John 5:2–11

²Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew^a is called Bethesda.^{b 3}On these walkways^c lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.^d

⁵One man there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.”

⁸Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”

⁹Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk.

Now this happened on the Sabbath day, ¹⁰so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”

¹¹But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”