John 5 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

The Healing at Bethesda

Later on there was a Jewish feast (festival), and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now in Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, there is a [fn]pool, which is called in Hebrew (Jewish Aramaic) Bethesda, having five porticoes (alcoves, colonnades).

Jhn 5:3

Jhn 5:3In these porticoes lay a great number of people who were sick, blind, lame, withered, [fn][waiting for the stirring of the water;

Jhn 5:4

Jhn 5:4for an angel of the Lord went down into the pool at appointed seasons and stirred up the water; the first one to go in after the water was stirred was healed of his disease.]

Jhn 5:5

Jhn 5:5There was a certain man there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

Jhn 5:6

Jhn 5:6When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless], knowing that he had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

Jhn 5:7

Jhn 5:7The invalid answered, “Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am coming [to get into it myself], someone else steps down ahead of me.”

Jhn 5:8

Jhn 5:8Jesus said to him, “Get up; pick up your pallet and walk.”

Jhn 5:9

Jhn 5:9Immediately the man was healed and recovered his strength, and [fn]picked up his pallet and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath.

Jhn 5:10

Jhn 5:10So the Jews kept saying to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not [fn]permitted to pick up your pallet [because it is unlawful].”

Jhn 5:11

Jhn 5:11He answered them, “The Man who healed me and gave me back my strength was the One who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’”

Jhn 5:12

Jhn 5:12They asked him, “Who is the Man who told you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?”

Jhn 5:13

Jhn 5:13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away [unnoticed] since there was a crowd in that place.

Jhn 5:14

Jhn 5:14Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

Jhn 5:15

Jhn 5:15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Jhn 5:16

Jhn 5:16For this reason the Jews began to persecute Jesus continually because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.

Jhn 5:17

Jhn 5:17But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now [He has never ceased working], and I too am working.”

Jesus’ Equality with God

Jhn 5:18

Jhn 5:18This made the Jews more determined than ever to kill Him, for not only was He breaking the Sabbath [from their viewpoint], but He was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

Jhn 5:19

So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son [fn]can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way.

Jhn 5:20

Jhn 5:20“For the Father dearly loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be filled with wonder.

Jhn 5:21

Jhn 5:21“Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life [and allows them to live on], even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.

Jhn 5:22

Jhn 5:22“For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment [that is, the prerogative of judging] to the Son [placing it entirely into His hands],

Jhn 5:23

Jhn 5:23so that all will give honor (reverence, homage) to the Son just as they give honor to the Father. [In fact] the one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who has sent Him.

Jhn 5:24

“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the person who hears My word [the one who heeds My message], and believes and trusts in Him who sent Me, has (possesses now) eternal life [that is, eternal life actually begins—the believer is transformed], and does not come into judgment and condemnation, but has passed [over] from death into life.

Two Resurrections

Jhn 5:25

Jhn 5:25“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, a time is coming and is [here] now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live.

Jhn 5:26

Jhn 5:26“For just as the Father has life in Himself [and is self-existent], even so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself [and be self-existent].

Jhn 5:27

Jhn 5:27“And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is a Son of Man [sinless humanity, qualifying Him to sit in judgment over mankind].

Jhn 5:28

Jhn 5:28“Do not be surprised at this; for a time is coming when all those who are in the tombs will hear His voice,

Jhn 5:29

Jhn 5:29and they will come out—those who did good things [will come out] to a resurrection of [new] life, but those who did evil things [will come out] to a resurrection of judgment [that is, to be sentenced].

Jhn 5:30

“I can do nothing on my own initiative or authority. Just as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just (fair, righteous, unbiased), because I do not seek My own will, but only the will of Him who sent Me.

Jhn 5:31

“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not [fn]valid.

Jhn 5:32

Jhn 5:32“There is another [My Father] who testifies about Me, and I know [without any doubt] that His testimony on My behalf is true and valid.

Testimony of John

Jhn 5:33

Jhn 5:33“You have sent [an inquiry] to [fn]John [the Baptist] and he has testified [as an eyewitness] to the truth.

Jhn 5:34

Jhn 5:34“But the testimony I receive is not from man [a merely human witness]; but I say these things so that you may be saved [that is, have eternal life].

Jhn 5:35

Jhn 5:35“John was the lamp that kept on burning and shining [to show you the way], and you were willing for a while to rejoice in his light.

Testimony of Works

Jhn 5:36

Jhn 5:36“But the testimony which I have is far greater than the testimony of John; for the works that the Father has given Me to finish—the very same works [that is, the miracles and proofs of My deity] that I am [now] doing—testify about Me, [by providing evidence] that the Father has sent Me.

Testimony of the Father

Jhn 5:37

Jhn 5:37“And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form [His majesty and greatness—what He is like].

Jhn 5:38

Jhn 5:38“You do not have His word (Scripture) abiding in you [actually living in your hearts and minds], because you do not believe in Him whom He has sent.

Testimony of the Scripture

Jhn 5:39

Jhn 5:39“[fn]You search and keep on searching and examining the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and yet it is those [very Scriptures] that testify about Me;

Jhn 5:40

Jhn 5:40and still you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

Jhn 5:41

Jhn 5:41“I do not receive glory and approval from men;

Jhn 5:42

Jhn 5:42but I know you and recognize that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.

Jhn 5:43

Jhn 5:43“I have come in My Father’s name and with His power, and you do not receive Me [because your minds are closed]; but if another comes in his own name and with no authority or power except his own, you will receive him and give your approval to an imposter.

Jhn 5:44

Jhn 5:44“How can you believe [in Me], when you [seek and] receive glory and approval from one another, and yet you do not seek the glory and approval which comes from the one and only God?

Jhn 5:45

Jhn 5:45“Do not think that I [am the One who] will accuse you before the Father. There [already] is one who accuses you: Moses, [the very one] in whom you have placed your hope [for salvation].

Jhn 5:46

Jhn 5:46“For if you believed and relied on [the Scriptures written by] Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me [personally].

Jhn 5:47

Jhn 5:47“But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

See the AMP Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

AMP Footnotes

(5:2)

In 1888, the location of this pool with its porticoes, as described in this verse, was uncovered.

(5:3)

Early mss do not contain the remainder of v 3, nor v 4.

(5:9)

Under Jewish tradition regarding the Sabbath, the man could have been stoned to death for this act.

(5:10)

The complex Jewish restrictions regarding work on the Sabbath were man-made rules and most were not supported by OT Scripture.

(5:19)

Jesus uses the analogy of a son learning a trade from his father to show the religious leaders that when they condemn what He does, they are condemning the Father as well.

(5:31)

I.e. admissible as legal evidence.

(5:33)

All references to “John” in this Gospel refer to John the Baptist. See note 1:6.

(5:39)

Or Search the Scriptures! The Greek form found here can be either a command or a statement (indicative mood).