Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said
Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be
displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the
works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can
work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the
world.”
6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some
mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.
7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this
word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came
home seeing.
8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him
begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and
beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only
looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud
and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash.
So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,”
he said.
The Pharisees Investigate the Healing
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been
blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and
opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the
Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He
put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now
I see.”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from
God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked,
“How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.
17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have
you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man
replied, “He is a prophet.”
18 They still did not believe that he had been blind
and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s
parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one
you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and
we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who
opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he
will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because
they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had
decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the
Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why
his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been
blind. “Give glory to God and tell the truth,” they said.
“We know this man is a sinner.”
25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t
know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did
he open your eyes?”
27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did
not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to
become his disciples too?”
28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are
this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We
know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we
don’t even know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t
know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know
that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly
person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of
opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were
not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at
birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
Spiritual Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when
he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I
may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is
the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he
worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this
world, so that the blind will see and those who see will
become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this
and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be
guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your
guilt remains.
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