the man they want to put to death? ²⁶And here he is, speaking openly, and they have not a word to say to him. Can it be that our rulers have actually decided that this is the Messiah? ²⁷And yet we know where this man comes from, but when the Messiah appears no one is to know where he comes from.' ²⁸Thereupon Jesus cried aloud as he taught in the temple, 'No doubt you know me; no doubt you know where I come from. [Or: Do you know me? And do you know where I come from?] Yet I have not come of my own accord. I was sent by the One who truly is, and him you do not know. ²⁹I know him because I come from him and he it is who sent me.' ³⁰At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his appointed hour had not yet come. ³¹Yet among the people many believed in him. 'When the Messiah comes,' they said, 'is it likely that he will perform more signs than this man?'

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

³²The Pharisees overheard these mutterings of the people about him, so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. ³³Then Jesus said, 'For a little longer I shall be with you; then I am going away to him who sent me. ³⁴You will look for me, but you will not find me. Where I am, you cannot come.'

Rivers of Living Water (Jerusalem)

³⁵So the Jews said to one another, 'Where does he intend to go, that we should not be able to find him? Will he go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? ³⁶What did he mean by saying, "You will look for me, but you will not find me. Where I am, you cannot come"?'

[Some manuscripts here insert the passage about the woman taken in adultery: (see John 7.53-8.11).]

³⁷ON THE LAST and greatest day of the festival Jesus stood and cried aloud, 'If anyone is thirsty let him come to me, ³⁸whoever believes in me, let him drink.' As Scripture says, 'Streams of living water shall flow out from within him.' [Or: If any man is thirsty let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as Scripture says, streams of living water shall flow out within him.] ³⁹He was speaking of the Spirit which believers in him would receive later, for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Division among the People

⁴⁰On hearing this some of the people said, 'This must certainly be the expected prophet.' ⁴¹Others said, 'This is the Messiah.' Others again, 'Surely the Messiah is not to come from Galilee? ⁴²Does not Scripture say that the Messiah is to be of the family of David, from David's village of Bethlehem?' ⁴³Thus he caused a split among the people. ⁴⁴Some were for seizing him, but no one laid hands on him.

The Unbelief of Those in Authority (Jerusalem)

⁴⁵The temple police came back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked, 'Why have you not brought him?' ⁴⁶'No man', they answered, 'ever spoke as this man speaks.' ⁴⁷The Pharisees retorted, 'Have you too been misled? ⁴⁸Is there a single one of our rulers who has believed in him, or of the Pharisees? ⁴⁹As for this rabble, which cares nothing for the Law, a curse is on them.' ⁵⁰Then one of their number, Nicodemus (the man who had once visited Jesus), intervened. ⁵¹'Does our law', he asked them, 'permit us to pass judgement on a man unless we have first given him a hearing and learned the facts?' ⁵²'Are you a Galilean too?' they retorted. 'Study the scriptures and you will find that prophets do not come from Galilee.' ⁵³[Some manuscripts here insert the passage 7.53-8.11. (See Ch.8.)

[This passage, which in the most widely received editions of the New Testament is printed in the text of John, 7.53-8.1l, has no fixed place in our ancient manuscripts. Some of them do not contain it at all. Some place it after Luke 21.38, others after John 7.36, or 7.52, or 21.24.]

Jesus the Light of the World

¹²ONCE AGAIN JESUS addressed the people: 'I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall wander in the dark; he shall have the light of life.' ¹³The Pharisees said to him, 'You are witness in your own cause; your testimony is not valid.' ¹⁴Jesus replied, 'My testimony is valid, even though I do bear witness about myself; because I know where I come from, and where I am going. You do not know either where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge by worldly standards. I pass judgement on no man, ¹⁶but if I do judge, my judgement is valid because it is not I alone who judge, but I and he who sent me. ¹⁷In your own law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. ¹⁸Here am I, a witness in my own cause, and my other witness is the Father who sent me.' They asked, ¹⁹'Where is your father?' Jesus replied, 'You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me you would know my Father as well.'

²⁰These words were spoken by Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Where I am Going You Cannot Come (Jerusalem)

²¹Again he said to them, 'I am going away. You will look for me, but you will die in your sin; where I am going you cannot come.' ²²The Jews then said, 'Perhaps he will kill himself: is that what he means when he says, "Where I am going you cannot come"?' ²³So Jesus continued, 'You belong to this world below, I to the world above. Your home is in this world, mine is not. ²⁴That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. If you do not believe that I am what I am, you will die in your sins.' ²⁵They asked him, 'Who are you?' Jesus answered, 'Why should I speak to you at all? [Or: What I have told you all along.] ²⁶I have much to say about you—and in judgement. But he who sent me speaks the truth, and what I heard from him I report to the world.'

²⁷They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said to them, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man you will know that I am what I am. I do nothing on my own authority, but in all that I say, I have been taught by my Father. ²⁹He who sent me is present with me, and has not left me alone; for I always do what is acceptable to him.' ³⁰As he said this, many put their faith in him.

The Truth Will Make You Free (Jerusalem)

³¹Turning to the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you dwell within the revelation I have brought, you are indeed my disciples; ³²you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' ³³They replied, 'We are Abraham's descendants; we have never been in slavery to any man. What do you mean by saying, "You will become free men"?' ³⁴'In very truth I tell you', said Jesus, 'that everyone who commits sin is a slave. ³⁵The slave has no permanent standing in the household, but the son belongs to it for ever. ³⁶If then the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.

³⁷'I know that you are descended from Abraham, but you are bent on killing me because my teaching makes no headway with you. ³⁸I am revealing in words what I saw in my Father's presence; and you are revealing in action what you learned from your father.'

Your Father the Devil

³⁹They ' retorted, 'Abraham is our father.' 'If you were Abraham's children', Jesus replied, 'you would do as Abraham did. [Some witnesses read: 'If you are Abraham's children', Jesus replied, 'do as Abraham did.'] ⁴⁰As it is, you are bent on killing me, a man who told you the truth, as I heard it from God. ' ⁴¹That is not how Abraham acted. You are doing your own father's work.'

They said, 'We are not base-born; God is our father, and God alone.' ⁴²Jesus said, 'If God were your father, you would love me, for God is the source of my being, and from him I come. I have not come of my own accord; he sent me. ⁴³Why do you not understand my language? It is because my revelation is beyond your grasp.

⁴⁴'Your father is the devil and you choose to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and is not rooted in the truth; there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie he is speaking his own language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But I speak the truth and therefore you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Which of you can prove me in the wrong? [Or: Which of you convicts me of sin?] If what I say is true, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷He who has God for his father listens to the words of God. You are not God's children; that is why you do not listen.'

Before Abraham was, I am

⁴⁸The Jews answered, 'Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan, and that you are possessed?' ⁴⁹'I am not possessed,' said Jesus; 'the truth is that I am honouring my Father, but you dishonour me. ⁵⁰I do not so care about my own glory; there is one who does care, and he is judge. ⁵¹In very truth I tell you, if anyone obeys my teaching he shall never know what it is to die.'

