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The Wedding at Cana

¹ Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, ² and Jesus and his followers were also invited to the wedding. ³ When all the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

⁴ Jesus answered, "Dear woman, why come to me? My time has not yet come."

⁵ His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you to do."

⁶ In that place there were six stone water jars that the Jews used in their washing ceremony.^[a] Each jar held about twenty or thirty gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled the jars to the top.

⁸ Then he said to them, "Now take some out and give it to the master of the feast."

So they took the water to the master. ⁹ When he tasted it, the water had become wine. He did not know where the wine came from, but the servants who had brought the water knew. The master of the wedding called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, "People always serve the best wine first. Later, after the guests have been drinking awhile, they serve the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best wine till now."

¹¹ So in Cana of Galilee Jesus did his first miracle. There he showed his glory, and his followers believed in him.

Jesus in the Temple

¹² After this, Jesus went to the town of Capernaum with his mother, brothers, and followers. They stayed there for just a few days. ¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast, Jesus went to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves. He saw others sitting at tables, exchanging different kinds of money. ¹⁵ Jesus made a whip out of cords and forced all of them, both the sheep and cattle, to leave the Temple. He turned over the tables and scattered the money of those who were exchanging it. ¹⁶ Then he said to those who were selling pigeons, "Take these things out of here! Don't make my Father's house a place for buying and selling!"

¹⁷ When this happened, the followers remembered what was written in the Scriptures: "My strong love for your Temple completely controls me."^[b]

¹⁸ Some of his people said to Jesus, "Show us a miracle to prove you have the right to do these things."

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will build it again in three days."

²⁰ They answered, "It took forty-six years to build this Temple! Do you really believe you can build it again in three days?"

²¹ (But the temple Jesus meant was his own body. ²² After Jesus was raised from the dead, his followers remembered that Jesus had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus had said.)

²³ When Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, many people believed in him because they saw the miracles he did. ²⁴ But Jesus did not believe in them because he knew them all. ²⁵ He did not need anyone to tell him about people, because he knew what was in people's minds.