Chapters 5
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1 01 - Chapters 1-4 24:22
Chapters one through four of the Gospel according to John. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mark Penfold. The Gospel according to John, from the New Testament in Modern Speech, translated by Richard Francis Weymouth. Chapters One through Four. Chapter One.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing that exists came into being. In Him was life. And that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, in order that he might give testimony concerning the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light. But he existed that he might give testimony concerning the light.
The true light was that which illumines every man by its coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him, and the world did not recognize him. He came to the things that were his own, and his own people gave him no welcome. But all who have received him To them, that is, to those who trust in his name, he has given the privilege of becoming children of God, who were begotten as such not by human descent, nor through an impulse of their own nature, nor through the will of a human father, but from God. And the Word came in the flesh, and lived for a time in our midst. So that we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, sent from his presence.
He was full of grace and truth. John gave testimony concerning him, and cried aloud, saying, This is he of whom I said, He who is coming after me has been put before me, for he was before me. For he it is from whose fullness we have all received. and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No human eye has ever seen God. The only Son who is in the Father's bosom, he has made him known. This also is John's testimony, when the Jews sent to him a deputation of priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask him who he was. He avowed, He did not conceal the truth, but avowed, I am not the Christ. What then? they inquired. Are you Elijah? I am not, he said.
Are you the prophet? No, he answered. So they pressed the question. Who are you? they said. That we may take an answer to those who sent us, what account do you give of yourself? I am the voice. He replied, of one crying aloud, Make straight the Lord's way in the desert, fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah. They were Pharisees who had been sent. Again they questioned him. Why then do you baptize, they said, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? I baptize in water only, John answered. But in your midst stands one whom you do not know, he who is to come after me, and whose sandal strap I am not worthy to unfasten. This conversation took place at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and exclaimed, Look! That is the Lamb of God who is to take away the sin of the world! This is he about whom I said, After me is to come One who has been put before me, because He was before me. I did not yet know Him, but that He may be openly shown to Israel is the reason why I have come baptizing in water. John also gave testimony by stating, I have seen the Spirit coming down like a dove out of heaven, and it remained upon Him. I did not yet know Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and remaining, he it is who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. This I have seen, and I have become a witness that he is the Son of God.
Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples when he saw Jesus passing by, and said, Look! That is the Lamb of God! The two disciples heard this exclamation, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned round, and seeing them following, he asked them, "'What is your wish?' "'Rabbi,' they replied. "'Rabbi,' means teacher. "'Where are you staying?' "'Come, and you shall see,' he said. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained and spent that day with him. It was then about ten o'clock in the morning. Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard John's exclamation and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, We have found the Messiah!
That is to say, the Anointed One. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, son of John. You shall be called Cephas, that is to say, Peter, or Rock. The next day, having decided to leave Bethany and go into Galilee, Jesus found Philip and invited him to follow him. Now Philip came from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter. Then Philip found Nathanael, who said to him, We have found him about whom Moses in the law wrote, as well as the prophets. Jesus, the son of Joseph, a man of Nazareth. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? replied Nathanael. Come and see, said Philip. Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, and said of him, Look! Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no deceitfulness.
How do you know me? Nathanael asked. Before Philip called you, said Jesus, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Rabbi, cried Nathanael, you are the Son of God! You are Israel's King! Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree? replied Jesus. Do you believe? You shall see greater things than that. I tell you all in most solemn truth, he added, that you shall see heaven opened wide, and God's angels going up and coming down to the Son of Man.
Chapter Two Two days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. And the mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus also was invited, and his disciples. Now the wine ran short, whereupon the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. Leave the matter in my hands, he replied. The time for me to act has not yet come. His mother said to the attendants, Whatever he tells you to do, do it. Now there were six stone jars standing there, in accordance with the Jewish regulations for purification, each large enough to hold twenty gallons or more. Jesus said to the attendants, Fill the jars with water. And they filled them to the brim. Then he said, Now take some out and carry it to the president of the feast.
So they carried some to him. And no sooner had the president tasted the water now turned into wine than, not knowing where it came from, though the attendants who had drawn the water knew, he called to the bridegroom and said to him, It is usual to put on the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then that which is inferior. But you have kept the good wine till now. This, the first of his miracles, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. And thus displayed his glorious power, and his disciples believed in him. Afterwards he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother, and his brothers, and his disciples, and they made a short stay there. But the Jewish Passover was approaching, and for this Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
And he found in the temple the dealers in cattle and sheep and in pigeons and the money-changers sitting there. So he plated a whip of rushes, and drove all, both sheep and bullocks, out of the temple. The small coin of the brokers he upset on the ground, and overturned their tables. And to the pigeon-dealers he said, Take these things away! Do not turn my father's house into a market! This recalled to his disciples the words of Scripture, My zeal for thy house will consume me. So the Jews asked him, What proof of your authority do you exhibit to us, seeing that you do these things? Demolish this sanctuary, said Jesus, and in three days I will rebuild it. It has taken forty-six years, replied the Jews, to build this sanctuary, and will you rebuild it in three days?
But he was speaking of the sanctuary of his body. When, however, he had risen from among the dead, his disciples recollected that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the teaching which Jesus had given them. Now when he was in Jerusalem, at the festival of the Passover, many became believers in him through watching the miracles he performed, but for his part Jesus did not trust himself to them. Because he knew them all, and did not need any one's testimony concerning a man, for he of himself knew what was in the man.
Chapter Three. Now there was one of the Pharisees, whose name was Nicodemus, a ruler among the Jews. He came to Jesus by night, and said, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God. For no one can do these miracles which you are doing unless God is with him. In most solemn truth I tell you," answered Jesus, that unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. How is it possible? Nicodemus asked. For a man to be born when he is old, can he a second time enter his mother's womb and be born? In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus. That unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever has been born of the Spirit is Spirit.
Do not be astonished at my telling you, you must all be born anew. The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So is it with everyone who has been born of the Spirit. How is all this possible? asked Nicodemus. Are you, replied Jesus, the Teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? In most solemn truth I tell you that we speak what we know, and give testimony of that of which we were eyewitnesses, and yet you all reject our testimony. If I have told you earthly things, and none of you believe me, how will you believe me if I tell you of things in heaven? There is no one who has gone up to heaven, but there is one who has come down from heaven, namely the Son of Man whose home is in heaven.
And just as Moses lifted high the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, in order that everyone who trusts in him may have the life of the ages. For so greatly did God love the world that he gave his only Son, that everyone who trusts in him may not perish. But may have the life of ages. For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who trusts in him does not come up for judgment. He who does not trust has already received sentence, because he has not his trust resting on the name of God's only Son. And this is the test by which men are judged. The Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than they loved the Light, because their deeds were wicked.
For every wrong-doer hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, for fear his actions should be exposed and condemned. But he who does what is honest and right comes to the Light, in order that his actions may be plainly shown to have been done in God. After this, Jesus and his disciples went into Judea, For there he made a stay in company with them and baptized, and John, too, was baptizing at Anon, near Salem, because there were many pools of water there, and people came and received baptism, for John was not yet in prison. As the result, a discussion having arisen on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification, they came to John and reported to him, Rabbi! He who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, and to whom you bore testimony, is now baptizing, and great numbers of people are resorting to him.
A man cannot obtain anything, replied John, unless it has been granted to him from heaven. You yourselves can bear witness to my having said, I am not the Christ, but I am his appointed forerunner. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, who stands by his side and listens to him, rejoices heartily on account of the bridegroom's happiness. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must grow greater, but I must grow less. He who comes from above is above all. He whose origin is from the earth is not only himself from the earth. His teaching also is from the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What he has seen and heard, to that he bears witness. But his testimony no one receives.
Any man who has received his testimony has solemnly declared that God is true, for he whom God has sent speaks God's words, for God does not give the Spirit with limitations. The Father loves the Son, and has entrusted everything to his hands. He who believes in the Son has the life of the ages. He who disobeys the Son will not enter into life, but God's anger remains upon him.
