John 9:1–23

Jesus Gives Sight to a Blind Man

¹As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been born blind. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, why was this man born blind? Did he or his parents sin?” 

³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. Instead, he was born blind so that God could show what he can do for him. ⁴We must do what the one who sent me wants us to do while it is day. The night when no one can do anything is coming. ⁵As long as I’m in the world, I’m light for the world.” 

⁶After Jesus said this, he spit on the ground and mixed the spit with dirt. Then he smeared it on the man’s eyes ⁷and told him, “Wash it off in the pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means “sent.”) The blind man washed it off and returned. He was able to see. 

⁸His neighbors and those who had previously seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 

⁹Some of them said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, he isn’t, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am the one.” 

¹⁰So they asked him, “How did you receive your sight?” 

¹¹He replied, “The man people call Jesus mixed some spit with dirt, smeared it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam, and wash it off.’ So I went there, washed it off, and received my sight.” 

¹²They asked him, “Where is that man?” 

The man answered, “I don’t know.” 

¹³Some people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴The day when Jesus mixed the spit and dirt and gave the man sight was a day of rest—a holy day. ¹⁵So the Pharisees asked the man again how he received his sight. 

The man told the Pharisees, “He put a mixture of spit and dirt on my eyes. I washed it off, and now I can see.” 

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “The man who did this is not from God because he doesn’t follow the traditions for the day of rest—a holy day.” Other Pharisees asked, “How can a man who is a sinner perform miracles like these?” So the Pharisees were divided in their opinions. 

¹⁷They asked the man who had been born blind another question: “What do you say about the man who gave you sight?” 

The man answered, “He’s a prophet.” 

¹⁸Until they talked to the man’s parents, the Jews didn’t believe that the man had been blind and had been given sight. ¹⁹They asked his parents, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? Why can he see now?” 

²⁰His parents replied, “We know that he’s our son and that he was born blind. ²¹But we don’t know how he got his sight or who gave it to him. You’ll have to ask him. He’s old enough to answer for himself.” ²²(His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. The Jews had already agreed to put anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ out of the synagogue. ²³That’s why his parents said, “You’ll have to ask him. He’s old enough.”)