John 13:1–17

JESUS WASHES HIS DISCIPLES’ FEET

13Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father.^aw Having loved his own who were in the world,^ax he loved them to the end.

²Now when it was time for supper, the devil^ay had already put it into the heart of Judas,^az Simon Iscariot’s son,^B to betray^ba him. ³Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands,^bb that he had come from God,^bc and that he was going back to God.^{bd 4}So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing,^be took a towel, and tied it around himself.^{bf 5}Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.

⁶He came to Simon Peter,^bg who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”^a

⁸“You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.

Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”

¹⁰“One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

THE MEANING OF FOOT WASHING

¹²When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.^{b 15}For I have given you an example,^c that you also should do just as I have done for you.

¹⁶“Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master,^Cd and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.^e