Chapter Four. Now, as soon as the Master was aware that the Pharisees had heard it said, Jesus is gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, though Jesus himself did not baptize them, but his disciples did, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. His road lay through Samaria, and so he came to Sychar, a town in Samaria, near the piece of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. And accordingly Jesus, tired out with his journey, sat down by the well to rest. It was about six o'clock in the evening. Presently there came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus asked her to give him some water, for his disciples were gone to the town to buy provisions. "'How is it,' replied the woman, "'that a Jew like you asks me, who am a woman and a Samaritan for water?' For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
If you had known God's free gift, replied Jesus, and who it is that said to you, Give me some water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Sir, she said, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where can you get the living water from? Are you greater than our forefather Jacob, who gave us the well, and himself drank from it, as did also his sons and his cattle? Every one, replied Jesus, who drinks any of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks any of the water that I shall give him will never, never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become a fountain within him of water, springing up for the life of the ages. Sir," said the woman, give me that water, that I may never be thirsty, nor continually come all the way here to draw from the well.
Go and call your husband, said Jesus, and come back. I have no husband, she replied. "'You rightly say that you have no husband,' said Jesus. "'For you have had five husbands, and the man you have at present is not your husband. You have spoken the truth in saying that.' "'Sir,' replied the woman, "'I see that you are a prophet. Our forefathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.' Believe me, said Jesus, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship one of whom you know nothing. We worship one whom we know, for salvation comes from the Jews. But a time is coming, nay, has already come, when the true worshippers will worship the Father with true spiritual worship, for indeed the Father desires such worshippers.
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must bring Him true spiritual worship. I know, replied the woman, that Messiah is coming, the Christ, as He is called. When He has come, He will tell us everything. I am He, said Jesus. I, who am now talking to you. Just then his disciples came, and were surprised to find him talking with a woman, yet not one of them asked him, What is your wish? or Why are you talking with her? The woman, however, leaving her pitcher, went away to the town and called the people. Come, she said, and see a man who has told me everything I have ever done. Can this be the Christ, do you think? They left the town and set out to go to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging Jesus, "'Rabbi,' they said, "'eat something!' "'I have food to eat,' he replied, "'of which you do not know.' So the disciples began questioning one another.
"'Can it be,' they said, "'that someone has brought him something to eat?' "'My food!' said Jesus, is to be obedient to him who sent me, and fully to accomplish his work. Do you not say, It wants four months yet to the harvest? But look around, I tell you, and observe these plains. They are already ripe for the sickle. The reaper gets pay, and gathers in a crop in preparation for the life of the ages, that so the sower and the reapers may rejoice together. For it is in this that you see the real meaning of the saying, The sower is one person, and the reaper is another. I sent you to reap a harvest which is not the result of your own labours. Others have laboured, and you are getting benefit from their labours.
Of the Samaritan population of that town, a good many believed in him because of the woman's statement, when she declared, He has told me all that I have ever done. When, however, the Samaritans came to him, they asked him on all sides to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. Then a far larger number of people believed because of his own words, and they said to the woman, We no longer believe in him simply because of your statements, for we have now heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world. After the two days he departed and went into Galilee. Though Jesus himself declared that a prophet has no honor in his own country. When, however, he reached Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him eagerly, having been eye-witnesses of all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival, for they also had been to the festival.
So he came once more to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water into wine. Now there was a certain officer of the king's court, whose son was ill at Capernaum. Having heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he came to him and begged him to go down and cure his son, for he was at the point of death. Unless you and others see miracles and marvels, said Jesus, nothing will induce you to believe. Sir, pleaded the officer, come down before my child dies. You may return home, replied Jesus. Your son has recovered. He believed the words of Jesus, and started back home. And he was already on his way down when his servants met him, and told him that his son was alive and well. So he inquired of them at what hour he had shown improvement.
"'Yesterday, about seven o'clock,' they replied. "'The fever left him.' Then the father recollected that that was the time at which Jesus had said to him, "'Your son has recovered.' And he and his whole household became believers. This is the second miracle that Jesus performed after coming from Judea into Galilee.
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2 02 - Chapters 5-9 37:16
The Gospel according to John, from the New Testament in Modern Speech, Translated by Richard Francis Weymouth, Chapters Five Through Nine.
Chapter Five. After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda. It has five arcades. In these there used to lie a great number of sick persons, and of people who were blind or lame or paralyzed. And there was one man there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him lying there, and knowing that he had been a long time in that condition, he asked him, "'Do you wish to have health and strength?' "'Sir,' replied the sufferer, "'I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is moved. But while I am coming, someone else steps down before me.' "'Rise,' said Jesus. "'Take up your mat and walk.' Instantly, the man was restored to perfect health, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
That day was a Sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, "'It is the Sabbath. You must not carry your mat.' "'He who cured me,' he replied, "'said to me, "'take up your mat and walk.' "'Who is it?' they asked, "'that said to you, "'take up your mat and walk?' But the man who had been cured did not know who it was, for Jesus had passed out unnoticed, there being a crowd in the place. Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, You are now restored to health. Do not sin any more, or a worse thing may befall you. The man went and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had restored him to health, and on this account the Jews began to persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the Sabbath.
His reply to their accusation was, My father works unceasingly, and so do I. On this account, then, the Jews were all the more eager to put him to death, because he not only broke the Sabbath, But also spoke of God as being in a special sense his Father, thus putting himself on a level with God. "'In most solemn truth I tell you,' replied Jesus, "'that the Son can do nothing of himself. He can only do what he sees the Father doing, for whatever he does, that the Son does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and reveals to him all that he himself is doing, and greater deeds than these will he reveal to him, in order that you may wonder. For just as the Father awakens the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wills.
The Father, indeed, does not judge anyone, but he has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. The man who withholds honor from the Son withholds honor from the Father who sent him. In most solemn truth I tell you that he who listens to my teaching and believes him who sent me has the life of the ages and does not come under judgment, but has passed over out of death into life. In most solemn truth I tell you that a time is coming, nay, has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has also given to the Son to have life in himself, and he has conferred on him authority to act as judge, because he is the Son of man.
Wonder not at this. For a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and will come forth, they who have done what is right to the resurrection of life, and they whose actions have been evil to the resurrection of judgment. I can of my own self do nothing. As I am bidden, so I judge. And mine is a just judgment, because it is not my own will that guides me, but the will of him who sent me. If I give testimony concerning myself, my testimony cannot be accepted. There is another who gives testimony concerning me, and I know that the testimony is true which he offers concerning me. You sent to John, and he both was and still is a witness to the truth. But the testimony on my behalf which I accept is not from man, though I say all this in order that you may be saved.
He was the lamp that burned and shone, and for a time you were willing to be gladdened by his light. But the testimony which I have is weightier than that of John, for the work the Father has assigned to me for me to bring it to completion, the very work which I am doing, affords testimony concerning me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me, he has given testimony concerning me, None of you have ever either heard his voice or seen what he is like, nor have you his word dwelling within you, for you refuse to believe him whom he has sent. You search the scriptures because you suppose that in them you will find the life of the ages, and it is those scriptures that yield testimony concerning me.
And yet you are unwilling to come to me that you may have life. I do not accept glory from man. But I know you well, and I know that in your hearts you do not really love God. I have come as my father's representative, and you do not receive me. If someone else comes representing only himself, him you will receive. How is it possible for you to believe while you receive glory from one another, and have no desire for the glory that comes from the only God? Do not suppose that I will accuse you to the father. There is one who accuses you, namely, Moses, on whom your hope rests. For if you believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you disbelieve his writings, how are you to believe my words?
Chapter Six After this, Jesus went away across the lake of Galilee, that is, the lake of Tiberias. A vast multitude followed him, because they witnessed the miracles on the sick which he was constantly performing. Then Jesus went up the hill and sat there with his disciples. The Jewish festival, the Passover, was at hand, and when he looked round and saw an immense crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for all these people to eat? He said this to put Philip to the test, for he himself knew what he was going to do. "'Seven pounds' worth of bread,' replied Philip. "'Is not enough for them all to get even a scanty meal?' One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "'There is a boy here with five barley-loaves and a couple of fish.
But what is that among so many?' "'Make the people sit down,' said Jesus. The ground was covered with thick grass, so they sat down, the adult men numbering about five thousand. Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks, he distributed them to those who were resting on the ground, and also the fish in like manner, as much as they desired. When all were fully satisfied, he said to his disciples, Gather up the broken portions that remain over, so that nothing be lost. Accordingly they gathered them up, and with the fragments of the five barley-loaves, the broken portions that remained over after they had done eating, They filled twelve baskets. Thereupon the people, having seen the miracle he had performed, said, This is indeed the prophet who was to come into the world.
