John 9

1 As Jesus 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?’

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. 4 We must do the work of him who sent me, while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as 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. 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. 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?’

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

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

12 ‘Where is he?’ they asked. ‘I do not know,’ he answered. 13 They took the man, who had been blind, to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the paste and gave him his sight. 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.’

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

20 ‘We know that this is our son,’ answered the parents, ‘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.’ 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. 23 This was why his parents said “He is old enough; ask him.” 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.’

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.’

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

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?’

28 ‘You are his disciple,’ they retorted scornfully. ‘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.’

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! 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. 32 Since the world began, such a thing was never heard of as anyone’s giving sight to a person born blind. 33 If this man had not been from God, he could not have done anything at all.’

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

36 ‘Tell me who he is, Sir,’ he replied, ‘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.’

38 ‘Then, Sir, I do believe,’ said the man, bowing to the ground before him; 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.’ 40 Hearing this, some of the Pharisees who were with him said, ‘Then are we blind too?’

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.

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