John 9:31-11:26

English Standard Version

³¹ We know that ^(A)God does not listen to sinners, but ^(B)if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. ³² Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. ^33 (C)If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, ^(D)“You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they ^(E)cast him out.

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in ^(F)the Son of Man?”^{[a] 36} He answered, ^(G)“And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and ^(H)it is he who is speaking to you.” ³⁸ He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. ³⁹ Jesus said, ^(I)“For judgment I came into this world, ^(J)that those who do not see may see, and ^(K)those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ^(L)“Are we also blind?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, ^(M)you would have no guilt;^[b] but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

I Am the Good Shepherd

10 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. ² But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ^5 (N)A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶ This figure of speech Jesus ^(O)used with them, but they ^(P)did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(Q)I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, ^(R)he will be saved and will go in and out and ^(S)find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and ^(T)kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ^11 (U)I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd ^(V)lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is ^(W)a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and ^(X)leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and ^(Y)scatters them. ¹³ He flees because ^(Z)he is a hired hand and ^(AA)cares nothing for the sheep. ^14 (AB)I am the good shepherd. ^(AC)I know my own and ^(AD)my own know me, ^15 (AE)just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and ^(AF)I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And ^(AG)I have other sheep that are not of this fold. ^(AH)I must bring them also, and ^(AI)they will listen to my voice. So there will be ^(AJ)one flock, ^(AK)one shepherd. ^17 (AL)For this reason the Father loves me, ^(AM)because ^(AN)I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ^18 (AO)No one takes it from me, but ^(AP)I lay it down ^(AQ)of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and ^(AR)I have authority to take it up again. ^(AS)This charge I have received from my Father.”

^19 (AT)There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them said, ^(AU)“He has a demon, and ^(AV)is insane; why listen to him?” ²¹ Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. ^(AW)Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

I and the Father Are One

²² At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was walking in the temple, ^(AX)in the colonnade of Solomon. ²⁴ So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are ^(AY)the Christ, ^(AZ)tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. ^(BA)The works that I do ^(BB)in my Father's name bear witness about me, ²⁶ but ^(BC)you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. ^27 (BD)My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ^28 (BE)I give them eternal life, and ^(BF)they will never perish, and ^(BG)no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, ^(BH)who has given them to me,^{[c] (BI)}is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of ^(BJ)the Father's hand. ^30 (BK)I and the Father are one.”

^31 (BL)The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. ³² Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” ³³ The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but ^(BM)for blasphemy, because you, being a man, ^(BN)make yourself God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in ^(BO)your Law, ^(BP)‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be ^(BQ)broken— ³⁶ do you say of him whom ^(BR)the Father consecrated and ^(BS)sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because ^(BT)I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ^37 (BU)If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸ but if I do them, ^(BV)even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that ^(BW)the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ^39 (BX)Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰ He went away again across the Jordan to the place ^(BY)where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. ⁴¹ And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but ^(BZ)everything that John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And ^(CA)many believed in him there.

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of ^(CB)Mary and her sister Martha. ^2 (CC)It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, ^(CD)he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, ^(CE)“This illness does not lead to death. It is for ^(CF)the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now ^(CG)Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus^[d] was ill, ^(CH)he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, ^(CI)“Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, ^(CJ)“Rabbi, ^(CK)the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, ^(CL)“Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^(CM)If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But ^(CN)if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not ^(CO)in him.” ¹¹ After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ^(CP)has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ^16 (CQ)So Thomas, called the Twin,^[e] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, ^(CR)that we may die with him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb ^(CS)four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[f] off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary ^(CT)to console them concerning their brother. ^20 (CU)So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to ^(CV)Jesus, “Lord, ^(CW)if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, ^(CX)God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ^24 (CY)Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in ^(CZ)the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, ^(DA)“I am the resurrection and ^(DB)the life.^[g] Whoever believes in me, ^(DC)though he die, ^(DD)yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me ^(DE)shall never die. Do you believe this?”