Perceiving, however, that they were about to come and carry him off by force to make him a king, Jesus withdrew again up the hill alone by himself. When evening came on, his disciples went down to the lake. There they got on board a boat and pushed off to cross the lake to Capernaum. By this time it had become dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. The lake also was getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing. When, however, they had rowed three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the water and coming near the boat. They were terrified, but he called to them. "'It is I,' he said. Do not be afraid. Then they were willing to take him on board, and in a moment the boat reached the shore at the point to which they were going.
Next morning the crowd, who were still standing about on the other side of the lake, found that there had been but one small boat there, and they had seen that Jesus did not go on board with his disciples, but that his disciples went away without him. Yet a number of small boats came from Tiberias to the neighborhood of the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. When, however, the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves also took boats and came to Capernaum to look for Jesus. So when they had crossed the lake and had found him, they asked him, "'Rabbi, when did you come here?' "'In most solemn truth I tell you,' replied Jesus. That you are searching for me not because you have seen miracles, but because you ate the loaves and had a hearty meal.
Bestow your pains not on the food which perishes, but on the food that remains unto the life of the ages, that food which will be the Son of Man's gift to you, for on him the Father, God, has set his seal. What are we to do? they asked, in order to carry out the things that God requires. This! replied Jesus, is above all the thing that God requires, that you should be believers in him whom he has sent. What miracle, then, they asked? Do you perform for us to see and become believers in you? What do you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert. As it is written, he gave them bread out of heaven to eat. In most solemn truth I tell you, replied Jesus. That Moses did not give you the bread out of heaven, but my father is giving you the bread, the true bread out of heaven.
For God's bread is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. Sir, they said, always give us that bread. I am the bread of life, replied Jesus. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never, never thirst. But it is as I have said to you. You have seen me, and yet you do not believe. Every one whom the Father gives me will come to me, and him who comes to me I will never on any account drive away, for I have left heaven and have come down to earth not to seek my own pleasure, but to do the will of him who sent me, And this is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it to life on the last day.
For this is my father's will, that every one who fixes his gaze on the Son of God and believes in him should have the life of the ages, and I will raise him to life on the last day. Now the Jews began to find fault about him because of his claiming to be the bread which came down out of heaven. They kept asking, Is not this man Joseph's son? Is he not Jesus, whose father and mother we know? What does he mean by now saying, I have come down out of heaven? Do not thus find fault among yourselves, replied Jesus. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. Then I will raise him to life on the last day. It stands written in the prophets, and they shall all of them be taught by God.
Every one who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has ever seen the Father except him who is from God. He has seen the Father. In most solemn truth I tell you that he who believes has the life of the ages. I am the bread of life. Your far fathers ate the manna in the desert, and they died. Here is the bread that comes down out of heaven, that a man may eat it and not die. I am the living bread come down out of heaven. If a man eats this bread, he shall live forever. Moreover, the bread which I will give is my flesh, given for the life of the world. This led to an angry debate among the Jews. How can this man— They argued. Give us his flesh to eat. In most solemn truth I tell you, said Jesus, that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has the life of the ages, and I will raise him up on the last day, for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in union with me, and I remain in union with him. As the ever-living Father has sent me, and I live because of the Father, so also he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven. It is unlike that which your forefathers ate, for they ate and yet died. He who eats this bread shall live forever. Jesus said all this in the synagogue while teaching at Capernaum. Many, therefore, of his disciples, when they heard it, said, This is hard to accept. Who can listen to such teaching?
But knowing in himself that his disciples were dissatisfied about it, Jesus asked them, Does this seem incredible to you? What then if you were to see the Son of Man ascending again where he was before? It is the Spirit which gives life. The flesh confers no benefit whatever. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. So he added, That is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it be granted him by the Father. Thereupon many of his disciples left him and went away, and no longer associated with him. Jesus therefore appealed to the Twelve.
"'Will you go also?' he asked. "'Master,' replied Simon Peter, "'to whom shall we go? Your teachings tell us of the life of the ages, and we have come to believe and know that you are indeed the Holy One of God.' "'Did I not choose you, the Twelve?' said Jesus. "'And even of you—' One is a devil. He alluded to Judas, the son of Simon the Iscariot, for he it was who, though one of the twelve, was afterwards to betray him.
Chapter Seven After this, Jesus moved from place to place in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking an opportunity to kill him. But the Jewish festival of the tent-pitching was approaching, so his brothers said to him, Leave these parts, and go into Judea. That not only we but your disciples also may witness the miracles which you perform, for no one acts in secret desiring all the while to be himself known publicly. Since you are doing these things, show yourself openly to the world. For even his brothers were not believers in him. My time, replied Jesus, has not yet come, but for you any time is suitable. It is impossible for the world to hate you, but me it does hate, because I give testimony concerning it that its conduct is evil.
As for you, go up to the festival. I do not now go up to this festival, because my time is not yet fully come. Such was his answer, and he remained in Galilee. When, however, his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly, but as it were privately. Meanwhile, the Jews at the festival were looking for him and were inquiring, Where is he? Among the mass of the people there was much muttered debate about him. Some said, He is a good man. Others said, Not so. He is imposing on the people. Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke out boldly about him. But when the festival was already half over, Jesus went up to the temple and commenced teaching. The Jews were astonished.
How does this man know anything of books, they said, although he has never been at any of the schools? Jesus answered their question by saying, My teaching does not belong to me, but comes from him who sent me. If anyone is willing to do his will, he shall know about the teaching, whether it is from God or originates with me. The man whose teaching originates with himself aims at his own glory. He who aims at the glory of him who sent him teaches the truth, and there is no deception in him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet not a man of you obeys the law? Why do you want to kill me? You are possessed by a demon, replied the crowd. No one wants to kill you. One deed I have done, replied Jesus, and you are all full of wonder.
Consider, therefore, Moses gave you the right of circumcision, not that it began with Moses, but with your earlier forefathers, and even on a sabbath-day you circumcise a child. If a child is circumcised even on a sabbath-day, are you bitter against me, because I have restored a man to perfect health on a sabbath-day? Do not form superficial judgments, but form the judgments that are just. Some, however, of the people of Jerusalem said, Is not this the man they are wanting to kill? But here he is, speaking openly and boldly, and they say nothing to him. Can the rulers really have ascertained that this man is the Christ? And yet we know this man, and we know where he is from. But as for the Christ, when he comes, no one can tell where he is from.
Jesus, therefore, while teaching in the temple, cried aloud, and said, Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. And yet I have not come of my own accord, but there is one who has sent me, an authority indeed, of whom you have no knowledge. I know him, because I came from him, and he sent me. On hearing this, they wanted to arrest him, yet not a hand was laid on him, because his time had not yet come, but from among the crowd a large number believed in him. "'When the Christ comes,' they said, Will he perform more miracles than this teacher has performed? The Pharisees heard the people thus expressing their various doubts about him, and the high priests and the Pharisees sent some officers to apprehend him.
So Jesus said, Still for a short time I am with you, and then I go my way to him who sent me. You will look for me and will not find me, and where I am you cannot come. The Jews therefore said to one another, Where is he about to betake himself, so that we shall not find him? Will he betake himself to the dispersion among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? What do those words of his mean, You will look for me, but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come? On the last day of the festival, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried aloud, Whoever is thirsty, he said, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, from within him, as the scripture has said, rivers of living water shall flow.
He referred to the spirit which those who believed in him were to receive, for the spirit was not bestowed as yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. After listening to these discourses, some of the crowd began to say, This is beyond doubt the prophet. Others said, He is the Christ. But others again. Not so. For is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture declared that the Christ is to come of the family of David and from Bethlehem, David's village? So there was a violent dissension among the people on his account. Some of them wanted at once to arrest him, but no one laid hands upon him. Meanwhile, the officers returned to the high priests and Pharisees, who asked them, Why have you not brought him?
"'No mere man has ever spoken as this man speaks,' said the officers. "'Are you deluded too?' replied the Pharisees. "'Has any one of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this rabble who understand nothing about the law are accursed.' Nicodemus interposed, he who had formerly gone to Jesus being himself one of them. "'Does our law,' he asked, Judge a man without first hearing what he has to say, and ascertaining what his conduct is? Do you also come from Galilee? they asked in reply. Search and see for yourself that no prophet is of Galilean origin. So they went away to their several homes.
Chapter Eight But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At break of day, however, he returned to the temple, and there the people came to him in crowds. He seated himself, and was teaching them when the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him a woman who had been found committing adultery. They made her stand in the center of the court, and they put the case to him. "'Rabbi,' they said, "'this woman has been found in the very act of committing adultery.' Now, in the law, Moses has ordered us to stone such women to death. But what do you say? They asked this in order to put him to the test, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. But Jesus leant forward and began to write with his finger on the ground.
