John 7Living Bible (TLB) 7 After this, Jesus went to Galilee, going from village to village, for he wanted to stay out of Judea where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. 2 But soon it was time for the Tabernacle Ceremonies, one of the annual Jewish holidays, 3 and Jesus’ brothers urged him to go to Judea for the celebration. “Go where more people can see your miracles!” they scoffed. 4 “You can’t be famous when you hide like this! If you’re so great, prove it to the world!” 5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him. 6 Jesus replied, “It is not the right time for me to go now. But you can go anytime and it will make no difference, 7 for the world can’t hate you; but it does hate me, because I accuse it of sin and evil. 8 You go on, and I’ll come later when it is the right time.” 9 So he remained in Galilee. 10 But after his brothers had left for the celebration, then he went too, though secretly, staying out of the public eye. 11 The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the celebration and kept asking if anyone had seen him. 12 There was a lot of discussion about him among the crowds. Some said, “He’s a wonderful man,” while others said, “No, he’s duping the public.” 13 But no one had the courage to speak out for him in public for fear of reprisals from the Jewish leaders. 14 Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and preached openly. 15 The Jewish leaders were surprised when they heard him. “How can he know so much when he’s never been to our schools?” they asked. 16 So Jesus told them, “I’m not teaching you my own thoughts, but those of God who sent me. 17 If any of you really determines to do God’s will, then you will certainly know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. 18 Anyone presenting his own ideas is looking for praise for himself, but anyone seeking to honor the one who sent him is a good and true person. 19 None of you obeys the laws of Moses! So why pick on me for breaking them? Why kill me for this?” 20 The crowd replied, “You’re out of your mind! Who’s trying to kill you?” 21-23 Jesus replied, “I worked on the Sabbath by healing a man, and you were surprised. But you work on the Sabbath, too, whenever you obey Moses’ law of circumcision (actually, however, this tradition of circumcision is older than the Mosaic law); for if the correct time for circumcising your children falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it, as you should. So why should I be condemned for making a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24 Think this through and you will see that I am right.” 25 Some of the people who lived there in Jerusalem said among themselves, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 But here he is preaching in public, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that our leaders have learned, after all, that he really is the Messiah? 27 But how could he be? For we know where this man was born; when Christ comes, he will just appear and no one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus, in a sermon in the Temple, called out, “Yes, you know me and where I was born and raised, but I am the representative of one you don’t know, and he is Truth. 29 I know him because I was with him, and he sent me to you.” 30 Then the Jewish leaders sought to arrest him; but no hand was laid on him, for God’s time had not yet come. 31 Many among the crowds at the Temple believed on him. “After all,” they said, “what miracles do you expect the Messiah to do that this man hasn’t done?” 32 When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were in this mood, they and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Jesus. 33 But Jesus told them, “Not yet! I am to be here a little longer. Then I shall return to the one who sent me. 34 You will search for me but not find me. And you won’t be able to come where I am!” 35 The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement. “Where is he planning to go?” they asked. “Maybe he is thinking of leaving the country and going as a missionary among the Jews in other lands, or maybe even to the Gentiles! 36 What does he mean about our looking for him and not being able to find him, and, ‘You won’t be able to come where I am’?” 37 On the last day, the climax of the holidays, Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water shall flow from the inmost being of anyone who believes in me.” 39 (He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him; but the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet returned to his glory in heaven.) 40 When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “This man surely is the prophet who will come just before the Messiah.” 41-42 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where David was born.” 43 So the crowd was divided about him. 44 And some wanted him arrested, but no one touched him. 45 The Temple police who had been sent to arrest him returned to the chief priests and Pharisees. “Why didn’t you bring him in?” they demanded. 46 “He says such wonderful things!” they mumbled. “We’ve never heard anything like it.” 47 “So you also have been led astray?” the Pharisees mocked. 48 “Is there a single one of us Jewish rulers or Pharisees who believes he is the Messiah? 49 These stupid crowds do, yes; but what do they know about it? A curse upon them anyway!” 50 Then Nicodemus spoke up. (Remember him? He was the Jewish leader who came secretly to interview Jesus.) 51 “Is it legal to convict a man before he is even tried?” he asked. 52 They replied, “Are you a wretched Galilean too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophets will come from Galilee!” 53 Then the meeting broke up and everybody went home.
