John 9

1As Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, so that this man was born blind? Was it he, or his parents?” 3Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents. It was so that the works of God might be made visible in him. 4While it is still day, we have to do the works of the one who sent me. Night is on its way, and then no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on the man’s eyes. 7Then he told him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam” (the name means Sent). So the man went and washed, and he came back able to see. 8His neighbors, and others who had seen him earlier as a beggar, began asking, “Is this not the man who sat begging?” 9Some said, “That is the man.” Others said, “No, it is someone who looks like him.” The man himself kept saying, “I am the one.” 10So they asked him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11He answered, “The man named Jesus made mud and spread it on my eyes. He told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went off and washed, and I began to see.” 12They asked him, “Where is he?” “I do not know,” he said.

13They took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14Now it was on a Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes. 15So the Pharisees in turn asked him how he had gained his sight. He told them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I can see now.” 16Then some of the Pharisees said, “This man does not come from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How could a sinful man do signs like these?” And they were divided. 17So they questioned the man who had been blind once more: “And you, what do you say about him, since it was your eyes he opened?” He answered, “He is a prophet.”

18The Jewish leaders did not believe that he had been blind and had gained his sight, until they summoned the parents of the man who could now see. 19They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is he able to see now?” 20His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. 21But how he can see now, we do not know, and we do not know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age and can answer for himself.” 22His parents spoke in this way out of fear of the Jewish leaders, who had already agreed that anyone who confessed him as the Christ would be expelled from the synagogue. 23This was why his parents said, “He is of age. Question him.”

24So they summoned the man who had been blind a second time and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25He answered, “Whether he is a sinner, I do not know. I do know one thing: I used to be blind, and now I can see.” 26Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Could it be that you want to become his disciples as well?” 28They insulted him and said, “You are a disciple of that man, but we are disciples of Moses. 29We know that God has spoken to Moses. Where this man comes from, we do not know.” 30The man answered them, “Well, here is something to wonder at: you do not know where he comes from, and still he opened my eyes! 31We know that God does not listen to sinners. But if someone reveres God and does his will, he listens to them. 32In all the ages, no one has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of someone born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything at all.” 34They answered him, “You were born in sin through and through, and now you are teaching us?” And they threw him out.

35Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36The man answered, “Who is he, Sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him; he is the one who is speaking with you.” 38He said, “I believe, Lord.” And he worshiped him. 39Jesus said, “I came into this world to bring judgment, so that those who cannot see will see, and those who see will become blind.” 40Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “You do not mean that we are blind too, do you?” 41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin. But you say, ‘We can see,’ so your sin remains.”