⁵²The Jews said, 'Now we are certain that you are possessed. Abraham is dead; the prophets are dead; and yet you say, "If anyone obeys my teaching he shall not know what it is to die." ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too. What do you claim to be?'

⁵⁴Jesus replied, 'If I glorify myself, that glory of mine is worthless. It is the Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, "He is our God", ⁵⁵though you do not know him. But I know him; if I said that I did not know him I should be a liar like you. But in truth I know him and obey his word.

⁵⁶'Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see my day; he saw it and was glad.' ⁵⁷The Jews protested, 'You are not yet fifty years old. How can you have seen Abraham?' [Some witnesses read: How can Abraham have seen you?] ⁵⁸Jesus said, 'In very truth I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am.'

⁵⁹They picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was not to be seen; and he left the temple. [Or the division may be made after the words: was not to be seen; the paragraph following would then begin: Then Jesus left the temple, and as he went ...]

↑   9.The Healing of a Man Born Blind (Jerusalem)

¹AS HE WENT on his way Jesus saw a man blind from his birth. ²His disciples put the question, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents? Why was he born blind?' ³'It is not that this man or his parents sinned,' Jesus answered; 'he was born blind that God's power might be displayed in curing him. ⁴While daylight lasts we [Some witnesses read: I] must carry on the work of him who sent me, night comes, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world I am the light of the world.'

⁶With these words he spat on the ground and made a paste with the spittle; he spread it on the man's eyes, ⁷and said to him, 'Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.' (The name means 'sent'.) The man went away and washed, and when he returned he could see.

⁸His neighbours and those who were accustomed to see him begging said, 'Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?' ⁹Others said, 'Yes, this is the man.' Others again said, 'No, but it is someone like him.' ¹⁰The man himself said, 'I am the man.' They asked him, 'How were your eyes opened?' ¹¹He replied, 'The man called Jesus made a paste and smeared my eyes with it, and told me to go to Siloam and wash. I went and washed, and gained my sight.' ¹²'Where is he?' they asked. He answered, 'I do not know.'

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing (Jerusalem)

¹³THE MAN who had been blind was brought before the Pharisees. ¹⁴As it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the paste and opened his eyes, ¹⁵the Pharisees now asked him by what means he had gained his sight. The man told them, 'He spread a paste on my eyes; then I washed, and now I can see.' ¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, 'This fellow is no man of God; he does not keep the Sabbath.' Others said, 'How could such signs come from a sinful man?' So they took different sides. ¹⁷Then they continued to question him: 'What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.' He answered, 'He is a prophet.'

¹⁸The Jews would not believe that the man had been blind and had gained his sight, until they had summoned his parents ¹⁹and questioned them: 'Is this man your son? Do you say that he was born blind? How is it that he can see now?' ²⁰The parents replied, 'We know that he is our son, and that he was born blind. ²¹But how it is that he can now see, or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age; he will speak for himself.' ²²His parents gave this answer because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jewish authorities had already agreed that anyone who acknowledged Jesus as Messiah should be banned from the synagogue. ²³That is why the parents said, 'He is of age; ask him.'

²⁴So for the second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said, 'Speak the truth before God. We know that this fellow is a sinner.' ²⁵'Whether or not he is a sinner, I do not know', the man replied. 'All I know is this: once I was blind, now I can see.' ²⁶'What did he do to you?' they asked. 'How did he open your eyes?' ²⁷'I have told you already,' he retorted, 'but you took no notice. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?' ²⁸Then they became abusive. 'You are that man's disciple,' they said, 'but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we do not know where he comes from.'

³⁰The man replied, 'What an extraordinary thing! Here is a man who has opened my eyes, yet you do not know where he comes from! ³¹It is common knowledge that God does not listen to sinners; he listens to anyone who is devout and obeys his will. ³²To open the eyes of a man born blind—it is unheard of since time began. ³³If that man had not come from God he could have done nothing.' ³⁴'Who are you to give us lessons,' they retorted, 'born and bred in sin as you are?' Then they expelled him from the synagogue.

Spiritual Blindness (Jerusalem)

³⁵Jesus heard that they had expelled him. When he found him he asked, 'Have you faith in the Son of Man?' [Some witnesses read: Son of God.] ³⁶The man answered, 'Tell me who he is, sir, that I should put my faith in him.' ³⁷'You have seen him,' said Jesus; 'indeed, it is he who is speaking to you.' ³⁸'Lord, I believe', he said, and bowed before him.

³⁹Jesus said, 'It is for judgement that I have come into this world—to give sight to the sightless and to make blind those who see.' ⁴⁰Some Pharisees in his company asked, 'Do you mean that we are blind?' ⁴¹'If you were blind,' said Jesus, 'you would not be guilty, but because you say "We see"; your guilt remains.

↑   10.The Parable of the Sheepfold (Jerusalem)

¹'IN TRUTH I tell you, in very truth, the man who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in some other way, is nothing but a thief or a robber. ²The man who enters by the door is the shepherd in charge of the sheep. ³The door-keeper admits him, and the sheep hear his voice; he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought them all out, he goes ahead and the sheep follow, because they know his voice. ⁵They will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.'

⁶This was a parable that Jesus told them, but they did not understand what he meant by it.

Jesus the Good Shepherd

⁷So Jesus spoke again; 'In truth, in very truth I tell you, I am the door of the sheepfold. ⁸The sheep paid no heed to any who came before me, for these were all thieves and robbers. ⁹I am the door; anyone who comes into the fold through me shall be safe. He shall go in and out and shall find pasturage.

¹⁰'The thief comes only to steal, to kill, to destroy; I have come that men may have life, and may have it in all its fullness. ¹¹I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hireling, when he sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away, because he is no shepherd and the sheep are not his. Then the wolf harries the flock and scatters the sheep. ¹³The man runs away because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴'I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep and my sheep know me? ¹⁵as the Father knows me and I know the Father?and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶But there are other sheep of mine, not belonging to this fold, whom I must bring in; and they too will listen to my voice. There will then be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷The Father loves me because I lay down my life, to receive it back again. ¹⁸No one has robbed me of it; I am laying it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to receive it back again; this charge I have received from my Father.'

¹⁹These words once again caused a split among the Jews. ²⁰Many of them said, 'He is possessed, he is raving. Why listen to him?' ²¹Others said, 'No one possessed by an evil spirit could speak like this. Could an evil spirit open blind men's eyes?'

Jesus Rejected by the Jews (Jerusalem)

²²IT WAS WINTER, and the festival of the Dedication was being held in Jerusalem. ²³Jesus was walking in the temple precincts, in Solomon's Portico. ²⁴The Jews gathered round him and asked: 'How long must you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah say so plainly.' ²⁵'I have told you,' said Jesus, 'but you do not believe. My deeds done in my Father's name are my credentials, ²⁶but because you are not sheep of my flock you do not believe. ²⁷My own sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one shall snatch them from my care. ²⁹My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them [Some witnesses read: My Father is greater than all, and that which he has given me no one can snatch ... ; others read: That which my Father has given me is greater than all, and no one can snatch it ...] out of the Father's care. ³⁰My Father and I are one.'