John 8Living Bible (TLB) 8 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and talked to them. 3 As he was speaking, the Jewish leaders and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and placed her out in front of the staring crowd. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. 5 Moses’ law says to kill her. What about it?” 6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, hurl the stones at her until she dies. But only he who never sinned may throw the first!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote some more in the dust. 9 And the Jewish leaders slipped away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until only Jesus was left in front of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, sir,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” 12 Later, in one of his talks, Jesus said to the people, “I am the Light of the world. So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path.” 13 The Pharisees replied, “You are boasting—and lying!” 14 Jesus told them, “These claims are true even though I make them concerning myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. 15 You pass judgment on me without knowing the facts. I am not judging you now; 16 but if I were, it would be an absolutely correct judgment in every respect, for I have with me the Father who sent me. 17 Your laws say that if two men agree on something that has happened, their witness is accepted as fact. 18 Well, I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.” 19 “Where is your father?” they asked. Jesus answered, “You don’t know who I am, so you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, then you would know him too.” 20 Jesus made these statements while in the section of the Temple known as the Treasury. But he was not arrested, for his time had not yet run out. 21 Later he said to them again, “I am going away; and you will search for me, and die in your sins. And you cannot come where I am going.” 22 The Jews asked, “Is he planning suicide? What does he mean, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?” 23 Then he said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not. 24 That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am the Messiah, the Son of God, you will die in your sins.” 25 “Tell us who you are,” they demanded. He replied, “I am the one I have always claimed to be. 26 I could condemn you for much and teach you much, but I won’t, for I say only what I am told to by the one who sent me; and he is Truth.” 27 But they still didn’t understand that he was talking to them about God. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have killed the Messiah, then you will realize that I am he and that I have not been telling you my own ideas, but have spoken what the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me—for I always do those things that are pleasing to him.” 30-31 Then many of the Jewish leaders who heard him say these things began believing him to be the Messiah. Jesus said to them, “You are truly my disciples if you live as I tell you to, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said, “and have never been slaves to any man on earth! What do you mean, ‘set free’?” 34 Jesus replied, “You are slaves of sin, every one of you. 35 And slaves don’t have rights, but the Son has every right there is! 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free— 37 (Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham!) And yet some of you are trying to kill me because my message does not find a home within your hearts. 38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.” 39 “Our father is Abraham,” they declared. “No!” Jesus replied, “for if he were, you would follow his good example.40 But instead you are trying to kill me—and all because I told you the truth I heard from God. Abraham wouldn’t do a thing like that! 41 No, you are obeying your real father when you act that way.” They replied, “We were not born out of wedlock—our true Father is God himself.” 42 Jesus told them, “If that were so, then you would love me, for I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me.43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you are prevented from doing so! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and a hater of truth—there is not an iota of truth in him. When he lies, it is perfectly normal; for he is the father of liars.45 And so when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe it! 46 “Which of you can truthfully accuse me of one single sin? No one!And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?47 Anyone whose Father is God listens gladly to the words of God. Since you don’t, it proves you aren’t his children.” 48 “You Samaritan! Foreigner! Devil!” the Jewish leaders snarled. “Didn’t we say all along you were possessed by a demon?” 49 “No,” Jesus said, “I have no demon in me. For I honor my Father—and you dishonor me. 50 And though I have no wish to make myself great, God wants this for me and judges those who reject me.51 With all the earnestness I have I tell you this—no one who obeys me shall ever die!” 52 The leaders of the Jews said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the mightiest prophets died, and yet you say that obeying you will keep a man from dying! 53 So you are greater than our father Abraham, who died? And greater than the prophets, who died? Who do you think you are?” 54 Then Jesus told them this: “If I am merely boasting about myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father—and you claim him as your God—who is saying these glorious things about me. 55 But you do not even know him. I do. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But it is true—I know him and fully obey him.56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He knew I was coming and was glad.” 57 The Jewish leaders: “You aren’t even fifty years old—sure, you’ve seen Abraham!” 58 Jesus: “The absolute truth is that I was in existence before Abraham was ever born!” 59 At that point the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him. But Jesus was hidden from them, and walked past them and left the Temple.
John 9Living Bible (TLB) 9 As he was walking along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 “Master,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it a result of his own sins or those of his parents?” 3 “Neither,” Jesus answered. “But to demonstrate the power of God. 4 All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, for there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end. 5 But while I am still here in the world, I give it my light.” 6 Then he spat on the ground and made mud from the spittle and smoothed the mud over the blind man’s eyes, 7 and told him, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam” (the word Siloam means “Sent”). So the man went where he was sent and washed and came back seeing! 8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Is this the same fellow—that beggar?” 9 Some said yes, and some said no. “It can’t be the same man,” they thought, “but he surely looks like him!” And the beggar said, “I am the same man!” 10 Then they asked him how in the world he could see. What had happened? 11 And he told them, “A man they call Jesus made mud and smoothed it over my eyes and told me to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash off the mud. I did, and I can see!” 12 “Where is he now?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied. 13 Then they took the man to the Pharisees. 14 Now as it happened, this all occurred on a Sabbath.15 Then the Pharisees asked him all about it. So he told them how Jesus had smoothed the mud over his eyes, and when it was washed away, he could see! 16 Some of them said, “Then this fellow Jesus is not from God because he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miracles?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them. 17 Then the Pharisees turned on the man who had been blind and demanded, “This man who opened your eyes—who do you say he is?” “I think he must be a prophet sent from God,” the man replied. 18 The Jewish leaders wouldn’t believe he had been blind, until they called in his parents 19 and asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he see?” 20 His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we don’t know what happened to make him see, or who did it. He is old enough to speak for himself. Ask him.” 22-23 They said this in fear of the Jewish leaders who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be excommunicated. 24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “Give the glory to God, not to Jesus, for we know Jesus is an evil person.” 25 “I don’t know whether he is good or bad,” the man replied, “but I know this: I was blind, and now I see!” 26 “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?” 27 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once; didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” 28 Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know God has spoken to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t know anything about him.” 30 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He can heal blind men, and yet you don’t know anything about him! 31 Well, God doesn’t listen to evil men, but he has open ears to those who worship him and do his will. 32 Since the world began there has never been anyone who could open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do it.” 34 “You illegitimate bastard, you!” they shouted. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out. 35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Messiah?” 36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir, for I want to.” 37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!” 38 “Yes, Lord,” the man said, “I believe!” And he worshiped Jesus. 39 Then Jesus told him, “I have come into the world to give sight to those who are spiritually blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” 40 The Pharisees who were standing there asked, “Are you saying we are blind?” 41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But your guilt remains because you claim to know what you are doing.
