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ParallelVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yhn Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 5 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) But Yeshua just replied, “My father is working today, and so I’m also working.”![]()
OET-LV But he answered to_them:
The father of_me is_working until now, and_I am_working.
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SR-GNT Ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς, “Ὁ Πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι.” ‡
(Ho de apekrinato autois, “Ho Pataʸr mou heōs arti ergazetai, kagō ergazomai.”)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT But he replied to them, “My Father is working even now, and I am working.”
UST Jesus gave this answer to them, “God, my Father, is working today, so I am also working.”
BSB But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
MSB (Same as BSB above)
BLB But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working."
AICNT But {he}[fn] answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
5:17, he: 𝔓75 ℵ(01) B(03) W(032) SBLGNT THGNT ‖ Some manuscripts read “Jesus.” 𝔓66 A(02) D(05) Latin(a b e ff2 ) Syriac(sys) BYZ TR NA28 [ ]
OEB But Jesus replied, ‘My Father works to this very hour, and I work also.’
LSB But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”
WEBBE But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”
WMBB But Yeshua answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”
NET So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.”
LSV And Jesus answered them, “My Father works until now, and I work”;
FBV But Jesus told them, “My Father is still working, and so am I.”[fn]
5:17 Or “My Father is always working, and I am working too.”
TCNT But Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working even now, and I too am working.”
T4T Then Jesus replied to them, “My Father has always been working every day, including ◄the Sabbath/the day of rest►, up until now. I am doing the same thing!”
LEB But he answered[fn] them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
5:17 Some manuscripts have “Jesus answered”
BBE But his answer was: My Father is still working even now, and so I am working.
Moff The reply of Jesus was, "As my Father has continued working to this hour, so I work too." But this only made the Jews more eager to kill him, because he not merely broke the sabbath but actually spoke of God as his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.
Wymth His reply to their accusation was, "My Father works unceasingly, and so do I."
ASV But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work.
DRA But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work.
YLT And Jesus answered them, 'My Father till now doth work, and I work;'
Drby But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto and I work.
RV But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work.
(But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh/works even until now, and I work. )
SLT And Jesus answered, My Father works till now, and I work.
Wbstr But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
KJB-1769 ¶ But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
(¶ But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh/works hither/hereto, and I work. )
KJB-1611 ¶ But Iesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, & I worke.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)
Bshps And Iesus aunswered them: My father worketh hitherto, and I worke.
(And Yesus/Yeshua answered them: My father worketh/works hither/hereto, and I work.)
Gnva But Iesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I worke.
(But Yesus/Yeshua answered them, My Father worketh/works hither/hereto, and I work. )
Cvdl But Iesus answered them: My father worketh hither to, and I worke also.
(But Yesus/Yeshua answered them: My father worketh/works hither/hereto, and I work also.)
TNT And Iesus answered them: my father worketh hidder to and I worke.
(And Yesus/Yeshua answered them: my father worketh/works hither/here to and I work. )
Wycl And Jhesus answeride to hem, My fadir worchith til now, and Y worche.
(And Yhesus answered to hem, My father worketh/works till now, and I work.)
Luth JEsus aber antwortete ihnen: Mein Vater wirket bisher, und ich wirke auch.
(Yesus but replied to_them: My father works/acts until_now, and I wirke also.)
ClVg Jesus autem respondit eis: Pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor.[fn]
(Yesus however answered to_them: Pater mine until just/only works, and I operor. )
5.17 Jesus autem respondit. Quasi dicat cæci in lege cur mihi invidetis, si hominem in sabbato sano, qui Deus cum Patre semper operor.
5.17 Yesus however answered. As_if let_him_say blind in/into/on lawfully cur to_me enviesis, when/but_if man in/into/on on_the_sabbath sano, who/which God when/with Father always operor.
UGNT ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς, ὁ Πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι.
(ho de apekrinato autois, ho Pataʸr mou heōs arti ergazetai, kagō ergazomai.)