³¹Once again the Jews picked up stones to stone him. ³²At this Jesus said to them, 'I have set before you many good deeds, done by my Father's power, for which of these would you stone me?' ³³The Jews replied, 'We are not going to stone you for any good deed, but for your blasphemy. You, a mere man, claim to be a god.' [Or: claim to be God.] ^{34 [ Ps.82.6. ]} Jesus answered, 'Is it not written in your own Law, "I said: You are gods"? ³⁵Those are called gods to whom the word of God was delivered—and Scripture cannot be set aside. ³⁶Then why do you charge me with blasphemy because I, consecrated and sent into the world by the Father, said, "I am God's son"?

³⁷'If I am not acting as my Father would, do not believe me. ³⁸But if I am, accept the evidence of my deeds, even if you do not believe me, so that you may recognize and know that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.'

³⁹This provoked them to one more attempt to seize him. But he escaped from their clutches.

Victory over death

⁴⁰JESUS WITHDREW AGAIN across the Jordan, to the place where John had been baptizing earlier. ⁴¹There he stayed, while crowds came to him. They said, 'John gave us no miraculous sign, but all that he said about this man was true.' ⁴²Many came to believe in him there.

↑   11.The Death of Lazarus (Bethany)

¹There was a man named Lazarus who had fallen ill. His home was at Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²(This Mary, whose brother Lazarus had fallen ill, was the woman who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.) ³The sisters sent a message to him: 'Sir, you should know that your friend lies ill.' ⁴When Jesus heard this he said, 'This sickness will not end in death; it has come for the glory of God, to bring glory to the Son of God.' ⁵And therefore, though he loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶after hearing of his illness Jesus waited for two days in the place where he was.

⁷After this, he said to his disciples, 'Let us go back to Judaea.' ⁸'Rabbi,' his disciples said, 'it is not long since the Jews there were wanting to stone you. Are you going there again?' ⁹Jesus replied, 'Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone can walk in daytime without stumbling, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰But if he walks after nightfall he stumbles, because the light fails him.'

¹¹After saying this he added, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I shall go and wake him.' ¹²The disciples said, 'Master, if he has fallen asleep he will recover.' ¹³Jesus, however, had been speaking of his death, but they thought that he meant natural sleep, ¹⁴Then Jesus spoke out plainly: 'Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵I am glad not to have been there; it will be for your good and for the good of your faith. But let us go to him.' ¹⁶Thomas, called 'the Twin', said to his fellow-disciples, 'Let us also go, that we may die with him.'

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life (Bethany)

¹⁷ON HIS ARRIVAL Jesus found that Lazarus had already been four days in the tomb. ¹⁸Bethany was just under two miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁹and many of the people had come from the city to Martha and Mary to condole with them on their brother's death. ²⁰As soon as she heard that Jesus was on his way, Martha went to meet him, while Mary stayed at home.

²¹Martha said to Jesus, 'If you had been here, sir, my brother would not have died. ²²Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will grant you.' ²³Jesus said, 'Your brother will rise again.' ²⁴'I know that he will rise again', said Martha, 'at the resurrection on the last day.' ²⁵Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and I am life. [Some witnesses omit: I am life.] If a man has faith in me, even though he die, he shall come to life; ²⁶and no one who is alive and has faith shall ever die. Do you believe this?' ²⁷'Lord, I do,' she answered; 'I now believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who was to come into the world.'

Jesus Weeps

²⁸With these words she went to call her sister Mary, and taking her aside, she said, 'The Master is here; he is asking for you.' ²⁹When Mary heard this she rose up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Jesus had not yet reached the village, but was still at the place where Martha left him. ³¹The Jews who were in the house condoling with Mary, when they saw her start up and leave the house, went after her, for they supposed that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

³²So Mary came to the place where Jesus was. As soon as she caught sight of him she fell at his feet and said, 'O sir, if you had only been here my brother would not have died. ³³When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews her companions weeping, he sighed heavily and was deeply moved. ³⁴'Where have you laid him?' he asked. They replied, 'Come and see, sir.' ³⁵Jesus wept. ³⁶The Jews said, 'How dearly he must have loved him!' ³⁷But some of them said, 'Could not this man, who opened the blind man's eyes, have done something to keep Lazarus from dying?'

Lazarus Brought to Life

³⁸Jesus again sighed deeply; then he went over to the tomb. It was a cave, with a stone placed against it. ³⁹Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, 'Sir, by now there will be a stench; he has been there four days.' ⁴⁰Jesus said, 'Did I not tell you that if you have faith you will see the glory of God?' ⁴¹So they removed the stone.

Then Jesus looked upwards and said, 'Father, I thank thee: thou hast heard me.
⁴²I knew already that thou always hearest me, but I spoke for the sake of the people standing round, that they might believe that thou didst send me.'

⁴³Then he raised his voice in a great cry: 'Lazarus, come forth.' ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet swathed in linen bands, his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said, 'Loose him; let him go.'

The Plot to Kill Jesus (Jerusalem)[ Jn.11.45-53 → ] - Mt.26.1-5, Mk.14.1-2, Lk.22.1-2

⁴⁵NOW MANY of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. ⁴⁶But some of them went off to the Pharisees and reported what he had done.

⁴⁷Thereupon the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a meeting of the Council. 'What action are we taking?' they said. 'This man is performing many signs. ⁴⁸If we leave him alone like this the whole populace will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and sweep away our temple and our nation.' ⁴⁹But one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, 'You know nothing whatever; ⁵⁰you do not use your judgement; it is more to your interest that one man should die for the people, than that the whole nation should be destroyed.' ⁵¹He did not say this of his own accord, but as the High Priest in office that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation— ⁵²would die not for the nation alone but to gather together the scattered children of God. ⁵³So from that day on they plotted his death.

⁵⁴Accordingly Jesus no longer went about publicly in Judaea, but left that region for the country bordering on the desert, and came to a town called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

⁵⁵THE JEWISH PASSOVER was now at hand, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the festival. ⁵⁶They looked out for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple they asked one another, 'What do you think? Perhaps he is not coming to the festival.' ⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where he was should give information, so that they might arrest him.

↑   12.The Anointing at Bethany (Bethany)[ Jn.12.1-8 → ] - Mt.26.6-13, Mk.14.3-9

¹SIX DAYS BEFORE the Passover festival Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived whom he had raised from the dead. ²There a supper was given in his honour, at which Martha served, and Lazarus sat among the guests with Jesus. ³Then Mary brought a pound of very costly perfume, pure oil of nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair, till the house was filled with the fragrance. ⁴At this, Judas Iscariot, a disciple of his—the one who was to betray him—said, ⁵'Why was this perfume not sold for thirty pounds [Literally 300 denarii.] and given to the poor?' ⁶He said this, not out of any care for the poor, but because he was a thief; he used to pilfer the money put into the common purse, which was in his charge. ⁷'Leave her alone', said Jesus. 'Let her keep it till the day when a she prepares for my burial, ⁸for you have the poor among you always, but you will not always have me.' [Some witnesses omit: for you have ... have me.]