John 10Living Bible (TLB) 10 “Anyone refusing to walk through the gate into a sheepfold, who sneaks over the wall, must surely be a thief! 2 For a shepherd comes through the gate. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 He walks ahead of them; and they follow him, for they recognize his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger but will run from him, for they don’t recognize his voice.” 6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them. “I am the Gate for the sheep,” he said. 8 “All others who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.9 Yes, I am the Gate. Those who come in by way of the Gate will be saved and will go in and out and find green pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. 11 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 A hired man will run when he sees a wolf coming and will leave the sheep, for they aren’t his and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf leaps on them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired man runs because he is hired and has no real concern for the sheep. 14 “I am the Good Shepherd and know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, in another fold. I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice; and there will be one flock with one Shepherd. 17 “The Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may have it back again. 18 No one can kill me without my consent—I lay down my life voluntarily. For I have the right and power to lay it down when I want to and also the right and power to take it again. For the Father has given me this right.” 19 When he said these things, the Jewish leaders were again divided in their opinions about him. 20 Some of them said, “He has a demon or else is crazy. Why listen to a man like that?” 21 Others said, “This doesn’t sound to us like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of blind men?” 22-23 It was winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of the Dedication Celebration. He was at the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Hall. 24 The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me,” Jesus replied. “The proof is in the miracles I do in the name of my Father. 26 But you don’t believe me because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep recognize my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one shall snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else, so no one can kidnap them from me. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 Then again the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him. 32 Jesus said, “At God’s direction I have done many a miracle to help the people. For which one are you killing me?” 33 They replied, “Not for any good work, but for blasphemy; you, a mere man, have declared yourself to be God.” 34-36 “In your own Law it says that men are gods!” he replied. “So if the Scripture, which cannot be untrue, speaks of those as gods to whom the message of God came, do you call it blasphemy when the one sanctified and sent into the world by the Father says, ‘I am the Son of God’?37 Don’t believe me unless I do miracles of God. 38 But if I do, believe them even if you don’t believe me. Then you will become convinced that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Once again they started to arrest him. But he walked away and left them, 40 and went beyond the Jordan River to stay near the place where John was first baptizing. 41 And many followed him. “John didn’t do miracles,” they remarked to one another, “but all his predictions concerning this man have come true.” 42 And many came to the decision that he was the Messiah.
John 11Living Bible (TLB) 11 1-2 Do you remember Mary, who poured the costly perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair? Well, her brother Lazarus, who lived in Bethany with Mary and her sister Martha, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Sir, your good friend is very, very sick.” 4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “The purpose of his illness is not death, but for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive glory from this situation.” 5 Although Jesus was very fond of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 he stayed where he was for the next two days and made no move to go to them. 7 Finally, after the two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go to Judea.” 8 But his disciples objected. “Master,” they said, “only a few days ago the Jewish leaders in Judea were trying to kill you. Are you going there again?” 9 Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day, and during every hour of it a man can walk safely and not stumble. 10 Only at night is there danger of a wrong step, because of the dark.” 11 Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has gone to sleep, but now I will go and waken him!” 12-13 The disciples, thinking Jesus meant Lazarus was having a good night’s rest, said, “That means he is getting better!” But Jesus meant Lazarus had died. 14 Then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sake, I am glad I wasn’t there, for this will give you another opportunity to believe in me. Come, let’s go to him.” 16 Thomas, nicknamed “The Twin,” said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too—and die with him.” 17 When they arrived at Bethany, they were told that Lazarus had already been in his tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was only a couple of miles down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the Jewish leaders had come to pay their respects and to console Martha and Mary on their loss. 20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Sir, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 And even now it’s not too late, for I know that God will bring my brother back to life again, if you will only ask him to.” 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will come back to life again.” 24 “Yes,” Martha said, “when everyone else does, on Resurrection Day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. 26 He is given eternal life for believing in me and shall never perish. Do you believe this, Martha?” 27 “Yes, Master,” she told him. “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one we have so long awaited.” 28 Then she left him and returned to Mary and, calling her aside from the mourners, told her, “He is here and wants to see you.” 29 So Mary went to him at once. 30 Now Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31 When the Jewish leaders who were at the house trying to console Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’ tomb to weep; so they followed her. 32 When Mary arrived where Jesus was, she fell down at his feet, saying, “Sir, if you had been here, my brother would still be alive.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jewish leaders wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and deeply troubled. 34 “Where is he buried?” he asked them. They told him, “Come and see.” 35 Tears came to Jesus’ eyes. 36 “They were close friends,” the Jewish leaders said. “See how much he loved him.” 37-38 But some said, “This fellow healed a blind man—why couldn’t he keep Lazarus from dying?” And again Jesus was moved with deep anger. Then they came to the tomb. It was a cave with a heavy stone rolled across its door. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, “By now the smell will be terrible, for he has been dead four days.” 40 “But didn’t I tell you that you will see a wonderful miracle from God if you believe?” Jesus asked her. 41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 (You always hear me, of course, but I said it because of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.)” 