John 9:1–23

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9As 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. This happened so that God’s work could be shown in his life. ⁴While it is still day, we must do the work 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 spit 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 neighbors and those who had earlier seen him begging 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 What Happened

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. 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 miraculous signs?”

So the Pharisees did not agree with each other.

¹⁷Finally 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.”

¹⁸The Jews 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 Jews. The Jews had already decided that anyone who said Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. ²³That was why the man’s parents said, “He is an adult. Ask him.”