The Plot against Lazarus

⁹A great number of the Jews heard that he was there, and came not only to see Jesus but also Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰The chief priests then resolved to do away with Lazarus as well, ¹¹since on his account many Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Passover, c.30ce (Jerusalem)[ Jn.12.12-19 → ] - Mt.21.1-11, Mk.11.1-11, Lk.19.28-38

¹²THE NEXT DAY the great body of pilgrims who had come to the festival, hearing that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, ^{13 [ Ps.118.25-26, Zch.9.9. ]} took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the king of Israel!' ¹⁴Jesus found a donkey and mounted it, in accordance with the text of Scripture: ¹⁵'Fear no more, daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, mounted on an ass's colt.'

¹⁶At the time his disciples did not understand this, but after Jesus had been glorified they remembered that this had been written about him, and that this had happened to him. ¹⁷The people who were present when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead told what they had seen and heard. ¹⁸That is why the crowd went to meet him; they had is heard of this sign that he had performed. ¹⁹The Pharisees said to one another, 'You see you are doing no good at all; why, all the world has gone after him.'

Some Greeks Seek Jesus (Olivet)

²⁰AMONG THOSE who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, 'Sir, we should like to see Jesus.' ²²So Philip went and told Andrew, and the two of them went to tell Jesus. ²³Then Jesus replied: 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴In truth, in very truth I tell you, a grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls into the ground and dies; but if it dies, it bears a rich harvest. ²⁵The man who loves himself is lost, but he who hates himself in this world will be kept safe for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves me, he must follow me; where I am, my servant will be. Whoever serves me will be honoured by my Father.

The Son of Man Must be Lifted Up

²⁷'Now my soul is in turmoil, and what am I to say? Father, save me from this hour. [Or: turmoil. Shall I say, 'Father, save me from this hour'?] No, it was for this that I came to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify thy name.' A voice sounded from heaven: 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' ²⁹The crowd standing by said it was thunder, while others said, 'An angel has spoken to him.' ³⁰Jesus replied, 'This voice spoke for your sake, not mine. ³¹Now is the hour of judgement for this world; now shall the Prince of this world be driven out. ³²And I shall draw all men to myself, when I am lifted up from the earth.' ³³This he said to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

³⁴The people answered, 'Our Law teaches us that the Messiah continues for ever. What do you mean by saying that the Son of Man must be lifted up? What Son of Man is this?' ³⁵Jesus answered them; The light is among you still, but not for long. Go on your way while you have the light, so that darkness may not overtake you. He who journeys in the dark does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, trust to the light, so that you may become men of light.' After these words Jesus went away from them into hiding.

The Unbelief of the Jews

³⁷IN SPITE OF the many signs which Jesus had performed in their presence they would not believe in him, ^{38 [ Is.53.1. ]} for the prophet Isaiah's utterance had to be fulfilled: 'Lord, who has believed what we reported, and to whom has the Lord's power been revealed?' ³⁹So it was that they could not believe, for there is another saying of Isaiah's: ^{40 [ Is.6.9-10. ]} 'He has blinded their eyes and dulled their minds, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their minds, and turn to me to heal them.' ⁴¹Isaiah said this because [Some witnesses read: when.] he saw his glory and spoke about him.

⁴²For all that, even among those in authority a number believed in him, but would not acknowledge him on account of the Pharisees, for fear of being banned from the synagogue. ⁴³For they valued their reputation with men rather than the honour which comes from God.

Judgment by Jesus' Word (Olivet)

⁴⁴SO JESUS CRIED ALOUD: 'When a man believes in me, he believes in him who sent me rather than in me; ⁴⁵seeing me, he sees him who sent me. ⁴⁶I have come into the world as light, so that no one who has faith in me should remain in darkness. ⁴⁷But if anyone hears my words and pays no regard to them, I am not his judge; I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸There is a judge for the man who rejects me and does not accept my words; the word that I spoke will be his judge on the last day. ⁴⁹I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself commanded me what to say and how to speak. ⁵⁰I know that his commands are eternal life. What the Father has said to me, therefore—that is what I speak.'

↑   13.Washing the Disciples' Feet (Jerusalem)

¹IT WAS BEFORE the Passover festival. Jesus knew that his hour had come and he must leave this world and go to the Father. He had always loved his own who were in the world, and now he was to show the full extent of his love.

²The devil had already put it into the mind of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. During supper, ³Jesus, well aware that the Father had entrusted everything to him, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, ⁴rose from table, laid aside his garments, and taking a towel, tied it round him. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash his disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel.

⁶When it was Simon Peter's turn, Peter said to him, 'You, Lord, washing my feet?' ⁷Jesus replied, 'You do not understand now what I am doing, but one day you will.' ⁸Peter said, 'I will never let you wash my feet.' 'If I do not wash you,' Jesus replied, 'you are not in fellowship with me.' ⁹'Then, Lord,' said Simon Peter, 'not my feet only; wash my hands and head as well!'

¹⁰Jesus said, 'A man who has bathed needs no further washing; [Some witnesses read: needs only to wash his feet.] he is altogether clean; and you are clean, though not every one of you.' ¹¹He added the words 'not every one of you' because he knew who was going to betray him.

¹²After washing their feet and taking his garments again, he sat down. 'Do you understand', he asked, 'what I have done for you? ¹³You call me "Master" and "Lord", and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Then if I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example: you are to do as I have done for you. ¹⁶In very truth I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger than the one who sent him. ¹⁷If you know this, happy are you if you act upon it.

^{18 [ Ps.41.9. ]} 'I am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But there is a text of Scripture to be fulfilled: "He who eats bread with me has turned against me." [Literally: has lifted his heel against me.] ¹⁹I tell you this now, before the event, that when it happens you may believe that I am what I am. ²⁰In very truth I tell you, he who receives any messenger of mine receives me; receiving me, he receives the One who sent me.'

Jesus Foretells His Betrayal (Jerusalem)[ Jn.13.21-30 → ] - Mt.26.20-25, Mk.14.17021, Lk.22.21-23

²¹After saying this, Jesus exclaimed in deep agitation of spirit, 'In truth, in very truth I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.' ²²The disciples looked at one another in bewilderment: whom could he be speaking of? ²³One of them, the disciple he loved, was reclining close beside Jesus. ²⁴So Simon Peter nodded to him and said, 'Ask who it is he means.' ²⁵That disciple, as he reclined, leaned back close to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, who is it?' ²⁶Jesus replied, 'It is the man to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.' Then, after dipping it in the dish, he took it out and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷As soon as Judas had received it Satan entered him. Jesus said to him, 'Do quickly what you have to do.' ²⁸No one at the table understood what he meant by this. ²⁹Some supposed that, as Judas was in charge of the common purse, Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to make some gift to the poor. ³⁰Judas, then, received the bread and went out. It was night.

The New Commandment

³¹WHEN HE HAD GONE OUT Jesus said, 'Now the Son of Man is glorified, and in him God is glorified. ³²If God is glorified in him, [Some witnesses omit: If God ... in him.] God will also glorify him in himself; and he will glorify him now. ³³My children, for a little longer I am with you; then you will look for me, and, as I told the Jews, I tell you now, where I am going you cannot come. ³⁴I give you a new commandment: love one another; as I have loved you, so you are to love one another. ³⁵If there is this love among you, then all will know that you are my disciples.'

