John 5:24–47

²⁴“I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life. ²⁵I am telling you the truth: the time is coming—the time has already come—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will come to life. ²⁶Just as the Father is himself the source of life, in the same way he has made his Son to be the source of life. ²⁷And he has given the Son the right to judge, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice ^29*and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

Witnesses to Jesus

³⁰“I can do nothing on my own authority; I judge only as God tells me, so my judgement is right, because I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants.

³¹“If I testify on my own behalf, what I say is not to be accepted as real proof. ³²But there is someone else who testifies on my behalf, and I know that what he says about me is true. ^33*John is the one to whom you sent your messengers, and he spoke on behalf of the truth. ³⁴It is not that I must have a human witness; I say this only in order that you may be saved. ³⁵John was like a lamp, burning and shining, and you were willing for a while to enjoy his light. ³⁶But I have a witness on my behalf which is even greater than the witness that John gave: what I do, that is, the deeds my Father gave me to do, these speak on my behalf and show that the Father has sent me. ^37*And the Father, who sent me, also testifies on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his face, ³⁸and you do not keep his message in your hearts, for you do not believe in the one whom he sent. ³⁹You study the Scriptures, because you think that in them you will find eternal life. And these very Scriptures speak about me! ⁴⁰Yet you are not willing to come to me in order to have life.

⁴¹“I am not looking for human praise. ⁴²But I know what kind of people you are, and I know that you have no love for God in your hearts. ⁴³I have come with my Father’s authority, but you have not received me; when, however, someone comes with his own authority, you will receive him. ⁴⁴You like to receive praise from one another, but you do not try to win praise from the one who alone is God; how, then, can you believe me? ⁴⁵Do not think, however, that I am the one who will accuse you to my Father. Moses, in whom you have put your hope, is the very one who will accuse you. ⁴⁶If you had really believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. ⁴⁷But since you do not believe what he wrote, how can you believe what I say?”