43 Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And Lazarus came—bound up in the gravecloth, his face muffled in a head swath. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” 45 And so at last many of the Jewish leaders who were with Mary and saw it happen, finally believed on him. 46 But some went away to the Pharisees and reported it to them. 47 Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council to discuss the situation. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “For this man certainly does miracles. 48 If we let him alone the whole nation will follow him—and then the Roman army will come and kill us and take over the Jewish government.” 49 And one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “You stupid idiots— 50 let this one man die for the people—why should the whole nation perish?” 51 This prophecy that Jesus should die for the entire nation came from Caiaphas in his position as High Priest—he didn’t think of it by himself, but was inspired to say it. 52 It was a prediction that Jesus’ death would not be for Israel only, but for all the children of God scattered around the world. 53 So from that time on the Jewish leaders began plotting Jesus’ death. 54 Jesus now stopped his public ministry and left Jerusalem; he went to the edge of the desert, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples. 55 The Passover, a Jewish holy day, was near, and many country people arrived in Jerusalem several days early so that they could go through the cleansing ceremony before the Passover began. 56 They wanted to see Jesus, and as they gossiped in the Temple, they asked each other, “What do you think? Will he come for the Passover?” 57 Meanwhile the chief priests and Pharisees had publicly announced that anyone seeing Jesus must report him immediately so that they could arrest him.
John 12Living Bible (TLB) 12 Six days before the Passover ceremonies began, Jesus arrived in Bethany where Lazarus was—the man he had brought back to life. 2 A banquet was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus sat at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took a jar of costly perfume made from essence of nard, and anointed Jesus’ feet with it and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with fragrance. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples—the one who would betray him—said, 5 “That perfume was worth a fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the poor, but he was in charge of the disciples’ funds and often dipped into them for his own use! 7 Jesus replied, “Let her alone. She did it in preparation for my burial.8 You can always help the poor, but I won’t be with you very long.” 9 When the ordinary people of Jerusalem heard of his arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus—the man who had come back to life again. 10 Then the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus too, 11 for it was because of him that many of the Jewish leaders had deserted and believed in Jesus as their Messiah. 12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city, and a huge crowd of Passover visitors 13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet him, shouting, “The Savior! God bless the King of Israel! Hail to God’s Ambassador!” 14 Jesus rode along on a young donkey, fulfilling the prophecy that said: 15 “Don’t be afraid of your King, people of Israel, for he will come to you meekly, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 (His disciples didn’t realize at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy; but after Jesus returned to his glory in heaven, then they noticed how many prophecies of Scripture had come true before their eyes.) 17 And those in the crowd who had seen Jesus call Lazarus back to life were telling all about it. 18 That was the main reason why so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this mighty miracle. 19 Then the Pharisees said to each other, “We’ve lost. Look—the whole world has gone after him!” 20 Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem to attend the Passover 21 paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida, and said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” 22 Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus. 23-24 Jesus replied that the time had come for him to return to his glory in heaven, and that “I must fall and die like a kernel of wheat that falls into the furrows of the earth. Unless I die I will be alone—a single seed. But my death will produce many new wheat kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. 25 If you love your life down here—you will lose it. If you despise your life down here—you will exchange it for eternal glory. 26 “If these Greeks want to be my disciples, tell them to come and follow me, for my servants must be where I am. And if they follow me, the Father will honor them. 27 Now my soul is deeply troubled. Shall I pray, ‘Father, save me from what lies ahead’? But that is the very reason why I came! 28 Father, bring glory and honor to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven saying, “I have already done this, and I will do it again.” 29 When the crowd heard the voice, some of them thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him. 30 Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine.31 The time of judgment for the world has come—and the time when Satan, the prince of this world, shall be cast out. 32 And when I am lifted up on the cross, I will draw everyone to me.” 33 He said this to indicate how he was going to die. 34 “Die?” asked the crowd. “We understood that the Messiah would live forever and never die. Why are you saying he will die? What Messiah are you talking about?” 35 Jesus replied, “My light will shine out for you just a little while longer. Walk in it while you can, and go where you want to go before the darkness falls, for then it will be too late for you to find your way.36 Make use of the Light while there is still time; then you will become light bearers.” After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them. 37 But despite all the miracles he had done, most of the people would not believe he was the Messiah. 38 This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: “Lord, who will believe us? Who will accept God’s mighty miracles as proof?”39 But they couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said: 40 “God has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts so that they can neither see nor understand nor turn to me to heal them.” 41 Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he made this prediction, for he had seen a vision of the Messiah’s glory. 42 However, even many of the Jewish leaders believed him to be the Messiah but wouldn’t admit it to anyone because of their fear that the Pharisees would excommunicate them from the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. 44 Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are really trusting God. 45 For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come as a Light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer wander in the darkness. 47 If anyone hears me and doesn’t obey me, I am not his judge—for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. 48 But all who reject me and my message will be judged at the Day of Judgment by the truths I have spoken. 49 For these are not my own ideas, but I have told you what the Father said to tell you. 50 And I know his instructions lead to eternal life; so whatever he tells me to say, I say!”