Peter's Denial Foretold (Jerusalem)[ Jn.13.36-38 → ] - Mt.26.31-35, Mk.14.27-31, Lk.22.31-34

³⁶Simon Peter said to him, 'Lord, where are you going?' Jesus replied, 'Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but one day you will.' ³⁷Peter said, 'Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.' ³⁸Jesus answered, 'Will you indeed lay down your life for me? I tell you in very truth, before the cock crows you will have denied me three times.

↑   14.Jesus the Way to the Father

¹'Set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always; trust also in me. ²There are many dwelling-places in my Father's house; if it were not so I should have told you; for I am going there on purpose to prepare a place for you. [Or: if it were not so, should I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?] ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I shall come again and receive you to myself, so that where I am you may be also; ⁴and my way there is known to you.' [Some witnesses read: also. You know where I am going and you know the way.] ⁵Thomas said, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' ⁶Jesus replied, 'I am the way; I am the truth and I am life; no one comes to the Father except by me.

⁷'If you knew me you would know my Father too. [Some witnesses read: If you know me you will know my Father too.] From now on you do know him; you have seen him.' ⁸Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father and we ask no more.' ⁹Jesus answered, 'Have I been all this time with you, Philip, and you still do not know me? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. Then how can you say, "Show us the Father?" ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? I am not myself the source of the words I speak to you: it is the Father who dwells in me doing his own work. ¹¹Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else accept the evidence of the deeds themselves. ¹²In truth, in very truth I tell you, he who has faith in me will do what I am doing; and he will do greater things still because I am going to the Father. ¹³Indeed anything you ask in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If you ask [Some witnesses insert: me.] anything in my name I will do it.

The Promise of the Spirit

¹⁵'If you love me you will obey my commands; ¹⁶and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another to be your Advocate, who will be with you for ever— ¹⁷the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive him, because the world neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he dwells with you and is [Some witnesses read: shall be.] in you. ¹⁸I will not leave you bereft; I am coming back to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will see me no longer, but you will see me; because I live, you too will live; ²⁰then you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me and I in you. ²¹The man who has received my commands and obeys them—he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father; and I will love him and disclose myself to him.'

²²Judas asked him—the other Judas, not Iscariot—'Lord, what can have happened, that you mean to disclose yourself to us alone and not to the world?' ²³Jesus replied, 'Anyone who loves me will heed what I say; then my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him; ²⁴but he who does not love me does not heed what I say. And the word you hear is not mine: it is the word of the Father who sent me. ²⁵I have told you all this while I am still here with you; ²⁶but your Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will call to mind all that I have told you.

²⁷'Peace is my parting gift to you, my own peace, such as the world cannot give. Set your troubled hearts at rest, and banish your fears. ²⁸You heard me say, "I am going away, and coming back to you." If you loved me you would have been glad to hear that I was going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹I have told you now, beforehand, so that when it happens you may have faith.

³⁰'I shall not talk much longer with you, for the Prince of this world approaches. He has no rights over me; ³¹but the world must be shown that I love the Father, and do exactly as he commands; so up, let us go forward! [Or: for the Prince of this world is coming, though he has nothing in common with me. But he is coming so that the world may recognize that I love the Father, and do exactly as he commands. Up, let us go forward to meet him!]

↑   15.Jesus the True Vine (Jerusalem)

¹'I AM THE REAL VINE, and my Father is the gardener. ²Every barren branch of mine he cuts away; and every fruiting branch he cleans, to make it more fruitful still. ³You have already been cleansed by the word that I spoke to you. ⁴Dwell in me, as I in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, but only if it remains united with the vine; no more can you bear fruit, unless you remain united with me.

⁵'I am the vine, and you the branches. He who dwells in me, as I dwell in him, bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶He who does not dwell in me is thrown away like a withered branch. The withered branches are heaped together, thrown on the fire, and burnt.

⁷'If you dwell in me, and my words dwell in you, ask what you will, and you shall have it. ⁸This is my Father's glory, that you may bear fruit in plenty and so be my disciples. [Some witnesses read: that you may bear fruit in plenty. Thus you will be my disciples.] ⁹As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Dwell in my love. ¹⁰If you heed my commands, you will dwell in my love, as I have heeded my Father's commands and dwell in his love.

¹¹'I have spoken thus to you, so that my joy may be in you, and your joy complete. [Or: so that I may have joy in you and your joy may be complete.] ¹²This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. ¹³There is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends, if you do what I command you. ¹⁵I call you servants no longer; a servant does not know what his master is about. I have called you friends, because I have disclosed to you everything that I heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me: I chose you. I appointed you to go on and bear fruit, fruit that shall last; so that the Father may give you all that you ask in my name. ¹⁷This is my commandment to you: love one another.

The World's Hatred

¹⁸'If the world hates you, it hated me first, as you know well. [Or: bear in mind that it hated me first.] ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because I have chosen you out of the world, for that reason the world hates you. ²⁰Remember what I said: "A servant is not greater than his master." As they persecuted me, they will persecute you; they will follow your teaching as little as they have followed mine. ²¹It is on my account that they will treat you thus, because they do not know the One who sent me.

²²'If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for a their sin: ²³he who hates me, hates my Father. ²⁴If I had not worked among them and accomplished what no other man has done, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. [Or: but now they have indeed seen my work and yet have hated both me and my Father.] ^{25 [ Ps.35.19, Ps.69.4. ]} However, this text in their Law had to come true: [Or: let this text in their Law come true.] "They hated me without reason."

²⁶'But when your Advocate has come, whom I will send you from the Father—the Spirit of truth that issues from the Father—he will bear witness to me. ²⁷And you also are my witnesses, because you have been with me from the first.

↑   16.

¹'I have told you all this to guard you against the breakdown of your faith. ²They will ban you from the synagogue; indeed, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will suppose that he is performing a religious duty. ³They will do these things because they do not know either the Father or me.

The Work of the Spirit

⁴I have told you all this so that when the time comes for it to happen you may remember my warning. I did not tell you this at first, because then I was with you; ⁵but now I am going away to him who sent me. None of you asks me "Where are you going?" ⁶Yet you are plunged into grief because of what I have told you. ⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am leaving you. If I do not go, your Advocate will not come, whereas if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸When he comes, he will confute the world, and show where wrong and right and judgement lie. ⁹He will convict them of wrong, by their refusal to believe in me; ¹⁰he will convince them that right is on my side, by showing that I go to the Father when I pass from your sight; ¹¹and he will convince them of divine judgement, by showing that the Prince of this world stands condemned.

¹²'There is still much that I could say to you, but the burden would be too great for you now. ¹³However, when he comes who is the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but will tell only what he hears; and he will make known to you the things that are coming. ¹⁴He will glorify me, for everything that he makes known to you he will draw from what is mine. ¹⁵All that the Father has is mine, and that is why I said, "Everything that he makes known to you he will draw from what is mine."

Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

¹⁶'A LITTLE WHILE, and you see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me.' ¹⁷Some of his disciples said to one another, 'What does he mean by this: "A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me", and by this: ?Because I am going to my Father?? ¹⁸So they asked, 'What is this "little while" that he speaks of? We do not know what he means.'

¹⁹Jesus knew that they were wanting to question him, and said, 'Are you discussing what I said: "A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me"? ²⁰In very truth I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will be glad. But though you will be plunged in grief, your grief will be turned to joy. ²¹A woman in labour is in pain because her time has come; but when the child is born she forgets the anguish in her joy that a man has been born into the world. ²²So it is with you: for the moment you are sad at heart; but I shall see you again, and then you will be joyful, and no one shall rob you of your joy. ²³When that day comes you will ask nothing of me. In very truth I tell you, if you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it you. [Some witnesses read: if you ask the Father for anything, he will give it you in my name.] ²⁴So far you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be complete.

I Have Overcome the World (Jerusalem)

²⁵'Till now I have been using figures of speech; a time is coming when I shall no longer use figures, but tell you of the Father in plain words. ²⁶When that day comes you will make your request in my name, and I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you, ²⁷for the Father loves you himself, because you have loved me and believed that I came from God. ²⁸I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.' ²⁹His disciples said, 'Why, this is plain speaking; this is no figure of speech. ³⁰We are certain now that you know everything, and do not need to be questioned; because of this we believe that you have come from God.'

³¹Jesus answered, 'Do you now believe? ³²Look, [Or: At the moment you believe, but look ...] the hour is coming, has indeed already come, when you are all to be scattered, each to his home, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. ³³I have told you all this so that in me you may find peace. In the world you will have trouble. But courage! The victory is mine; I have conquered the world.'

↑   17.The Prayer of Jesus (Jerusalem)

¹AFTER THESE WORDS Jesus looked up to heaven and said:

'Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee. ²For thou hast made him sovereign over all mankind, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. ³This is eternal life: to know thee who alone art truly God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

⁴'I have glorified thee on earth by completing the work which thou gavest me to do; and now, ⁵Father, glorify me in thine own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world began.

⁶'I have made thy name known to the men whom thou didst give me out of the world. They were thine, thou gavest them to me, and they have obeyed thy command. ⁷Now they know that all thy gifts have come to me from thee; ⁸for I have taught them all that I learned from thee, and they have received it: they know with certainty that I came from thee; they have had faith to believe that thou didst send me.

⁹'I pray for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, because they belong to thee. ¹⁰All that is mine is thine, and what is thine is mine; and through them has my glory shone.

¹¹'I am to stay no longer in the world, but they are still in the world, and I am on my way to thee. Holy Father, protect by the power of thy name those whom thou hast given me, [Or: keep in loyalty to thee those whom thou hast given me; some witnesses read: protect them by the power of thy name which thou hast given me.] that they may be one, as we are one. ¹²When I was with them, I protected by the power of thy name those whom thou hast given me, [Or: kept in loyalty to thee those whom thou hast given me; some witnesses read: protected them by the power of thy name which thou hast given me.] and kept them safe. Not one of them is lost except the man who must be lost, for Scripture has to be fulfilled.

¹³'And now I am coming to thee; but while I am still in the world I speak these words, so that they may have my joy within them in full measure. ¹⁴I have delivered thy word to them, and the world hates them because they are strangers in the world, as I am. ¹⁵I pray thee, not to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are strangers in the world, as I am. ¹⁷Consecrate them by the truth; [Or: in truth.] thy word is truth. ¹⁸As thou hast sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world, ¹⁹and for their sake I now consecrate myself, that they too may be consecrated by the truth.

²⁰'But it is not for these alone that I pray, but for those also who through their words put their faith in me; ²¹may they all be one: as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, so also may they be in us, that the world may believe that thou didst send me. ²²The glory which thou gavest me I have given to them, that they may be one, as we are one; ²³I in them and thou in me, may they be perfectly one. Then the world will learn that thou didst send me, that thou didst love them as thou didst me.

²⁴'Father, I desire that these men, who are thy gift to me, may be with me where I am, so that they may look upon my glory, which thou hast given me because thou didst love me before the world began. ²⁵O righteous Father, although the world does not know thee, I know thee, and these men know that thou didst send me. ²⁶I made thy name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love thou hadst for me may be in them, and I may be in them.'

↑   18.The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus (Jerusalem)[ Jn.18.1-11 → ] - Mt.26.47-56, Mk.14.43-50, Lk.22.47-53

¹AFTER THESE WORDS, Jesus went out with his disciples, and crossed the Kedron ravine. There was a garden there, and he and his disciples went into it. ²The place was known to Judas, his betrayer, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. ³So Judas took a detachment of soldiers, and police provided by the chief priests and the Pharisees, equipped with lanterns, torches, and weapons, and made his way to the garden. ⁴Jesus, knowing all that was coming upon him, went out to them and asked, 'Who is it you want?' ⁵'Jesus of Nazareth', they answered. Jesus said, 'I am he.' And there stood Judas the traitor with them. ⁶When he said, 'I am he', they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷Again Jesus asked, 'Who is it you want?' 'Jesus of Nazareth', they answered. ⁸Then Jesus said, 'I have told you that I am he. If I am the man you want, let these others go.' ⁹(This was to make good his words, 'I have not lost one of those whom thou gavest me.') ¹⁰Thereupon Simon Peter drew the sword he was wearing and struck at the High Priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) ¹¹Jesus said to Peter, 'Sheathe your sword. This is the cup my Father has given me; shall I not drink it?'

Jesus before the Council (Jerusalem)[ Jn.18.12-14 → ] - Mt.26.57-68, Mk.14.53-65, Lk.22.54-55, Jn.18.19-24

¹²THE TROOPS with their commander, and the Jewish police, now arrested Jesus and secured him. ¹³They took him first to Annas. Annas was father-in-law of Caiaphas, the High Priest for that year— ¹⁴the same Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be to their interest if one man died for the whole people.

Peter's Denial of Jesus (Jerusalem)[ Jn.18.15-18 → ] - Mt.26.69-75, Mk.14.66-72, Lk.22.56-62, Jn.18.25-27

¹⁵Jesus was followed by Simon Peter and another disciple. This disciple, who was acquainted with the High Priest, went with Jesus into the High Priest's courtyard, ¹⁶but Peter halted at the door outside. So the other disciple, the High Priest's acquaintance, went out again and spoke to the woman at the door, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷The maid on duty at the door said to Peter, 'Are you another of this man's disciples?' 'I am not', he said. ¹⁸The servants and the police had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and were standing round it warming themselves. And Peter too was standing with them, sharing the warmth.

The High Priest Questions Jesus (Jerusalem)[ Jn.18.19-24 → ] - Mt.26.59-66, Mk.14.55-64, Lk.22.66-71

¹⁹The High Priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about what he taught. ²⁰Jesus replied, 'I have spoken openly to all the world; I have always taught in synagogue and in the temple, where all Jews congregate; I have said nothing in secret. ²¹Why question me? Ask my hearers what I told them; they know what I said.' ²²When he said this, one of the police struck him on the face, exclaiming, 'Is that the way to answer the High Priest?' ²³Jesus replied, 'If I spoke amiss, state it in evidence; if I spoke well, why strike me?'

