ዮሐንስ 9

Jesus heals a man born blind

¹As Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, so that this man was born blind? Was it he, or his parents?” ³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents. It was so that the works of God might be made visible in him.^{a 4}While it is still day, we have to do the works of the one who sent me. Night is on its way, and then no one can work.^{b 5}While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on the man’s eyes. ⁷Then he told him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam” (the name means Sent). So the man went and washed, and he came back able to see. ⁸His neighbors, and others who had seen him earlier as a beggar, began asking, “Is this not the man who sat begging?”^{c 9}Some said, “That is the man.” Others said, “No, it is someone who looks like him.” The man himself kept saying, “I am the one.” ¹⁰So they asked him, “How were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “The man named Jesus made mud and spread it on my eyes. He told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went off and washed, and I began to see.” ¹²They asked him, “Where is he?” “I do not know,” he said.

The Pharisees question the man

¹³They took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴Now it was on a Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵So the Pharisees in turn asked him how he had gained his sight. He told them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I can see now.” ¹⁶Then some of the Pharisees said, “This man does not come from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How could a sinful man do signs like these?” And they were divided. ¹⁷So they questioned the man who had been blind once more: “And you, what do you say about him, since it was your eyes he opened?” He answered, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸The Jewish leaders did not believe that he had been blind and had gained his sight, until they summoned the parents of the man who could now see. ¹⁹They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind?^d So how is he able to see now?” ²⁰His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. ²¹But how he can see now, we do not know, and we do not know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age and can answer for himself.” ²²His parents spoke in this way out of fear of the Jewish leaders, who had already agreed that anyone who confessed him as the Christ would be expelled from the synagogue.^{ef 23}This was why his parents said, “He is of age. Question him.”

²⁴So they summoned the man who had been blind a second time and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”^{g 25}He answered, “Whether he is a sinner, I do not know. I do know one thing: I used to be blind, and now I can see.” ²⁶Then they asked 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?^h Could it be that you want to become his disciples as well?” ²⁸They insulted him and said, “You are a disciple of that man, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses. Where this man comes from, we do not know.” ³⁰The man answered them, “Well, here is something to wonder at: you do not know where he comes from, and still he opened my eyes! ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners. But if someone reveres God and does his will, he listens to them. ³²In all the ages, no one has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of someone born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything at all.” ³⁴They answered him, “You were born in sin through and through, and now you are teaching us?” And they threw him out.ⁱ

Those who see and those who are blind

³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”^{j 36}The man answered, “Who is he, Sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”^{k 37}Jesus said to him, “You have seen him; he is the one who is speaking with you.” ³⁸He said, “I believe, Lord.” And he worshiped him.^{lm 39}Jesus said, “I came into this world to bring judgment, so that those who cannot see will see, and those who see will become blind.” ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “You do not mean that we are blind too, do you?” ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin. But you say, ‘We can see,’ so your sin remains.”