When, however, they persisted with their question, he raised his head and said to them, Let the sinless man among you be the first to throw a stone at her. Then he leant forward again. and again began to write on the ground. They listened to him, and then, beginning with the eldest, took their departure, one by one, till all were gone, and Jesus was left behind alone, and the woman in the center of the court. Then, raising his head, Jesus said to her, "'Where are they? Has no one condemned you?' "'No one, sir,' she replied. "'And I do not condemn you either,' said Jesus. Go, and from this time do not sin any more. Once more Jesus addressed them. I am the light of the world, he said. The man who follows me shall certainly not walk in the dark, but shall have the light of life.
You are giving testimony about yourself, said the Pharisees. Your testimony is not true. Even if I am giving testimony about myself, replied Jesus. My testimony is true, for I know where I come from and where I am going. But you know neither of these two things. You judge according to appearances. I am judging no one. And even if I do judge, my judgment is just, for I am not alone, but the Father who sent me is with me. In your own law, too, it is written that the testimony of two men is true. I am one giving testimony about myself, and the father who sent me gives testimony about me. "'Where is your father?' they asked. "'You know my father as little as you know me,' he replied. "'If you knew me, you would know my father also.' These sayings he uttered in the treasury while teaching in the temple.
Yet no one arrested him, because his time had not yet come. Again he said to them, I am going away. Then you will try to find me, but you will die in your sins. Where I am going, it is impossible for you to come. The Jews began to ask one another. Is he going to kill himself, do you think, that he says, Where I am going, it is impossible for you to come? You," he continued, are from below. I am from above. You are of this present world. I am not of this present world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins, for, unless you believe that I am he, that is what will happen. You! Who are you? they asked. How is it that I am speaking to you at all? replied Jesus. Many things I have to speak and to judge concerning you, but he who sent me is true, and the things which I have heard from him are those which I have come into the world to speak.
They did not perceive that he was speaking to them of the Father. So Jesus added, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He. Of myself I do nothing, but as the Father has taught me, so I speak. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I do always what is pleasing to him. As he thus spoke, many became believers in him. Jesus therefore said to those of the Jews who had now believed in him, As for you, if you hold fast to my teaching, then you are truly my disciples, and you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free. We are descendants of Abraham, they answered, and have never at any time been in slavery to anyone. What do those words of yours mean, you shall become free?
In most solemn truth I tell you, replied Jesus. that everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. Now, a slave does not remain permanently in his master's house, but a son does. If then the son shall make you free, you will be free indeed. You are descendants of Abraham, I know. But you want to kill me because my teaching gains no ground within you. The words I speak are those I have learnt in the presence of the father. Therefore you also should do what you have heard from your father. Our father is Abraham, they said. If you were Abraham's children, replied Jesus, it is Abraham's deeds that you would be doing. But, in fact, you are longing to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth which I have heard from God.
Abraham did not do that. You are doing the deeds of your father. "'We,' they replied, "'are not illegitimate children. We have one father, namely God.' "'If God were your father,' said Jesus, "'you would love me, for it is from God that I came, and I am now here. I have not come of myself, but he sent me. How is it you do not understand me when I speak? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my words. The father whose sons you are is the... Devil! And you desire to do what gives him pleasure. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth, for there is no truth in him. Whenever he utters his lie, he utters it out of his own store, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is a child of God listens to God's words. You do not listen to them. And why? It is because you are not God's children. Are we not right, answered the Jews, in saying that you are a Samaritan, and are possessed by a demon? I am not possessed by a demon, replied Jesus. On the contrary, I honor my father, and you dishonor me. I, however, am not aiming at glory for myself. There is one who aims at glory for me, and who judges. In most solemn truth I tell you that if anyone shall have obeyed my teaching, he shall in no case ever see death. Now, exclaimed the Jews, we know that you are possessed by a demon.
Abraham died, and so did the prophets, and yet you say, if anyone shall have obeyed my teaching, he shall in no case ever taste death. Are you really greater than our forefather, Abraham? For he died, and the prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be? Were I to glorify myself, answered Jesus, I should have no real glory. There is one who glorifies me, namely my Father, who you say is your God. You do not know him, but I know him perfectly, and were I to deny my knowledge of him, I should resemble you and be a liar. On the contrary, I do know him, and I obey his commands. Abraham, your forefather, exulted in the hope of seeing my day, and he saw it and was glad. "'You are not yet fifty years old,' cried the Jews.
"'And have you seen Abraham?' "'In most solemn truth,' answered Jesus, "'I tell you that before Abraham came into existence, I am.'" Thereupon they took up stones with which to stone him, but he hid himself and went away out of the temple. As he passed by, he saw a man who had been blind from his birth. So his disciples asked him, "'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' "'Neither he nor his parents sinned,' answered Jesus. But he was born blind in order that God's mercy might be openly shown in him. We must do the works of him who sent me while there is daylight. Night is coming on when no one can work. When I am in the world, I am the light of the world. After thus speaking, he spat on the ground, and then, kneading the dust and spittle into clay, he smeared the clay over the man's eyes and said to him, Go, and wash in the pool of Siloam.
The name means Sent. So he went and washed his eyes, and returned, able to see. His neighbors, therefore, and the other people to whom he had been a familiar object because he was a beggar, began asking, Is not this the man who used to sit and beg? Yes, it is, replied some of them. No, it is not, said others. But he is like him. His own statement was, I am the man. How then were your eyes opened? They asked. He whose name is Jesus, he answered, made clay and smeared my eyes with it, and then told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and obtained sight. Where is he? they inquired. But the man did not know. They brought him to the Pharisees, the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus made the clay and opened the man's eyes was the Sabbath.
So the Pharisees renewed their questioning as to how he had obtained his sight. "'He put clay on my eyes,' he replied, "'and I washed, and now I can see.' This led some of the Pharisees to say, "'That man has not come from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.' "'How is it possible for a bad man to do such miracles?' argued others. And there was a division among them. So again they asked the once blind man, "'What is your account of him?' For he opened your eyes." "'He is a prophet,' he replied. The Jews, however, did not believe the statement concerning him, that he had been blind and had obtained his sight, until they called his parents and asked them, "'Is this your son, who you say was born blind?
How is it then that he can now see?' "'We know.' replied the parents, that this is our son, and that he was born blind. But how it is that he can now see, or who has opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him himself. He is of full age. He himself will give his own account of it. Such was their answer, because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already settled among themselves that if anyone should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, he should be excluded from the synagogue. That was why his parents said, "'He is of full age. Ask him himself.' A second time, therefore, they called the man who had been blind, and said, "'Give God the praise. We know that that man is a sinner.' "'Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know,' he replied.
"'One thing I know, that I was once blind, and that now I can see.' "'What did he do to you?' they asked. How did he open your eyes? I have told you already, he replied, and you did not listen to me. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also mean to be disciples of his? Then they railed at him and said, You are that man's disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we do not know where he comes from. Why, this is marvelous! The man replied, "'You do not know where he comes from, and yet he has opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to bad people, but that if any one is a God-fearing man and obeys him, to him he listens. From the beginning of the world such a thing was never heard of as that any one should open the eyes of a man blind from his birth.
Had that man not come from God, he could have done nothing.' "'You,' they replied, We're wholly begotten and born in sin. And do you teach us?" And they put him out of the synagogue. Jesus heard that they had done this, so having found him, he asked him, "'Do you believe in the Son of God?' "'Who is he, sir?' replied the man. "'Tell me, so that I may believe in him.' "'You have seen him,' said Jesus. "'And not only so. He is now speaking to you. "'I believe, sir,' he said, and he threw himself at his feet. "'I came into this world,' said Jesus, "'to judge men, that those who do not see may see, "'and that those who do see may become blind.' These words were heard by those of the Pharisees who were present, and they asked him, "'Are we also blind?' "'If you were blind, answered Jesus.
You would have no sin, but as a matter of fact you boast that you see, so your sin remains.
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3 03 - Chapters 10-13 25:25
The Gospel according to John, from the New Testament in Modern Speech, Translated by Richard Francis Weymouth, Chapters Ten, Thirteen. Chapter 10. In most solemn truth, I tell you that the man who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs over some other way, is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter opens the door, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by their names and leads them out. When he has brought out his own sheep, all of them, he walks at the head of them, And the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. But a stranger they will by no means follow, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.