John 13Living Bible (TLB) 13 1-3 Jesus knew on the evening of Passover Day that it would be his last night on earth before returning to his Father. During supper the devil had already suggested to Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that this was the night to carry out his plan to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. And how he loved his disciples! 4 So he got up from the supper table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his loins,5 poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around him. 6 When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Master, you shouldn’t be washing our feet like this!” 7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now why I am doing it; some day you will.” 8 “No,” Peter protested, “you shall never wash my feet!” “But if I don’t, you can’t be my partner,” Jesus replied. 9 Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well—not just my feet!” 10 Jesus replied, “One who has bathed all over needs only to have his feet washed to be entirely clean. Now you are clean—but that isn’t true of everyone here.” 11 For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 After washing their feet he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Master’ and ‘Lord,’ and you do well to say it, for it is true. 14 And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.15 I have given you an example to follow: do as I have done to you.16 How true it is that a servant is not greater than his master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends him. 17 You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing. 18 “I am not saying these things to all of you; I know so well each one of you I chose. The Scripture declares, ‘One who eats supper with me will betray me,’ and this will soon come true. 19 I tell you this now so that when it happens, you will believe on me. 20 “Truly, anyone welcoming my messenger is welcoming me. And to welcome me is to welcome the Father who sent me.” 21 Now Jesus was in great anguish of spirit and exclaimed, “Yes, it is true—one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean. 23 Since I was sitting next to Jesus* at the table, being his closest friend, 24 Simon Peter motioned to me to ask him who it was who would do this terrible deed. 25 So I turned and asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 He told me, “It is the one I honor by giving the bread dipped in the sauce.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas had eaten it, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry—do it now.” 28 None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. 29 Some thought that since Judas was their treasurer, Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. 30 Judas left at once, going out into the night. 31 As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “My time has come; the glory of God will soon surround me—and God shall receive great praise because of all that happens to me. 32 And God shall give me his own glory, and this so very soon. 33 Dear, dear children, how brief are these moments before I must go away and leave you! Then, though you search for me, you cannot come to me—just as I told the Jewish leaders. 34 “And so I am giving a new commandment to you now—love each other just as much as I love you. 35 Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” 36 Simon Peter said, “Master, where are you going?” And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now; but you will follow me later.” 37 “But why can’t I come now?” he asked, “for I am ready to die for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Die for me? No—three times before the cock crows tomorrow morning, you will deny that you even know me!
John 14Living Bible (TLB) 14 “Let not your heart be troubled. You are trusting God, now trust in me. 2-3 There are many homes up there where my Father lives, and I am going to prepare them for your coming. When everything is ready, then I will come and get you, so that you can always be with me where I am. If this weren’t so, I would tell you plainly. 4 And you know where I am going and how to get there.” 5 “No, we don’t,” Thomas said. “We haven’t any idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the Way—yes, and the Truth and the Life. No one can get to the Father except by means of me. 7 If you had known who I am, then you would have known who my Father is. From now on you know him—and have seen him!” 8 Philip said, “Sir, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus replied, “Don’t you even yet know who I am, Philip, even after all this time I have been with you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking to see him? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say are not my own but are from my Father who lives in me. And he does his work through me. 11 Just believe it—that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or else believe it because of the mighty miracles you have seen me do. 12-13 “In solemn truth I tell you, anyone believing in me shall do the same miracles I have done, and even greater ones, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask him for anything, using my name, and I will do it, for this will bring praise to the Father because of what I, the Son, will do for you. 14 Yes, ask anything, using my name, and I will do it! 15-16 “If you love me, obey me; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter, and he will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, for it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you do, for he lives with you now and some day shall be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you or leave you as orphans in the storm—I will come to you. 19 In just a little while I will be gone from the world, but I will still be present with you. For I will live again—and you will too. 20 When I come back to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 The one who obeys me is the one who loves me; and because he loves me, my Father will love him; and I will too, and I will reveal myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but his other disciple with that name) said to him, “Sir, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us disciples and not to the world at large?” 23 Jesus replied, “Because I will only reveal myself to those who love me and obey me. The Father will love them too, and we will come to them and live with them. 24 Anyone who doesn’t obey me doesn’t love me. And remember, I am not making up this answer to your question! It is the answer given by the Father who sent me. 25 “I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Comforter instead of me*—and by the Comforter I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you much, as well as remind you of everything I myself have told you. 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.28 Remember what I told you—I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, for now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. 29 I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do, you will believe in me. 30 “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, for the evil prince of this world approaches. He has no power over me, 31 but I will freely do what the Father requires of me so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going.
