1As Jesus went along, he saw a man who was blind. He had been blind since he was born.2Jesus’ disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned? Was this man born blind because he sinned? Or did his parents sin?’3‘It isn’t because this man sinned,’ said Jesus. ‘It isn’t because his parents sinned. He was born blind so that God’s power could be shown by what’s going to happen.4While it is still day, we must do the works of the one who sent me. Night is coming. Then no one can work.5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’6After he said this, he spat on the ground. He made some mud with the spit. Then he put the mud on the man’s eyes.7‘Go’, he told him. ‘Wash in the Pool of Siloam.’ Siloam means Sent. So the man went and washed. And he came home able to see.8His neighbours and people who had seen him begging earlier asked questions. ‘Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?’ they asked.9Some claimed that he was. Others said, ‘No. He only looks like him.’ But the man who had been blind kept saying, ‘I am the man.’10‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ they asked.11He 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. Then I could see.’12‘Where is this man?’ they asked him. ‘I don’t know,’ he said.
The Pharisees want to know how the blind man was healed
13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.14The day Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath day.15So the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. ‘He put mud on my eyes,’ the man replied. ‘Then I washed. And now I can see.’16Some of the Pharisees said, ‘Jesus has not come from God. He does not keep the Sabbath day.’ But others asked, ‘How can a sinner do such signs?’ So the Pharisees did not agree with one another.17Then they turned again to the blind man. ‘What do you have to say about him?’ they asked. ‘It was your eyes he opened.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’18They still did not believe that the man had been blind and now could see. So they sent for his 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.21But we don’t know how he can now see. And we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is an adult. He can speak for himself.’22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. The leaders had already made this decision about Jesus. Anyone who said Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.23That was why the man’s parents said, ‘He is an adult. Ask him.’24Again the Pharisees called the man who had been blind to come to them. ‘Give glory to God by telling the truth!’ they said. ‘We know that the man who healed you is a sinner.’25He replied, ‘I don’t know if he is a sinner or not. I do know one thing. I was blind, but now I can see!’26Then they asked him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’27He answered, ‘I have already told you. But you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?’28Then they began to attack him with their words. ‘You are this fellow’s disciple!’ they said. ‘We are disciples of Moses!29We know that God spoke to Moses. But we don’t even know where this fellow comes from.’30The man answered, ‘That is really surprising! You don’t know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.31We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does what he wants them to do.32Nobody has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of a person born blind.33If this man had not come from God, he could do nothing.’34Then the Pharisees replied, ‘When you were born, you were already deep in sin. How dare you talk like that to us!’ And they threw him out of the synagogue.
People who can’t see the truth
35Jesus heard that the Pharisees had thrown the man out of the synagogue. When Jesus found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’36‘Who is he, sir?’ the man asked. ‘Tell me, so I can believe in him.’37Jesus said, ‘You have now seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you.’38Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him.39Jesus said, ‘I have come into this world to judge it. I have come so that people who are blind will see. I have come so that people who can see will become blind.’40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this. They asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’41Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, you remain guilty.
John 9
English Standard Version
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
1As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.2And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Ex 20:5; Lu 13:2; Lu 13:4; Joh 1:38; Joh 9:34)3Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. (Joh 11:4)4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. (Joh 4:34; Joh 11:9; Joh 12:35; Ro 13:12; Ga 6:10)5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (Joh 1:4; Joh 1:9; Joh 8:12)6Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud (Mt 9:29; Mr 7:33; Mr 8:23)7and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. (Lu 13:4; Joh 11:37)8The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” (Ac 3:2; Ac 3:10)9Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”10So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”11He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” (Joh 9:6)12They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.14Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. (Joh 5:9)15So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” (Joh 9:10)16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. (Mt 12:2; Joh 7:29; Joh 7:43; Joh 9:33; Joh 10:19)17So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” (Joh 4:19; Joh 6:14)18The Jews[1] did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight (Joh 9:13; Joh 9:22)19and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”20His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.21But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”22(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus[2] to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) (Joh 7:13; Joh 7:45; Joh 12:42; Joh 16:2; Ro 10:9)23Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” (Joh 9:21)24So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” (Jos 7:19; 1Sa 6:5; Isa 42:12; Jer 13:16; Joh 9:16; Ac 12:23)25He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (Joh 9:18; Joh 9:24)26They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”27He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” (Joh 9:15)28And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. (Joh 5:45)29We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” (Joh 8:14)30The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. (Joh 3:10; Joh 12:37)31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. (Job 27:9; Ps 34:15; Ps 66:18; Ps 145:19; Pr 15:20; Pr 28:9; Jas 5:16)32Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (Joh 1:21; Joh 3:2; Joh 9:16)34They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. (Joh 9:2; Joh 9:22)35Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[3] (Joh 10:36)36He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” (Ro 10:14)37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” (Joh 4:26)38He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.39Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (Mt 9:13; Mt 11:25; Mt 13:13; Mr 4:12; Lu 4:18; Joh 5:22; 2Co 2:16)40Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” (Ro 2:19)41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt;[4] but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. (Joh 15:22; Joh 15:24; Joh 19:11; 1Jo 1:8)