Jesus spoke to them in this figurative language, but they did not understand what he meant. Again, therefore, Jesus said to them, In most solemn truth I tell you that I am the door of the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep would not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will find safety and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and may have it in abundance. I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his very life for the sheep. The hired servant, one who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, no sooner sees the wolf coming than he leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf worries and scatters them, for he is only a hired servant and cares nothing for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. And I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I am laying down my life for the sheep. I have also other sheep, which do not belong to this fold. Those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they shall become one flock under one shepherd. For this reason, my Father loves me, because I am laying down my life in order to receive it back again. No one is taking it away from me, but I myself am laying it down. I am authorized to lay it down, and I am authorized to receive it back again. This is the command I received from my father. Again, there arose a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, "'He is possessed by a demon and is mad.
Why do you listen to him?' Others argued, "'That is not the language of a demoniac.' And can a demon open blind men's eyes? The dedication festival came on in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon's portico, when the Jews gathered round him and kept asking him, How long do you mean to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us so plainly. I have told you, answered Jesus, and you do not believe. The deeds that I do in my father's name, they give testimony about me. But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep? My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them the life of the ages, and they shall never, never perish, nor shall anyone wrest them from my hand.
What my father has given me is more precious than all besides, and no one is able to wrest anything from my father's hand. I and the Father are one. Again the Jews brought stones with which to stone him. Jesus remonstrated with them. Many good deeds, he said, have I shown you as coming from the Father. For which of them are you going to stone me? For no good deed, the Jews replied, are we going to stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be God. Does it not stand written in your law? replied Jesus. I said, You are God's? If those to whom God's word was addressed are called God's, and the scripture cannot be an old, how is it that you say to one another whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, You are blaspheming, because I said, I am God's Son?
If the deeds I do are not my Father's deeds, do not believe me. But if they are, then even if you do not believe me, At least believe the deeds, that you may know and see clearly that the Father is in me, and that I am in the Father. This made them once more try to arrest him, but he withdrew out of their power. Then he went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he stayed. Large numbers of people also came to him. Their report was, John did not work any miracle, but all that John said about this teacher was true, and many became believers in him there.
Chapter 11 Now a certain man named Lazarus of Bethany was lying ill, Bethany being the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who poured the perfume over the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him to say, Master, he whom you hold dear is ill. Jesus received the message and said, This illness is not to end in death, but is to promote the glory of God in order that the Son of God may be glorified by it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. When, however, he heard that Lazarus was ill, he still remained two days in that same place. Then, after that, he said to the disciples, "'Let us return to Judea.' "'Rabbi!' exclaimed the disciples.
"'The Jews have just been trying to stone you, and do you think of going back there again?' "'Are there not twelve hours in the day?' replied Jesus. "'If anyone walks in the daytime, He does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if a man walks by night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him. He said this, and afterwards he added, Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, but I will go and wake him. Master, said the disciples, if he is asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he referred to the rest taken in ordinary sleep. So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and for your sakes I am glad I was not there, in order that you may believe.
But let us go to him. Let us go also, Thomas, the twin, said to his fellow-disciples, that we may die with him. On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been three days in the tomb. Bethany was near Jerusalem, the distance being a little less than two miles, and a considerable number of the Jews were with Martha and Mary, having come to express sympathy with them on the death of their brother. Martha, however, as soon as she heard the tidings, Jesus is coming, went to meet him, but Mary remained sitting in the house. So Martha came and spoke to Jesus. Master, if you had been here, she said, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask God for, God will give you.
Your brother shall rise again, replied Jesus. I know, said Martha, that he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day. I am the resurrection and the life. said Jesus. He who believes in me, even if he has died, he shall live, and every one who is living and is a believer in me shall never, never die. Do you believe this? Yes, master, she replied. I thoroughly believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world. After saying this, she went and called her sister Mary, privately telling her, The rabbi is here, and is asking for you. So she, on hearing that, rose up quickly to go to him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
So the Jews who were with Mary in the house sympathizing with her, when they saw that she had risen hastily and had gone out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep aloud there. Mary then, when she came to Jesus and saw him, fell at his feet and exclaimed, Master, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Seeing her weeping aloud, and the Jews in like manner weeping who had come with her, Jesus, curbing the strong emotion of his spirit, though deeply troubled, asked them, Where have you laid him? Master, come and see, was their reply. Jesus wept. See how dear he held him, said the Jews. But others of them asked, Was this man who opened the blind man's eyes unable to prevent this man from dying?
Jesus, however, again restraining his strong feeling, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone had been laid against the mouth of it. Take away the stone, said Jesus. Martha, the sister of the dead man, exclaimed, Master, by this time there is a foul smell. For it is three days since he died." Did I not promise you, replied Jesus, that if you believe, you shall see the glory of God? So they removed the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. I know that thou always hearest me. But for the sake of the crowds standing round, I have said this, that they may believe that thou didst send me. After speaking thus, he called out in a loud voice, Lazarus!
Come out! The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped in cloths, and his face wrapped round with a towel. Untie him, said Jesus, and let him go free. Thereupon, a considerable number of the Jews, namely those who had come to Mary and had witnessed his deeds, became believers in him, though some of them went off to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. Therefore the high priests and the Pharisees held a meeting of the Sanhedrin. What steps are we taking? they asked one another, for this man is performing a great number of miracles. If we leave him alone in this way, everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and blot out both our city and our nation. But one of them, named Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said, You know nothing about it.
You do not reflect that it is to your interest that one man should die for the people, rather than the whole nation perish. It was not as a mere man that he thus spoke, but being high priest that year, he was inspired to declare that Jesus was to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order to unite into one body all the far-scattered children of God. So from that day forward they planned and schemed in order to put him to death. Therefore Jesus no longer went about openly among the Jews, but he left that neighborhood and went into the district near the desert to a town called Ephraim, and remained there with the disciples. The Jewish Passover was coming near, and many from that district went up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
They therefore looked out for Jesus, and asked one another as they stood in the temple, What do you think? Will he come to the festival at all? Now the high priests and the Pharisees had issued orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should give information so that they might arrest him.
Chapter Twelve Jesus, however, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner there in honor of Jesus, at which Martha waited at table. But Lazarus was one of the guests who were with him, Availing herself of the opportunity, Mary took a pound-weight of pure spikenard, very costly, and poured it over his feet, and wiped his feet with her hair, so that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Then said Judas, the Iscariot, one of the twelve, the one who afterwards betrayed Jesus, Why was not that perfume sold for three hundred shillings and the money given to the poor? The reason he said this was not that he cared for the poor, but that he was a thief, and that, being in charge of the money-box, he used to steal what was put into it.
But Jesus interposed. Do not blame her, he said. Allow her to have kept it for the time of my preparation for burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you have not me always. Now it became widely known among the Jews that Jesus was there, but they came not only on his account, but also in order to see Lazarus, whom he had brought back to life. The high priests, however, consulted together to put Lazarus also to death, for because of him, many of the Jews left them and became believers in Jesus. The next day a great crowd of those who had come to the festival, hearing that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting as they went, God save him!
Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord, even on the King of Israel! And Jesus, having procured a young ass, sat upon it, just as the scripture says, Fear not, daughter of Zion! See! Thy king is coming, riding on an ass's colt. The meaning of this his disciples did not understand at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they recollected that this was written about him, and that they had done this to him. The large number of people, however, who had been present when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and brought him back to life, related what they had witnessed. This was also why the crowd came to meet him, because they had heard of his having performed that miracle. The result was that the Pharisees said among themselves, "'Observe how idle all your efforts are!
The world is gone after him!' Now some of those who used to come up to worship at the festival were Greeks. They came to Philip of Bethsaida in Galilee with the request, "'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.' Philip came and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip. told Jesus. His answer was, The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. In most solemn truth I tell you that unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains what it was, a single grain, but that if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. He who holds his life dear is destroying it, and he who makes his life of no account in this world shall keep it to the life of the ages. If a man wishes to be my servant, let him follow me, and where I am, there too shall my servant be.
If a man wishes to be my servant, the Father will honor him. Now is my soul full of trouble. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Thereupon there came a voice from the sky. I have glorified it, and will also glorify it again. The crowd that stood by and heard it said that there had been thunder. Others said, An angel spoke to him. It is not for my sake, said Jesus, that that voice came, but for your sakes. Now is a judgment of this world. Now will the prince of this world be driven out, and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me. He said this to indicate the kind of death he would die.