John 15Living Bible (TLB) 15 “I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener. 2 He lops off every branch that doesn’t produce. And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops. 3 He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness by means of the commands I gave you. 4 Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me. 5 “Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing. 6 If anyone separates from me, he is thrown away like a useless branch, withers, and is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned. 7 But if you stay in me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! 8 My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father. 9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Live within my love. 10 When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love. 11 I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your cup of joy will overflow! 12 I demand that you love each other as much as I love you. 13 And here is how to measure it—the greatest love is shown when a person lays down his life for his friends;14 and you are my friends if you obey me. 15 I no longer call you slaves, for a master doesn’t confide in his slaves; now you are my friends, proved by the fact that I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 “You didn’t choose me! I chose you! I appointed you to go and produce lovely fruit always, so that no matter what you ask for from the Father, using my name, he will give it to you. 17 I demand that you love each other, 18 for you get enough hate from the world! But then, it hated me before it hated you. 19 The world would love you if you belonged to it; but you don’t—for I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you. 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave isn’t greater than his master!’ So since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you!21 The people of the world will persecute you because you belong to me, for they don’t know God who sent me. 22 “They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Anyone hating me is also hating my Father. 24 If I hadn’t done such mighty miracles among them they would not be counted guilty. But as it is, they saw these miracles and yet they hated both of us—me and my Father. 25 This has fulfilled what the prophets said concerning the Messiah, ‘They hated me without reason.’ 26 “But I will send you the Comforter—the Holy Spirit, the source of all truth. He will come to you from the Father and will tell you all about me.27 And you also must tell everyone about me because you have been with me from the beginning.
John 16Living Bible (TLB) 16 “I have told you these things so that you won’t be staggered by all that lies ahead.2 For you will be excommunicated from the synagogues, and indeed the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing God a service. 3 This is because they have never known the Father or me. 4 Yes, I’m telling you these things now so that when they happen you will remember I warned you. I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer. 5 “But now I am going away to the one who sent me; and none of you seems interested in the purpose of my going; none wonders why.6 Instead you are only filled with sorrow. 7 But the fact of the matter is that it is best for you that I go away, for if I don’t, the Comforter won’t come. If I do, he will—for I will send him to you. 8 “And when he has come he will convince the world of its sin, and of the availability of God’s goodness, and of deliverance from judgment.9 The world’s sin is unbelief in me; 10 there is righteousness available because I go to the Father and you shall see me no more; 11 there is deliverance from judgment because the prince of this world has already been judged . 12 “Oh, there is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t understand it now. 13 When the Holy Spirit, who is truth, comes, he shall guide you into all truth, for he will not be presenting his own ideas, but will be passing on to you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He shall praise me and bring me great honor by showing you my glory. 15 All the Father’s glory is mine; this is what I mean when I say that he will show you my glory. 16 “In just a little while I will be gone, and you will see me no more; but just a little while after that, and you will see me again!” 17-18 “Whatever is he saying?” some of his disciples asked. “What is this about ‘going to the Father’? We don’t know what he means.” 19 Jesus realized they wanted to ask him so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I mean? 20 The world will greatly rejoice over what is going to happen to me, and you will weep. But your weeping shall suddenly be turned to wonderful joy when you see me again.21 It will be the same joy as that of a woman in labor when her child is born—her anguish gives place to rapturous joy and the pain is forgotten. 22 You have sorrow now, but I will see you again and then you will rejoice; and no one can rob you of that joy. 23 At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything, for you can go directly to the Father and ask him, and he will give you what you ask for because you use my name. 24 You haven’t tried this before, but begin now. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and your cup of joy will overflow. 25 “I have spoken of these matters very guardedly, but the time will come when this will not be necessary and I will tell you plainly all about the Father. 26 Then you will present your petitions over my signature!And I won’t need to ask the Father to grant you these requests, 27 for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from the Father. 28 Yes, I came from the Father into the world and will leave the world and return to the Father.” 29 “At last you are speaking plainly,” his disciples said, “and not in riddles. 30 Now we understand that you know everything and don’t need anyone to tell you anything. From this we believe that you came from God.” 31 “Do you finally believe this?” Jesus asked. 32 “But the time is coming—in fact, it is here—when you will be scattered, each one returning to his own home, leaving me alone. Yet I will not be alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have told you all this so that you will have peace of heart and mind. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world.”
