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John 2

1On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there. 2Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. 3When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said to him, “They have no wine.” 4Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you involving me? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6Six stone water jars stood there for the Jews' purification, each holding two or three measures. 7Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” They filled them to the brim. 8He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” They took it. 9When the master of the feast tasted the water that had become wine, he did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have become drunk, the inferior wine. You have kept the good wine until now.” 11Jesus did this in Cana of Galilee as the beginning of his signs and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples. They stayed there a few days.

13The Jews' Passover was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated there. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He poured out the money changers' coins and overturned their tables. 16He told those selling doves, “Take these things away! Do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17His disciples remembered that it is written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18The Jews answered him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19Jesus answered them, “Tear down this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it.” 20The Jews said, “This sanctuary was built in forty-six years, and will you raise it in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the sanctuary of his body. 22So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

23While he was in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. 24But Jesus himself did not entrust himself to them, because he knew everyone 25and had no need for anyone to testify about a person, for he himself knew what was in humanity.

Translation notes 5

2:4 — Woman; involving me. “Woman” need not be contemptuous, though it is an unusual way for a son to address his mother. “Dear” is not present. The following idiom distances Jesus from the involvement her words invite; it does not say that both of them are unconcerned. Its degree of rebuke is debated. “My hour has not yet come” is read as a statement.

2:5, 9; 4:51; 12:26 — Servants and slaves. The Cana attendants are diakonoi, the same noun behind “deacons.” Here it names ordinary service, not a church office. The official's household slaves in 4:51 are douloi. The servant in 12:26 again belongs to the service word group.

2:6, 10 — Measures and wine. A measure here is a metrētēs, roughly ten U.S. gallons, giving about twenty to thirty gallons per jar. “Become drunk” preserves the ordinary force of the verb. The steward describes customary serving practice; the sentence does not independently report that every wedding guest was drunk.

2:15, 19–21 — Temple and sanctuary. The wording about driving “all” out can be understood as referring specifically to the sheep and cattle; it does not explicitly say Jesus whipped people. The general temple precincts and the sanctuary are different Greek words. Jesus' saying uses the latter, and John then identifies its referent as his body.

2:23–24 — Believe and entrust. The same Greek verb underlies their believing in him and his not entrusting himself to them. English requires different constructions to express the two uses naturally.