SBL-GNT ὁ ⸀δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς· Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι.
(ho ⸀de apekrinato autois; Ho pataʸr mou heōs arti ergazetai kagō ergazomai.)
RP-GNT Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς, Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι.
(Ho de Yaʸsous apekrinato autois, Ho pataʸr mou heōs arti ergazetai, kagō ergazomai.)
TC-GNT Ὁ δὲ [fn]Ἰησοῦς ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς, Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι.
(Ho de Yaʸsous apekrinato autois, Ho pataʸr mou heōs arti ergazetai, kagō ergazomai. )
5:17 ιησους ¦ — SBL TH WH
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
5:17 My Father is always working, and so am I: Although work was prohibited on the Sabbath, even rabbis agreed that God worked on the Sabbath in giving life (births) and in taking life (deaths). The heart of Jesus’ defense was to compare himself to God; the Jewish leaders objected to this claim of divine privilege.
In this section Jesus healed a lame man who was lying by a pool of water. Because Jesus healed him on a Sabbath day, the Jewish leaders became angry. They believed that healing a person was work and that Jews should not work on the Sabbath.
The man who was healed did not know who had healed him. Then Jesus met this man in the temple. He told him that he should not sin anymore. The healed man went to the Jewish leaders and told them that it was Jesus who had healed him.
Here are some other possibilities for a section heading:
Jesus healed a lame man on the Sabbath.
Jewish leaders criticized Jesus for healing a man on the holy/rest day.
Jesus found the man he had healed and told him to stop sinning. The man immediately went to the Jewish leaders and told them who had healed him.
The Jewish leaders came to Jesus and asked him to tell them who he was. Jesus told them that God was his Father. Jesus said that his work, like his Father’s work, continues on and does not stop on the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders were upset with him because he implied that he was equal to God.
But Jesus answered them,
But Jesus told them,
Jesus responded to them by saying,
But Jesus’ answer to them was this, (JBP)
But: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as But here introduces Jesus’ response to the Jewish leaders’ persecution. Jesus defended himself against their belief that he should not be healing people on the Sabbath. He argued that it was the right thing to do. Some translations, such as the NIV, leave this conjunction untranslated. Introduce Jesus’ argument in a way that is natural in your language.
Jesus answered them: Jesus was responding to the behavior of the Jewish leaders rather than answering a specific question. So it may be natural to translate this phrase without using the word answered. For example:
Jesus said to them (NIV)
So he told them (NET)
“To this very day My Father is at His work,
“My Father is always working, even now,
“God, my Father, has never stopped working,
To this very day My Father is at His work: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as is at His work is more literally “is working until now.” It implies that because God works even on the rest day, Jesus can also work on that day. The Jewish Scriptures say that God rested from his work on the seventh day of creation (Genesis 2:2–3). But Jesus was saying that God continued to work through all of history. He never stopped acting in his world, helping and providing for people. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
My Father never stops working (NCV)
My Father has never stopped working (CEV)
My Father is working right now (GW)
My Father: This phrase refers to God. Jesus was implying that he considered that God was his father. If this is not clear, it may be necessary to say:
My Father God
is at His work: The word work does not here refer to physical labor or effort. It refers to what God does to help people. God was continuing to act in the world.
and I too am working.”
and like him I continue to work.”
and so I keep on working too.”
and I too am working: The Greek word that the BSB translates as and joins God’s work and Jesus’ work. Both were doing the same work.
By saying this, Jesus implied two things:
The Father’s work, like his own, was to help people
It was because the Father was working that he, the Son, must work.
Here are other ways to translate this clause:
My Father is still working, and I also am working. (NRSV)
My Father is working right now, and so am I. (GW)
My Father continues to work helping people, and I must do the same.
Note 1 topic: guidelines-sonofgodprinciples
ὁ Πατήρ μου
he (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς Ὁ Πατήρ μού ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται κἀγώ ἐργάζομαι)
Father is an important title for God.