John 17Living Bible (TLB) 17 When Jesus had finished saying all these things he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Reveal the glory of your Son so that he can give the glory back to you. 2 For you have given him authority over every man and woman in all the earth. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 3 And this is the way to have eternal life—by knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth! 4 I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to. 5 And now, Father, reveal my glory as I stand in your presence, the glory we shared before the world began. 6 “I have told these men all about you. They were in the world, but then you gave them to me. Actually, they were always yours, and you gave them to me; and they have obeyed you. 7 Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8 for I have passed on to them the commands you gave me; and they accepted them and know of a certainty that I came down to earth from you, and they believe you sent me. 9 “My plea is not for the world but for those you have given me because they belong to you. 10 And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me with everything else of yours, and so they are my glory! 11 Now I am leaving the world, and leaving them behind, and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your own care—all those you have given me—so that they will be united just as we are, with none missing. 12 During my time here I have kept safe within your family all of these you gave me. I guarded them so that not one perished, except the son of hell, as the Scriptures foretold. 13 “And now I am coming to you. I have told them many things while I was with them so that they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your commands. And the world hates them because they don’t fit in with it, just as I don’t. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from Satan’s power. 16 They are not part of this world any more than I am. 17 Make them pure and holy through teaching them your words of truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world, 19 and I consecrate myself to meet their need for growth in truth and holiness. 20 “I am not praying for these alone but also for the future believers who will come to me because of the testimony of these. 21 My prayer for all of them is that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are, Father—that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me. 22 “I have given them the glory you gave me—the glorious unity of being one, as we are— 23 I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one—so that the world will know you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want them with me—these you’ve given me—so that they can see my glory. You gave me the glory because you loved me before the world began! 25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 And I have revealed you to them and will keep on revealing you so that the mighty love you have for me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 18Living Bible (TLB) 18 After saying these things Jesus crossed the Kidron ravine with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. 2 Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, for Jesus had gone there many times with his disciples. 3 The chief priests and Pharisees had given Judas a squad of soldiers and police to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons they arrived at the olive grove. 4-5 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him. Stepping forward to meet them he asked, “Whom are you looking for?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. 6 And as he said it, they all fell backwards to the ground! 7 Once more he asked them, “Whom are you searching for?” And again they replied, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 “I told you I am he,” Jesus said; “and since I am the one you are after, let these others go.” 9 He did this to carry out the prophecy he had just made, “I have not lost a single one of those you gave me. . . . ” 10 Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the High Priest’s servant. 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away. Shall I not drink from the cup the Father has given me?” 12 So the Jewish police, with the soldiers and their lieutenant, arrested Jesus and tied him. 13 First they took him to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the High Priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who told the other Jewish leaders, “Better that one should die for all.” 15 Simon Peter followed along behind, as did another of the disciples who was acquainted with the High Priest. So that other disciple was permitted into the courtyard along with Jesus, 16 while Peter stood outside the gate. Then the other disciple spoke to the girl watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. 17 The girl asked Peter, “Aren’t you one of Jesus’ disciples?” “No,” he said, “I am not!” 18 The police and the household servants were standing around a fire they had made, for it was cold. And Peter stood there with them, warming himself. 19 Inside, the High Priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them. 20 Jesus replied, “What I teach is widely known, for I have preached regularly in the synagogue and Temple; I have been heard by all the Jewish leaders and teach nothing in private that I have not said in public. 21 Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. You have some of them here. They know what I said.” 22 One of the soldiers standing there struck Jesus with his fist. “Is that the way to answer the High Priest?” he demanded. 23 “If I lied, prove it,” Jesus replied. “Should you hit a man for telling the truth?” 24 Then Annas sent Jesus, bound, to Caiaphas the High Priest. 25 Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire, he was asked again, “Aren’t you one of his disciples?” “Of course not,” he replied. 26 But one of the household slaves of the High Priest—a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off—asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” 27 Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed. 28 Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Next he was taken to the palace of the Roman governor. His accusers wouldn’t go in themselves for that would “defile” them, they said, and they wouldn’t be allowed to eat the Passover lamb. 29 So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man? What are you accusing him of doing?” 30 “We wouldn’t have arrested him if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted. 31 “Then take him away and judge him yourselves by your own laws,” Pilate told them. “But we want him crucified,” they demanded, “and your approval is required.”32 This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction concerning the method of his execution. 33 Then Pilate went back into the palace and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the King of the Jews?” he asked him. 34 “‘King’ as you use the word or as the Jews use it?” Jesus asked. 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their chief priests brought you here. Why? What have you done?” 36 Then Jesus answered, “I am not an earthly king. If I were, my followers would have fought when I was arrested by the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of the world.” 37 Pilate replied, “But you are a king then?” “Yes,” Jesus said. “I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth are my followers.” 38 “What is truth?” Pilate exclaimed. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. 39 But you have a custom of asking me to release someone from prison each year at Passover. So if you want me to, I’ll release the ‘King of the Jews.’” 40 But they screamed back. “No! Not this man, but Barabbas!” Barabbas was a robber.
