John 2

EasyEnglish Bible

The marriage at Cana

2 Two days after that, there was a marriage party. It was in the town of Cana, in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there. ² People had asked Jesus and his disciples to come to the party too. ³ When people had drunk all the wine, Jesus' mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ⁴ Jesus replied, ‘Woman, why do you tell me this? It is not my time yet.’ ⁵ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you to do.’

⁶ There were six big pots there. People had used stone to make them. Each pot could contain about 100 litres of water. The water was there so that the Jews could wash themselves in the way that their special rules taught. ⁷ Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the pots with water.’ So they filled the pots to the top. ⁸ Then he said, ‘Now take some of the water from the pots and give it to the master of the party.’ So they did that. ⁹ The master of the party tasted the water. The water had now become wine! The master did not know where the wine had come from. But the servants who had given it to him knew about it. Then the master asked the new husband to come to him. ¹⁰ The master said to him, ‘Everyone else brings out the best wine first. When people have had plenty to drink, then they give people cheaper wine. But you are different. You have kept the best wine until now.’

¹¹ Jesus did this first miracle at Cana, in Galilee. In this way, Jesus showed how great and powerful he was. And his disciples believed in him.

Jesus goes to the temple

¹² After this, Jesus went to a town called Capernaum. His mother, his brothers and his disciples went with him. They stayed there for a few days.^[a]

¹³ It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival. So Jesus went to Jerusalem.^{[b] 14} He went into the yard of the temple. There he found people who were selling cows, sheep and doves. Other people were sitting at tables to change coins for people. ¹⁵ So Jesus made a whip from some pieces of rope. Then he made all the people leave the temple quickly, with the sheep and the cows. He threw onto the ground all the coins of the men who changed money. He turned their tables over. ¹⁶ He said to the people who sold birds, ‘Take them out of here! Do not make my Father's house into a market!’ ¹⁷ His disciples remembered what it says in the Bible: ‘My love for your house burns inside me like a fire.’^[c]

¹⁸ Then the Jews asked Jesus, ‘What is your authority to do this? Do a miracle to show us that you really do have authority.’ ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, ‘If you destroy this house of God, I will build it up again in three days.’ ²⁰ The Jews replied, ‘People have worked for 46 years to build this house. But you say that you will build it again in three days!’ ²¹ But the house that Jesus was speaking about was his own body. ²² The disciples remembered this when Jesus had become alive again after his death. They remembered that he had said this. Then they believed what the Bible taught. They also believed the words that Jesus had spoken.

²³ While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, he did many miracles.^[d] Many people saw these miracles that showed he was from God. As a result, they believed in Jesus. ²⁴ But Jesus himself did not trust the people. He knew what all people are really like. ²⁵ He did not need anyone to tell him what people are like. He knew already what was really in each person.