The crowd answered him, We have heard out of the law that the Christ remains forever. In what sense do you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is that Son of Man? Yet a little while. He replied, The light is among you. Be faithful to the light that you have, for fear darkness should overtake you. For a man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. In the degree that you have light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light. Jesus said this, and went away and hid himself from them. But though he had performed such great miracles in their presence, they did not believe in him, in order that the words of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled. Lord, who has believed our preaching?
And the arm of the Lord, to whom has it been unveiled? For this reason they were unable to believe, because Isaiah said again, He has blinded their eyes and made their minds callous, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their minds and should turn and I should heal them. Isaiah uttered these words because he saw his glory and he spoke of him. Nevertheless, even from among the rulers, many believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they did not avow their belief, for fear they should be shut out from the synagogue, for they loved the glory that comes from men rather than the glory that comes from God. But Jesus cried aloud, He who believes in me believes not so much in me as in him who sent me, and he who sees me sees him who sent me.
I have come like light into the world, in order that no one who believes in me may remain in the dark, and if any one hears my teachings and regards them not, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who sets me at naught and does not receive my teachings is not left without a judge. The message which I have spoken will judge him on the last day, because I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me himself gave me a command what to say, and in what words to speak, and I know that his command is the life of the ages. What therefore I speak, I speak just as the Father has bidden me.
Chapter 13 Now, just before the feast of the Passover, this incident took place. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father, and having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. While supper was proceeding, the devil, having by this time suggested to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, the thought of betraying him, Jesus, although he knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come forth from God, and was now going to God, rose from the table, threw off his upper garments, and took a towel and tied it round him. Then he poured water into a basin, and proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel which he had put round him.
When he came to Simon Peter, Peter objected. Master, he said, Are you going to wash my feet?" What I am doing, answered Jesus, for the present you do not know, but afterwards you shall know. Never, while the world lasts, said Peter, shall you wash my feet. If I do not wash you, replied Jesus, you have no share with me. Master, said Peter, wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Any one who has lately bathed, said Jesus, does not need to wash more than his feet, but is clean all over. And you, my disciples, are clean, and yet this is not true of all of you. For he knew who was betraying him, and that was why he said, You are not, all of you, clean. So after he had washed their feet, put on his garments again, and returned to the table, he said to them, Do you understand what I have done to you?
You call me the rabbi and the master, and rightly so, for such I am. If I, then, your master and rabbi, have washed your feet, it is also your duty to wash one another's feet, for I have set you an example in order that you may do what I have done to you. In most solemn truth I tell you that a servant is not superior to his master, nor is a messenger superior to him who sent him. If you know all this, Blessed are you if you act accordingly. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but things are as they are in order that the scripture may be fulfilled, which says, He who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me. From this time forward, I tell you things before they happen, in order that when they do happen, you may believe that I am he.
In most solemn truth I tell you that he who receives whoever I send receives me, and that he who receives me receives him who sent me. After speaking thus, Jesus was troubled in spirit and said with deep earnestness, In most solemn truth I tell you that one of you will betray me. The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know to which of them he was referring. There was at table one of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, reclining with his head on Jesus's bosom. Making a sign, therefore, to him, Simon Peter said, Tell us to whom he is referring. So he, having his head on Jesus's bosom, leaned back and asked, Master, who is it? It is the one, answered Jesus, for whom I shall dip this piece of bread, and to whom I shall give it.
Accordingly, he dipped the piece of bread and took it and gave it to Judas, the son of the Iscariot, Simon. Then, after Judas had received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Lose no time about it, said Jesus to him. But why he said this, no one else at the table understood. Some, however, suppose that because Judas had the money box, Jesus meant... Buy what we require for the festival, or that he should give something to the poor. So Judas took the piece of bread and immediately went out, and it was night. So when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. Moreover, God will glorify him in himself, and will glorify him without delay. Dear children, I am still with you a little longer.
You will seek me, but as I said to the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come. So for the present I say to you, a new commandment I give you, to love one another, that as I have loved you, you also may love one another. It is by this that everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. Master? inquired Simon Peter. Where are you going? Where I am going, replied Jesus. You cannot be my follower now, but you shall be later. Master, asked Peter again, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life on your behalf. You say you will lay down your life on my behalf, said Jesus. In most solemn truth, I tell you that the cock will not crow before you have three times disowned me.
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4 04 - Chapters 14-17 18:39
Trust in God, trust in me also. In my father's house there are many resting-places. Were it otherwise, I would have told you, for I am going to make ready a place for you. And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me, that where I am, you also may be, and where I am going, you all know the way. Master, said Thomas, we do not know where you are going. In what sense do we know the way? I am the way, replied Jesus, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you, all of you, knew me, you would fully know my Father also. From this time forward you know him and have seen him. Master, said Philip, "'Cause us to see the Father.
That is all we need.' "'Have I been so long among you,' Jesus answered, "'and yet you, Philip, do not know me? "'He who has seen me has seen the Father. "'How can you ask me, "'cause us to see the Father? "'Do you not believe that I am in the Father, "'and that the Father is in me? "'The things that I tell you all I do not speak on my own authority. But the Father dwelling within me carries on his own work. Believe me, all of you, that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me, or, at any rate, believe me because of what I do. In most solemn truth I tell you that he who trusts in me, the things which I do, he shall do also, and greater things than these he shall do, because I am going to the Father.
And whatever any of you ask in my name, I will do, in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you make any request of me in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will obey my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to be forever with you, the Spirit of Truth. That Spirit the world cannot receive, because it does not see him or know him. You know him. Because he remains by your side and is in you. I will not leave you bereaved. I am coming to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also shall live. At that time you will know that I am in my Father, and that you are in me, and that I am in you.
He who has my commandments 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 will clearly reveal myself to him. Judas, not the Iscariot, asked, Master, how is it that you will reveal yourself clearly to us and not to the world? If any one loves me, replied Jesus, he will obey my teaching, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who has no love for me does not obey my teaching, and yet the teaching to which you are listening is not mine, but is the teaching of the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken to you while still with you, but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will teach you everything and will bring to your memories all that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you. My own peace I give to you. It is not as the world gives its greetings that I give you peace. Let not your hearts be troubled or dismayed. You heard me say to you, I am going away, and yet I am coming to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I am. I have now told you before it comes to pass that when it has come to pass, you may believe. In future I shall not talk much with you, for the Prince of this world is coming, and yet in me he has nothing. But it is in order that the world may know that I love the Father, and that it is in obedience to the command which the Father gave me that I thus act. Rise, let us be going.
Chapter 15 I am the vine, the true vine, And my father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me, if it bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed through the teaching which I have given you. Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, that is, if it does not continue in the vine, so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who continues in me, and in whom I continue, bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up.
Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire, and they are burned. If you continue in me, and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will, and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified, by your bearing abundant fruit, and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in his love. These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you. To love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this. A man laying down his life for his friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain, so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name, he may give you. Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, for that reason the world hates you.
Bear in mind what I said to you. A servant is not superior to his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin. But as the case stands, they are without excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my father also. If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin. But they have in fact seen, and also hated, both me and my father. But this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their law.
They have hated me without any reason. When the advocate is come, whom I will send to you from the Father's presence, The Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father's presence. He will be a witness concerning me, and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the first.
Chapter 16 These things I have spoken to you in order to clear stumbling-blocks out of your path. You will be excluded from the synagogues. Nay, more. The time is coming when anyone who has murdered one of you will suppose he is offering service to God, and they will do these things because they have failed to recognize the Father and to discover who I am. But I have spoken these things to you, in order that when the time for their accomplishment comes, you may remember them, and may recollect that I told you. I did not, however, tell you all this at first, because I was still with you. But now I am returning to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me where I am going. But grief has filled your hearts, because I have said all this to you.
Yet it is the truth that I am telling you. It is to your advantage that I go away. For unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And he, when he comes, will convict the world in respect of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, of sin, because they do not believe in me, of righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me, of judgment, because the prince of this world is under sentence. I have much more to say to you. But you are unable at present to bear the burden of it. But when he has come, the Spirit of Truth, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak as himself originating what he says. But all that he hears he will speak, and he will make known the future to you.