John 19Living Bible (TLB) 19 Then Pilate laid open Jesus’ back with a leaded whip, 2 and the soldiers made a crown of thorns and placed it on his head and robed him in royal purple. 3 “Hail, ‘King of the Jews’!” they mocked, and struck him with their fists. 4 Pilate went outside again and said to the Jews, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” 5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Behold the man!” 6 At sight of him the chief priests and Jewish officials began yelling, “Crucify! Crucify!” “You crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.” 7 They replied, “By our laws he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. 9 He took Jesus back into the palace again and asked him, “Where are you from?” but Jesus gave no answer. 10 “You won’t talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or to crucify you?” 11 Then Jesus said, “You would have no power at all over me unless it were given to you from above. So those who brought me to you have the greater sin.” 12 Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders told him, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar’s. Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.” 13 At these words Pilate brought Jesus out to them again and sat down at the judgment bench on the stone-paved platform.14 It was now about noon of the day before Passover. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!” 15 “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him—crucify him!” “What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests shouted back. 16 Then Pilate gave Jesus to them to be crucified. 17 So they had him at last, and he was taken out of the city, carrying his cross to the place known as “The Skull,” in Hebrew, “Golgotha.” 18 There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 And Pilate posted a sign over him reading, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the signboard was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people read it. 21 Then the chief priests said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written. It stays exactly as it is.” 23-24 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they put his garments into four piles, one for each of them. But they said, “Let’s not tear up his robe,” for it was seamless. “Let’s throw dice to see who gets it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my robe.” 25 So that is what they did. Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, Mary, his aunt, the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside me, his close friend, he said to her, “He is your son.” 27 And to me he said, “She is your mother!” And from then on I took her into my home. 28 Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the Scriptures said, “I’m thirsty.” 29 A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so a sponge was soaked in it and put on a hyssop branch and held up to his lips. 30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished,” and bowed his head and dismissed his spirit. 31 The Jewish leaders didn’t want the victims hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath at that, for it was the Passover), so they asked Pilate to order the legs of the men broken to hasten death; then their bodies could be taken down. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus; 33 but when they came to him, they saw that he was dead already, so they didn’t break his. 34 However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out. 35 I saw all this myself and have given an accurate report so that you also can believe.36-37 The soldiers did this in fulfillment of the Scripture that says, “Not one of his bones shall be broken,” and, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.” 38 Afterwards Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jewish leaders, boldly asked Pilate for permission to take Jesus’ body down; and Pilate told him to go ahead. So he came and took it away. 39 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night, came too, bringing a hundred pounds of embalming ointment made from myrrh and aloes. 40 Together they wrapped Jesus’ body in a long linen cloth saturated with the spices, as is the Jewish custom of burial. 41 The place of crucifixion was near a grove of trees, where there was a new tomb, never used before. 42 And so, because of the need for haste before the Sabbath, and because the tomb was close at hand, they laid him there.
John 20Living Bible (TLB) 20 Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone was rolled aside from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and me and said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him!” 3-4 We ran to the tomb to see; I* outran Peter and got there first, 5 and stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but I didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went on inside. He also noticed the cloth lying there, 7 while the swath that had covered Jesus’ head was rolled up in a bundle and was lying at the side. 8 Then I went in too, and saw, and believed that he had risen— 9 for until then we hadn’t realized that the Scriptures said he would come to life again! 10 We went on home, 11 and by that time Mary had returned to the tomb and was standing outside crying. And as she wept, she stooped and looked in 12 and saw two white-robed angels sitting at the head and foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She glanced over her shoulder and saw someone standing behind her. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him! 15 “Why are you crying?” he asked her. “Whom are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned toward him. “Master!” she exclaimed. 17 “Don’t touch me,” he cautioned, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them that I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.” 18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message. 19 That evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors, in fear of the Jewish leaders, when suddenly Jesus was standing there among them! After greeting them, 20 he showed them his hands and side. And how wonderful was their joy as they saw their Lord! 21 He spoke to them again and said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are unforgiven.” 24 One of the disciples, Thomas, “The Twin,” was not there at the time with the others. 25 When they kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord,” he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands—and put my fingers into them—and place my hand into his side.” 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them and greeting them. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger into my hands. Put your hand into my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas said. 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. But blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway.” 30-31 Jesus’ disciples saw him do many other miracles besides the ones told about in this book, but these are recorded so that you will believe that he is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing in him you will have life.
John 21Living Bible (TLB) 21 Later Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Lake of Galilee. This is how it happened: 2 A group of us were there—Simon Peter, Thomas, “The Twin,” Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, my brother James and I and two other disciples. 3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come too,” we all said. We did, but caught nothing all night. 4 At dawn we saw a man standing on the beach but couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called, “Any fish, boys?” “No,” we replied. 6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get plenty of them!” So we did, and couldn’t draw in the net because of the weight of the fish, there were so many! 7 Then I said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” At that, Simon Peter put on his tunic (for he was stripped to the waist) and jumped into the water and swam ashore.* 8 The rest of us stayed in the boat and pulled the loaded net to the beach, about 300 feet away. 9 When we got there, we saw that a fire was kindled and fish were frying over it, and there was bread. 10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. 11 So Simon Peter went out and dragged the net ashore. By his count there were 153 large fish; and yet the net hadn’t torn. 12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said; and none of us dared ask him if he really was the Lord, for we were quite sure of it. 13 Then Jesus went around serving us the bread and fish. 14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to us since his return from the dead. 15 After breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others?” “Yes,” Peter replied, “you know I am your friend.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. 16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon, son of John, do you really love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I am your friend.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. 17 Once more he asked him, “Simon, son of John, are you even my friend?” Peter was grieved at the way Jesus asked the question this third time. “Lord, you know my heart; you know I am,” he said. Jesus said, “Then feed my little sheep. 18 When you were young, you were able to do as you liked and go wherever you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will direct you and take you where you don’t want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to let him know what kind of death he would die to glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.” 20 Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following, the one who had leaned around at supper that time to ask Jesus, “Master, which of us will betray you?” 21 Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord? What sort of death will he die?” 22 Jesus replied, “If I want him to live until I return, what is that to you? You follow me.” 23 So the rumor spread among the brotherhood that that disciple wouldn’t die! But that isn’t what Jesus said at all! He only said, “If I want him to live* until I come, what is that to you?” 24 I am that disciple! I saw these events and have recorded them here. And we all know that my account of these things is accurate. 25 And I suppose that if all the other events in Jesus’ life were written, the whole world could hardly contain the books!