John 9

1 As Jesus passed by, he saw a man who had been blind from his birth.

As He passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from his birth.

2 ‘Rabbi,’ asked his disciples, ‘who was it that sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’

So His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned--this man or his parents--that he was born blind?"

3 ‘Neither the man nor the parents,’ replied Jesus, ‘but he was born blind so that the work of God should be made plain in him.

"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.

4 We must do the work of him who sent me, while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

We must do the works of Him who sent me while there is daylight. Night is coming on, when no one can work.

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’

When I am in the world, I am the Light of the world."

6 Saying this, Jesus spat on the ground, made some paste with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.

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,

7 ‘Go,’ he said, ‘and wash your eyes in the Bath of Siloam’ (a word which means “messenger”). So the man went and washed his eyes, and returned able to see.

"Go and wash in the pool of Siloam" --the name means 'Sent.' So he went and washed his eyes, and returned able to see.

8 His neighbours, and those who had formerly known him by sight as a beggar, exclaimed, ‘Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?’

His neighbours, 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?"

9 ‘Yes,’ some said, ‘it is’; while others said, ‘No, but he is like him.’ The man himself said, ‘I am he.’

"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."

10 ‘How did you get your sight, then?’ they asked.

"How then were your eyes opened?" they asked.

11 ‘The man whom they call Jesus,’ he answered, ‘made a paste, and anointed my eyes, and said to me “Go to Siloam and wash your eyes.” So I went and washed my eyes, and gained my sight.’

"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."

12 ‘Where is he?’ they asked. ‘I do not know,’ he answered.

"Where is he?" they inquired, but the man did not know.

13 They took the man, who had been blind, to the Pharisees.

They brought him to the Pharisees--the man who had been blind.

14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the paste and gave him his sight.

Now the day on which Jesus made the clay and opened the man's eyes was the Sabbath.

15 So the Pharisees also questioned the man as to how he had gained his sight. ‘He put a paste on my eyes,’ he answered, ‘and I washed them, and I can see.’

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."

16 ‘The man cannot be from God,’ said some of the Pharisees, ‘for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ ‘How is it possible,’ retorted others, ‘for a bad man to give signs like this?’

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.

17 So there was a difference of opinion among them, and they again questioned the man. ‘What do you yourself say about him, for it is to you that he has given sight?’

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.

18 The religious authorities, however, refused to believe that he had been blind and had gained his sight, until they had called his parents and questioned them.

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,

19 ‘Is this your son,’ they asked, ‘who you say was born blind? If so, how is it that he can see now?’

"Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How is it then that he can now see?"

20 ‘We know that this is our son,’ answered the parents, ‘and that he was born blind;

"We know," replied the parents, "that this is our son and that he was born blind;

21 but how it is that he can see now we do not know; nor do we know who it was that gave him his sight. Ask him – he is old enough – he will tell you about himself.’

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."

22 His parents spoke in this way because they were afraid of the authorities; for the authorities had already agreed that, if anyone should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, he should be expelled from their synagogues.

Such was their answer, because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already settled among themselves that if any one should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, he should be excluded from the synagogue.

23 This was why his parents said “He is old enough; ask him.”

That was why his parents said, "He is of full age: ask him himself."

24 So the authorities again called the man who had been blind, and said to him, ‘Give God the praise; we know that this is a bad man.’

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."

25 ‘I know nothing about his being a bad man,’ he replied. ‘One thing I do know, that although I was blind, now I can see.’

"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."

26 ‘What did he do to you?’ they asked. ‘How did he give you your sight?’

"What did he do to you?" they asked; "how did he open your eyes?"

27 ‘I told you just now,’ he answered, ‘and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Surely you also do not want to become his disciples?’

"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?"

28 ‘You are his disciple,’ they retorted scornfully. ‘But we are disciples of Moses.

Then they railed at him, and said, "You are that man's disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

29 We know that God spoke to Moses; but, as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’

We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this fellow we do not know where he comes from."

30 ‘Well,’ the man replied, ‘this is very strange; you do not know where he comes from, and yet he has given me my sight!

"Why, this is marvellous!" the man replied; "you do not know where he comes from, and yet he has opened my eyes!

31 We know that God never listens to bad people, but, when a person is god-fearing and does God’s will, God listens to them.

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.

32 Since the world began, such a thing was never heard of as anyone’s giving sight to a person born blind. (aiōn g165)

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. (aiōn g165)

33 If this man had not been from God, he could not have done anything at all.’

Had that man not come from God, he could have done nothing."

34 ‘You,’ they retorted, ‘were born totally depraved; and are you trying to teach us?’ So they expelled him.

"You," they replied, "were wholly begotten and born in sin, and do you teach us?" And they put him out of the synagogue.

35 Jesus heard of their having put him out; and, when he had found the man, he asked, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’

Jesus heard that they had done this. So having found him, He asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"

36 ‘Tell me who he is, Sir,’ he replied, ‘so that I may believe in him.’

"Who is He, Sir?" replied the man. "Tell me, so that I may believe in Him."

37 ‘Not only have you seen him,’ said Jesus, ‘but it is he who is now speaking to you.’

"You have seen Him," said Jesus; "and not only so: He is now speaking to you."

38 ‘Then, Sir, I do believe,’ said the man, bowing to the ground before him;

"I believe, Sir," he said. And he threw himself at His feet.

39 and Jesus added, ‘It was to put people to the test that I came into this world, in order that those that cannot see should see, and that those that can see should become blind.’

"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."

40 Hearing this, some of the Pharisees who were with him said, ‘Then are we blind too?’

These words were heard by those of the Pharisees who were present, and they asked Him, "Are we also blind?"

41 ‘If you had been blind,’ replied Jesus, ‘you would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, you say “We can see,” and so your sin remains.

"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!"