²⁴So Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the High Priest.

Peter Denies Jesus Again [ Jn.18.25-27 → ] - Mt.26.71-75, Mk.14.69-72, Lk.22.58-62

²⁵Meanwhile Simon Peter stood warming himself. The others asked, 'Are you another of his disciples?' But he denied it: 'I am not', he said. ²⁶One of the High Priest's servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, insisted, 'Did I not see you with him in the garden?' ²⁷Peter denied again; and just then a cock crew.

Jesus before Pilate (Jerusalem)[ Jn.18.28-38 → ] - Mt.27.1-2, 11-14, Mk.15.1-5, Lk.23.1-5

²⁸FROM CAIAPHAS Jesus was led into the Governor's headquarters. It was now early morning, and the Jews themselves stayed outside the headquarters to avoid defilement, so that they could eat the Passover meal. [Or: could share in the offerings of the Passover season.] ²⁹So Pilate went out to them and asked, 'What charge do you bring against this man?' ³⁰'If he were not a criminal,' they replied, 'we should not have brought him before you.' ³¹Pilate said, 'Take him away and try him by your own law.' The Jews answered, 'We are not allowed to put any man to death.' ³²Thus they ensured the fulfilment of the words by which Jesus had indicated the manner of his death.

³³Pilate then went back into his headquarters and summoned Jesus. 'Are you the king of the Jews?' he asked. [Or: You are king of the Jews, I take it', he said.] ³⁴Jesus said, 'Is that your own idea, or have others suggested it to you?' ³⁵'What! am I a Jew?' said Pilate. 'Your own nation and their chief priests have brought you before me. What have you done?' ³⁶Jesus replied, 'My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it did, my followers would be fighting to save me from arrest by the Jews. My kingly authority comes from elsewhere.' ³⁷'You are a king, then?' said Pilate. Jesus answered, '"King" is your word. My task is to bear witness to the truth. For this was I born; for this I came into the world, and all who are not deaf to truth listen to my voice.' ³⁸Pilate said, 'What is truth?', and with those words went out again to the Jews. 'For my part,' he said, 'I find no case against him.

³⁹But you have a custom that I release one prisoner for you at Passover. Would you like me to release the king of the Jews?' ⁴⁰Again the clamour rose: 'Not him; we want Barabbas!' (Barabbas was a bandit.)

↑   19. Jesus Sentenced to Die Passover, c.30ce[ Jn.19.1-16 → ] - Mt.27.15-26, Mk.15.6-15, Lk.23.13-25

¹Pilate now took Jesus and had him flogged; ²and the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and placed it on his head, and robed him in a purple cloak. ³Then time after time they came up to him, crying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!', and struck him on the face.

⁴Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, 'Here he is; I am bringing him out to let you know that I find no case against him'; ⁵and Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. 'Behold the Man!' said Pilate. ⁶The chief priests and their henchmen saw him and shouted, 'Crucify! crucify!' 'Take him and crucify him yourselves,' said Pilate; 'for my pan I find no case against him.' ⁷The Jews answered, 'We have a law; and by that law he ought to die, because he has claimed to be Son of God.'

⁸When Pilate heard that, he was more afraid than ever, ⁹and going back into his headquarters he asked Jesus, 'Where have you come from?' But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰'Do you refuse to speak to me?' said Pilate. 'Surely you know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority to crucify you?' ¹¹'You would have no authority at all over me', Jesus replied, 'if it had not been granted you from above; and therefore the deeper guilt lies with the man who handed me over to you.'

¹²From that moment Pilate tried hard to release him; but the Jews kept shouting, 'If you let this man go, you are no friend to Caesar; any man who claims to be a king is defying Caesar.' ¹³When Pilate heard what they were saying, he brought Jesus out and took his seat on the tribunal at the place known as 'The Pavement' ('Gabbatha' in the language of the Jews). ¹⁴It was the eve of Passover, [Or: It was Friday in Passover.] about noon. Pilate said to the Jews, 'Here is your king.' ¹⁵They shouted, 'Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!' 'Crucify your king?' said Pilate. 'We have no king but Caesar', the Jews replied. ¹⁶Then at last, to satisfy them, he handed Jesus over to be crucified.

The Crucifixion of Jesus [ Jn.19.17-27 → ] - Mt.27.32-44, Mk.15.21-32, Lk.23.26-43

¹⁷JESUS WAS NOW TAKEN in charge and, carrying his own cross, went out to the Place of the Skull, as it is called (or, in the Jews' language, 'Golgotha'), ¹⁸where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on the right, one on the left, and Jesus between them.

¹⁹And Pilate wrote an inscription to be fastened to the cross; it read, 'Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.' ²⁰This inscription was read by many Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city, and the inscription was in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. ²¹Then the Jewish chief priests said to Pilate, 'You should not write "King of the Jews"; write, "He claimed to be king of the Jews." ' ²²Pilate replied, 'What I have written, I have written.'

²³The soldiers, having crucified Jesus, took possession of his clothes, and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, leaving out the tunic. The tunic was seamless, woven in one piece throughout; ²⁴so they said to one another, 'We must not tear this; let us toss for it'; and thus the text of Scripture came true: 'They shared my garments among them, and cast lots for my clothing.'

²⁵That is what the soldiers did. But meanwhile near the cross where Jesus hung stood his mother, with her sister, Mary wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. ²⁶Jesus saw his mother, with the disciple whom he loved standing beside her. He said to her, 'Mother, there is your son'; ²⁷and to the disciple, 'There is your mother'; and from that moment the disciple took her into his home.

The Death of Jesus (Golgotha)[ Jn.19.28-30 → ] - Mt.27.45-56, Mk.15.33-41, Lk.23.44-49

²⁸After that, Jesus, aware that all had now come to its appointed end, said in fulfilment of Scripture, 'I thirst.' ²⁹A jar stood there full of sour wine; so they soaked a sponge with the wine, fixed it on a javelin, [So one witness; the others read: on marjoram.] and held it up to his lips. ³⁰Having received the wine, he said, 'It is accomplished!' He bowed his head and gave up his spirit. [Or: breathed out his life.]

The Piercing of Jesus' Side (Golgotha)

³¹Because it was the eve of Passover, [Or: Because it was Friday in Passover ...] the Jews were anxious that the bodies should not remain on the cross for the coming Sabbath, since that Sabbath was a day of great solemnity; so they requested Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³²The soldiers accordingly came to the first of his fellow-victims and to the second, and broke their legs; ³³but when they came to Jesus, they found that he was already dead, so they did not break his legs. ³⁴But one of the soldiers stabbed his side with a lance, and at once there was a flow of blood and water. ³⁵This is vouched for by an eyewitness, whose evidence is to be trusted. He knows that he speaks the truth, so that you too may believe; ^{36 [ Ps.34.20, Ex.12.46, Nu.9.12. ]} for this happened in fulfilment of the text of Scripture: 'No bone of his shall be broken.' ^{37 [ Zch.12.10. ]} And another text says, 'They shall look on him whom they pierced.'