He will glorify me, because he will take of what is mine and will make it known to you. Everything that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the spirit of truth takes of what is mine and will make it known to you. A little while, and you see me no more, and again a little while, and you shall see me. Some of his disciples therefore said to one another, What does this mean, which he is telling us? A little while, and you do not see me, and again a little while, and you shall see me, and because I am going to the Father... So they asked one another repeatedly, What can that little while mean which he speaks of? We do not understand his words. Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said, Is this what you are questioning one another about, my saying, A little while, and you do not see me, and again a little while, and you shall see me?
In most solemn truth I tell you that you will weep aloud and lament. But the world will be glad. You will mourn, but your grief will be turned into gladness. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her time has come, but when she has given birth to the babe, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy at a child being born into the world. So you also now have sorrow. But I shall see you again, and your hearts will be glad, and your gladness no one will take away from you. You will put no questions to me then. In most solemn truth I tell you that whatever you ask the Father for in my name, he will give you. As yet you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, that your hearts may be filled with gladness.
All this I have spoken to you in veiled language. The time is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in veiled language, but will tell you about the Father in plain words. At that time you will make your requests in my name, and I do not promise to ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself holds you dear, because you have held me dear, and have believed that I came from the Father's presence. I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again I am leaving the world and am going to the Father. Ah! Now you are using plain language," said his disciples, and are uttering no figure of speech. Now we know that you have all knowledge and do not need to be pressed with questions.
Through this we believe that you came from God.
Do you at last believe? replied Jesus. Remember that the time is coming, nay, has already come, for you all to be dispersed each to his own home, and to leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have spoken all this to you in order that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction. But keep up your courage. I have won the victory over the world.
Chapter 17. When Jesus had thus spoken, he raised his eyes towards heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee, even as thou hast given him authority over all mankind, so that on all whom thou hast given him he may bestow the life of the ages. And in this consists the life of the ages. In knowing thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent, I have glorified thee on earth, having done perfectly the work which by thine appointment has been mine to do. And now, Father, do thou glorify me in thine own presence, with the glory that I had in thy presence before the world existed. I have revealed thy perfections to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world.
Thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have obeyed thy message. Now they know that whatever thou hast given me is from thee. For the truths which thou didst teach me I have taught them, and they have received them, and have known for certain that I came out from thy presence, and have believed that thou didst send me. I am making request for them. For the world I do not make any request, but for those whom thou hast given me, because they are thine, and everything that is mine is mine, and everything that is thine is mine, and I am crowned with glory in them. I am now no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them true to thy name, the name which thou hast given me to bear.
That they may be one, even as we are. While I was with them, I kept them true to thy name, the name thou hast given me to bear. And I kept watch over them, and not one of them is lost, but only he who is doomed to destruction, that the scripture may be fulfilled. But now I am coming to thee, and I speak these words while I am in the world, in order that they may have my gladness within them, filling their hearts. I have given them thy message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I do not ask that thou wilt remove them out of the world, but that thou wilt protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
Make them holy in the truth. Thy message is truth. Just as thou didst send me into the world, I also have sent them, and on their behalf I consecrate myself, in order that they may become perfectly consecrated in truth. Nor is it for them alone that I make request. It is also for those who trust in me through their teaching, that they may all be one, even as thou art in me, O Father, and I am in thee. That they also may be in us, that the world may believe that thou didst send me. And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may stand perfected in one, that the world may come to understand that thou didst send me, and hast loved them with the same love as that with which thou hast loved me.
Father, Those whom thou hast given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may see the glory, my glory, my gift from thee, which thou hast given me because thou didst love me before the creation of the world. And, righteous Father, though the world has failed to recognize thee, I have known thee, and these have perceived that thou didst send me. And I have made known thy name to them, and will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and that I may be in them.
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5 05 - Chapters 18-21 25:17
The Gospel according to John, from the New Testament in Modern Speech, translated by Richard Francis Weymouth. Chapters 18 to 21. Chapter 18. After offering this prayer, Jesus went out with his disciples to a place on the further side of the ravine of the cedars, where there was a garden which he entered, himself and his disciples. Now Judas also, who at that very time was betraying him, knew the place, for Jesus had often resorted there with his disciples. So Judas, Followed by the battalion and by a detachment of the temple police, sent by the high priests and Pharisees, came there with torches and lamps and weapons. Jesus, therefore, knowing all that was about to befall him, went out to meet them.
"'Who are you looking for?' he asked them. "'For Jesus the Nazarene!' was the answer. "'I am he,' he replied. Now Judas, who was betraying him, was also standing with them. As soon then as he said to them, I am he, they went backwards and fell to the ground. Again therefore he asked them, Who are you looking for? For Jesus the Nazarene, they said.
I have told you, replied Jesus, that I am he. If therefore you are looking for me, let these my disciples go their way. He made this request in order that the words he had spoken might be fulfilled. As for those whom thou hast given me, I have not lost one. Simon Peter, however, having a sword, drew it, and aiming it at the high priest's servant, cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Jesus therefore said to Peter, Put back your sword! Shall I refuse to drink the cup of sorrow which the Father has given me to drink?" So the battalion and their tribune and the Jewish police closed in, and took Jesus and bound him. They then brought him to Annas first, for Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
It was this Caiaphas who had advised the Jews, saying, "'It is to your interest that one man should die for the people.' Meanwhile, Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so also was another disciple. The latter was known to the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the court of the high priest's palace. But Peter remained standing outside the door till the disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and induced the portress to let Peter in. This led the girl, the portress, to ask Peter, Are you also one of this man's disciples? No, I am not. He replied, Now, because it was cold, the servants and the police had lighted a charcoal fire and were standing and warming themselves, and Peter, too, remained with them, standing and warming himself.
So the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. As for me, replied Jesus, I have spoken openly to the world. I have continually taught in some synagogue or in the temple where all the Jews are wont to assemble, and I have said nothing in secret. Why do you question me? Question those who heard what it was I said to them. These witnesses here know what I said. Upon his saying this, one of the officers standing by struck him with his open hand, asking him as he did so, Is that the way you answer the high priest? If I have spoken wrongly, replied Jesus. Bear witness to it as wrong, but if rightly, why that blow? So Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest. But Simon Peter remained standing and warming himself, and this led to their asking him, Are you also one of his disciples?
He denied it and said, No, I am not. One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, Did I not see you in the garden with him? Once more Peter denied it, and immediately a cock crowed. So they brought Jesus from Caiaphas' house to the Praetorium. It was the early morning, and they would not enter the Praetorium themselves for fear of defilement and an order that they might be able to eat the Passover. Accordingly Pilate came out to them and inquired, What accusation have you to bring against this man? If the man were not a criminal, they replied, we would not have handed him over to you. Take him yourselves, said Pilate, and judge him by your law. We have no power, replied the Jews, to put any man to death.
They said this, that the words might be fulfilled in which Jesus predicted the kind of death he was to die. Re-entering the Praetorium, therefore, Pilate called Jesus and asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? Do you say this of yourself, or have others told it you about me, replied Jesus? Am I a Jew? exclaimed Pilate. It is your own nation and the high priests who have handed you over to me. What have you done? My kingdom, replied Jesus, does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my subjects would have resolutely fought to save me from being delivered up to the Jews. But as a matter of fact, my kingdom has not this origin. So then you are a king, rejoined Pilate.
Yes, said Jesus. You say truly that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world to give testimony for the truth. Every one who is a friend of the truth listens to my voice.
What is truth? said Pilate. But no sooner had he spoken the words than he went out again to the Jews and told them, I find no crime in him. But you have a custom that I should release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So shall I release to you the king of the Jews? With a roar of voices they again cried out, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
Chapter 19 Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him, and the soldiers, twisting twigs of thorn into a wreath, put it on his head and threw round him a crimson cloak. Then they began to march up to him, saying in a mocking voice, Hail, King of the Jews! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! And they struck him with the palms of their hands. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, See, I am bringing him out to you to let you clearly understand that I find no crime in him. So Jesus came out, wearing the wreath of thorns and the crimson cloak, and Pilate said to them, See! There is the man. As soon then as the high priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, To the cross! To the cross! Take him yourselves and crucify him, said Pilate, for I at any rate find no crime in him.
