The Pool of Bethesda

Some time later came the feast[fn] of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

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Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew[fn] is called Bethesda.[fn] 3 On these [ walkways ][fn] lay a great number of the sick, [the] blind, [the] lame, [and the] paralyzed, awaiting the moving of the water.[fn] 4 For from time to time an angel descended into the pool and stirred the water. As soon as the water was stirred, the first to enter [the pool] would be healed of his disease.[fn]

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One man there had been [an] invalid [for] thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying [there] and realized that he had spent vvv a long time [in this condition], He asked him,“Do you want to get well?”

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“Sir,” the invalid replied“I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.”

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Then Jesus told him,“Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”

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Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk.

Now this happened on the Sabbath day, 10 so the Jews said to the [man] who had been healed,“This is [the] Sabbath! vvv It is unlawful for you to carry [your] mat.”

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But he answered“The [man who] made me well told me,‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

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“Who is [this] man who told you to pick up your mat[fn] and walk?” they asked

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But the [man who] was healed {did} not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away [while the] crowd was vvv vvv there.

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Afterward Jesus found [the man] at the temple and said to him,“See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”

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[And] the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

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