2. In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In Aramaic it is called Bethzatha. This pool is near the Sheep Gate.
3. Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some of them were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed.
5. One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years.
6. Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So he asked him, “Do you want to be well?”
7. The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the water when it starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.”
8. Then Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
9. Immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and started walking. The day all this happened was a Sabbath day.
10. So some Jews said to the man who had been healed, “Today is the Sabbath. It is against our law for you to carry your mat on the Sabbath day.”