The Burial of Jesus (the garden)[ Jn.19.38-42 → ] - Mt.27.57-61, Mk.15.42-47, Lk.23.50-56

³⁸AFTER THAT, PILATE was approached by Joseph of Arimathaea, a disciple of Jesus, but a secret disciple for fear of the Jews, who [Or: of Aramathaea. He was a disciple of Jesus, but had gone into hiding for fear of the Jews. He now ...] asked to be allowed to remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave the permission; so Joseph came and took the body away. ³⁹He was joined by Nicodemus (the man who had first visited Jesus by night), who brought with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes, more than half a hundredweight. ⁴⁰They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen cloth according to Jewish burial-customs. ⁴¹Now at the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, not yet used for burial. ⁴²There, because the tomb was near at hand and it was the eve of the Jewish Sabbath, they laid Jesus.

↑   20.The Resurrection of Jesus Passover, c.30ce (the garden)[ Jn.20.1-10 → ] - Mk.28.1-10, Mk.16.1-8, Lk.24.1-12

¹EARLY ON THE SUNDAY MORNING, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance, ²and ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of his tomb,' she cried, 'and we do not know where they have laid him.' ³So Peter and the other set out and made their way to the tomb. ⁴They were running side by side, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He peered in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but did not enter. ⁶Then Simon Peter came up, following him, and he went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying, ⁷and the napkin which had been over his head, not lying with the wrappings but rolled together in a place by itself. ⁸Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first went in too, and he saw and believed; ⁹until then they had not understood the scriptures, which showed that he must rise from the dead.

¹⁰So the disciples went home again.

The Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene [ Jn.22.11-18 → ] - Mk.16.9-11

¹¹But Mary stood at the tomb outside, weeping. As she wept, she peered into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ¹³They said to her, 'Why are you weeping?' She answered, 'They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him.' ¹⁴With these words she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but did not recognize him. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, 'Why are you weeping? Who is it you are looking for?' Thinking it was the gardener, she said, 'If it is you, sir, who removed him, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.' ¹⁶Jesus said, 'Mary!' She turned to him and said, 'Rabbuni!' (which is Hebrew for 'My Master'). ¹⁷Jesus said, 'Do not cling to me, [Or: Touch me no more.] for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them that I am now ascending [Or: I am going to ascend ...] to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.' ¹⁸Mary of Magdala went to the disciples with her news: 'I have seen the Lord!' she said, and gave them his message.

The Appearance of Jesus to the Disciples (Jerusalem)[ Jn.20.19-23 → ] - Mt.28.16-20, Mk.16.14-18, Lk.24.36-49, Ac.1.6-8

¹⁹Late that Sunday evening, when the disciples were together behind locked doors, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. 'Peace be with you!' he said, ²⁰and then showed them his hands and his side. So when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. ²¹Jesus repeated, 'Peace be with you!', and then said, 'As the Father sent me, so I send you.' ²²He then breathed on them, saying, 'Receive the Holy Spirit! ²³If you forgive any man's sins, they stand forgiven; if you pronounce them unforgiven, unforgiven they remain.'

Jesus and Thomas

²⁴One of the Twelve, Thomas, that is 'the Twin', was not with the rest when Jesus came. ²⁵So the disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord.' He said, 'Unless I see the mark of the nails on his hands, unless I put my finger into the place where the nails were, and my hand into his side, I will not believe it.'

²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the room, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them, saying, 'Peace be with you!' ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger here: see my hands; reach your hand here and put it into my side; be unbelieving no longer, but believe.' ²⁸Thomas said, 'My Lord and my God!' ²⁹Jesus said, 'Because you have seen me you have found faith. Happy are they who never saw me and yet have found faith.'

The Purpose of the Book

³⁰There were indeed many other signs that Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹Those here written have been recorded in order that you may hold the faith [Some witnesses read: that you may come to believe ...] that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this faith you may possess eternal life by his name.

↑   21.The Appearance of Jesus to the Seven Disciples (Tiberius)

¹SOME TIME LATER, Jesus showed himself to his disciples once again, by the Sea of Tiberias; and in this way. ²Simon Peter and Thomas 'the Twin' were together with Nathanael of Cana-in-Galilee. The sons of Zebedee and two other disciples were also there. ³Simon Peter said, 'I am going out fishing.' 'We will go with you', said the others. So they started and got into the boat. But that night they caught nothing.

⁴Morning came, and there stood Jesus on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵He called out to them, 'Friends, have you caught anything?' They answered 'No.' ⁶He said, 'Shoot the net to starboard, and you will make a catch.' They did so, and found they could not haul the net aboard, there were so many fish in it. ⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!' When Simon Peter heard that, he wrapped his coat about him (for he had stripped) and plunged into the sea. ⁸The rest of them came on in the boat, towing the net full of fish; for they were not far from land, only about a hundred yards.

⁹When they came ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish laid on it, and some bread. ¹⁰Jesus said, 'Bring some of your catch.' ¹¹Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to land, full of big fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and yet, many as they were, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said, 'Come and have breakfast.' None of the disciples dared to ask 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus now came up, took the bread, and gave it to them, and the fish in the same way.

¹⁴This makes the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection from the dead.

Jesus and Peter

¹⁵After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than all else?' [Or: more than they do.] 'Yes, Lord,' he answered, 'you know that I love you.' [Or: that I am your friend.] 'Then feed my lambs', he said. ¹⁶A second time he asked, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.' [Or: that I am your friend.] 'Then tend my sheep.' ¹⁷A third time he said, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' [Or: are you my friend.] Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, 'Do you love me?' [Or: at the third asking he should have said, 'Are you my friend?'] 'Lord,' he said, 'you know everything; you know I love you.' [Or: that I am your friend.] Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep.

¹⁸'And further, I tell you this in very truth: when you were young you fastened your belt about you and walked where you chose; but when you are old you will stretch out your arms, and a stranger will bind you fast, and carry you where you have no wish to go.' ¹⁹He said this to indicate the manner of death by which Peter was to glorify God. Then he added, 'Follow me.'

Jesus and the Beloved Disciple

²⁰Peter looked round, and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following-the one who at supper had leaned back close to him to ask the question, 'Lord, who is it that will betray you?' ²¹When he caught sight of him, Peter asked, 'Lord, what will happen to him?' ²²Jesus said, 'If it should be my will that he wait until I come, what is it to you? Follow me.'

²³That saying of Jesus became current in the brotherhood, and was taken to mean that that disciple would not die. But in fact Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, 'If it should be my will that he wait until I come, what is it to you?'

²⁴It is this same disciple who attests what has here been written. It is in fact he who wrote it, and we know that his testimony is true. [Some witness here insert the 'Incident in the temple' (Jn.7.53-8.11. [Ch.8.])]

²⁵There is much else that Jesus did. If it were all to be recorded in detail, I suppose the whole world could not hold the books that would be written.

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