Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
34
Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
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The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever.
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So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
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I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word.
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I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”
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39
They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing
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what Abraham did,
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but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
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You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.”
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Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.
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Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word.
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You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
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But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
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Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
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Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.”
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The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
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Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.
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Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge.
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Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
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The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
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Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?”
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Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’
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though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word.
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Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.”
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Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
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58
Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”
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So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
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As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
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His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
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Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.
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We
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must work the works of him who sent me
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while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
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As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
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When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,
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saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.
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The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”
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Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”
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But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
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He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”
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They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
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They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
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Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
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Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”
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Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided.
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So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
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The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight
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and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
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His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
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but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”
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His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus
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to be the Messiah
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would be put out of the synagogue.
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Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
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So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”
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He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
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They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
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He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
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Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
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We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
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The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
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We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.
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Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.
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If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
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They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
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Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
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36
He answered, “And who is he, sir?
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Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”
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Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”
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He said, “Lord,
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I believe.” And he worshiped him.
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Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.”
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Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”
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Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
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“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.
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The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
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The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
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When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
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They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
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Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
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So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
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All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.
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I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
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The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
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“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
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The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
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The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
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I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
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just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
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I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
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For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
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No one takes
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it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.