We, replied the Jews, have a law, and in accordance with that law he ought to die for having claimed to be the Son of God. More alarmed than ever, Pilate no sooner heard these words than he re-entered the Praetorium and began to question Jesus. "'What is your origin?' he asked. But Jesus gave no answer. "'Do you refuse to speak even to me?' asked Pilate. "'Do you not know that I have it in my power either to release you or to crucify you?' "'You would have had no power whatever over me.' replied Jesus, had it not been granted you from above. On that account, he who has delivered me up to you is more guilty than you are. Upon receiving this answer, Pilate was for releasing him, but the Jews kept shouting, If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar's.
Everyone who sets himself up as king declares himself a rebel against Caesar. On hearing this, Pilate brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat in a place called the pavement, or in Hebrew, Gabbatha. It was the day of preparation for the Passover, about six o'clock in the morning. Then he said to the Jews, There is your king! This caused a storm of outcries. Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! Am I to crucify your king? Pilate asked. We have no king except Caesar, answered the high priests. Then Pilate gave him up to them to be crucified. Accordingly, they took Jesus, and he went out carrying his own cross to the place called Skol Place, or in Hebrew Golgotha, where they nailed him to a cross and two others at the same time, one on each side.
and Jesus in the middle. And Pilate wrote a notice, and had it fastened to the top of the cross. It ran thus, Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this notice, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was in three languages, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. This led the Jewish high priests to remonstrate with Pilate. You should not write the King of the Jews, they said, but that he claimed to be King of the Jews. What I have written, I have written, was Pilate's answer. So the soldiers, as soon as they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, including his tunic, and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. The tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one place.
So they said to one another, Do not let us tear it, let us draw lots for it. This happened, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which says, They shared my garments among them, and drew lots for my clothing. That was just what the soldiers did. Now, standing close to the cross of Jesus, were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. So Jesus, seeing his mother, And seeing the disciple whom he loved standing near, said to his mother, Behold, your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold, your mother. And from that time the disciple received her into his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that everything was now brought to an end, said, that the scripture might be fulfilled.
I am thirsty. There was a jar of wine standing there. With this wine, they filled a sponge, put it on the end of a stalk of hyssop, and lifted it to his mouth. As soon as Jesus had taken the wine, he said, It is finished. And then, bowing his head, He yielded up his spirit.
Meanwhile, the Jews, because it was the day of preparation for the Passover, and in order that the bodies might not remain on the crosses during the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was one of special solemnity, requested Pilate to have the legs of the dying men broken and the bodies removed. Accordingly, the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and also of the other who had been crucified with Jesus. Then they came to Jesus himself, but when they saw that he was already dead, they refrained from breaking his legs. One of the soldiers, however, made a thrust at his side with a lance, and immediately blood and water flowed out. This statement is the testimony of an eyewitness, and it is true.
He knows that he is telling the truth in order that you also may believe. For all this took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, which declares, Not one of his bones shall be broken. And again another scripture says, They shall look on him whom they have pierced. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but for fear of the Jews, a secret disciple, asked Pilate's permission to carry away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and removed the body. Nicodemus, too, he who at first had visited Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, in weight about seventy or eighty pounds. Taking down the body, they wrapped it in linen cloths along with the spices, in accordance with the Jewish mode of preparing for burial.
There was a garden at the place where Jesus had been crucified, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. Therefore, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover, and the tomb was close at hand, they put Jesus there.
Chapter 20 On the first day of the week, very early, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from it. So she ran as fast as she could to find Simon Peter and the other disciple. The one who was dear to Jesus, and to tell them, They have taken the master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put him. Peter and the other disciples started at once to go to the tomb, both of them running. But the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached it before he did. Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying there on the ground, but he did not go in. Simon Peter, however, also came, following him, and entered the tomb.
There, on the ground, he saw the cloths, and the towel, which had been placed over the face of Jesus, not lying with the cloths, but folded up and put by itself. Then the other disciple, who had been the first to come to the tomb, also went in and saw, and was convinced. For until now they had not understood the inspired teaching that he must rise again from among the dead. Then they went away and returned home. Meanwhile Mary remained standing near the tomb, weeping aloud. She did not enter the tomb, but as she wept, she stooped and looked in, and saw two angels, clothed in white raiment, sitting one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been. They spoke to her. "'Why are you weeping?' they asked.
"'Because,' she replied, "'they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have put him.' While she was still speaking, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but did not recognize him. "'Why are you weeping?' he asked. "'Who are you looking for?' She, supposing that he was the gardener, replied, "'Sir,' If you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will remove him.
Mary, said Jesus. She turned to him. Rabboni, she cried in Hebrew. The word means teacher. Do not cling to me, said Jesus, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But take this message to my brethren. I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary of Magdala came and brought word to the disciples. I have seen the Master, she said, and she told them that he had said these things to her. On that same first day of the week, when it was evening, and for fear of the Jews, the doors of the house where the disciples were, were locked. Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, Peace be to you. Having said this, he showed them his hands and also his side, and the disciples were filled with joy at seeing the master.
A second time, therefore, he said to them, Peace be to you. As the Father sent me, I also now send you. Having said this, he breathed upon them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you remit the sins of any persons, they remain remitted to them. If you bind fast the sins of any, they remain bound. Thomas, one of the twelve, surnamed The Twin, was not among them when Jesus came. So the rest of the disciples told him, We have seen the master! His reply was, Unless I see in his hands the wound made by the nails, and put my finger into the wound, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it. A week later the disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them when Jesus came, though the doors were locked, and stood in their midst, and said, Peace be to you.
Then he said to Thomas, Bring your finger here and fill my hands. Bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be ready to disbelieve, but to believe.
My Lord and my God, replied Thomas. Because you have seen me, replied Jesus. You have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. There were also a great number of other signs which Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these have been recorded in order that you may believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, through believing, you may have life through his name.
Chapter 21 After this, Jesus again showed himself to the disciples. It was at the lake of Tiberias. The circumstances were as follows. Simon Peter was with Thomas, called the twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zabdi, and two others of the master's disciples. Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. We will go too, said they. So they set out and went on board their boat, but they caught nothing that night. When, however, day was now dawning, Jesus stood on the beach, though the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. He called to them. Children, he said. Have you any food there? No, they answered. Throw the net in on the right-hand side, he said, and you will find fish. So they threw the net in, and now they could scarcely drag it along for the quantity of fish.
This made the disciple whom Jesus loved say to Peter, It is the master. Simon Peter, therefore, when he heard the words, It is the master, drew on his fisherman's shirt, for he had not been wearing it, put on his girdle, and sprang into the water. But the rest of the disciples came in the small boat, For they were not far from land, only about a hundred yards off, dragging the net full of fish. As soon as they landed, they saw a charcoal fire burning there, with fish broiling on it, and bread close by. Jesus told them to fetch some of the fish which they had just caught. So Simon Peter went on board the boat, and drew the net ashore full of large fish, one hundred fifty, three in number, and yet Although there were so many, the net had not broken.
"'Come this way and have breakfast,' said Jesus. But not one of the disciples ventured to question him as to who he was, for they felt sure that it was the master. Then Jesus came and took the bread and gave them some, and the fish in the same way. This was now the third occasion on which Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he had risen from among the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do? Yes, master, was his answer. You know that you are dear to me. Then feed my lambs, replied Jesus. Again a second time he asked him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, Master, he said. You know that you are dear to me.
Then be a shepherd to my sheep, he said. A third time Jesus put the question, Simon, son of John, am I dear to you? It grieved Peter that Jesus asked him the third time, am I dear to you? Master, he replied, you know everything. You can see that you are dear to me. Then feed my much-loved sheep," said Jesus. In most solemn truth I tell you that whereas when you were young you used to put on your girdle and walk whichever way you chose, when you have grown old you will stretch out your arms, and someone else will put a girdle round you and carry you where you have no wish to go. This, he said, to indicate the kind of death by which that disciple would bring glory to God. And after speaking thus, he said to him, Follow me.
Peter turned round and noticed the disciple whom Jesus loved following, the one who at the supper had leaned back on his breast and had asked, Master, who is it that is betraying you? On seeing him, Peter asked Jesus, And master, what about him? If I desire him to remain till I come, replied Jesus. What concern is that of yours? You, yourself, must follow me. Hence the report spread among the brethren that that disciple would never die. Yet Jesus did not say, He is not to die, but, If I desire him to remain till I come, what concern is that of yours? That is the disciple who gives his testimony as to these matters, and has written this history. And we know, That his testimony is true. But there are also many other things which Jesus did, so vast a number indeed, that if they were all described in detail, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would have to be written.
Amen. and the end of the gospel according to John from the New Testament in Modern Speech, translated by Richard Francis Weymouth.