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John 5:14
ESV Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
NIV Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, 'See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.'
NASB Afterward, Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, 'Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.'
CSB After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn't happen to you."
NLT But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, 'Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.'
KJV Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

What does John 5:14 mean?

When Jesus first spoke to this man, he had been crippled for nearly forty years. Jesus' first question was to ask if the man wanted to be healed. The man's response was not really a "yes," but a complaint about nobody being willing to help him. For this reason, it's possible that Jesus was asking the man if he even wanted to be healed in the first place. This verse does not indicate that the man showed any gratitude to Jesus. The next verse, though, does say the man went to the religious leaders to let them know Jesus was responsible for the earlier incident.

Apparently, Jesus was not interested in creating a spectacle over the miracle itself, since He immediately left into the crowd (John 5:13). Judging by the reaction of the local religious leaders (John 5:11–12), Jesus seems to have been looking to spark a conversation about His ministry, which will begin shortly.

In the meantime, Jesus has found the man who was healed, and here He delivers an often-debated command. At another healing, Jesus will make the point that not all suffering is the result of a person's own sin (John 9:3). Here, however, Jesus' words seem to connect the man's prior condition to sin. It may have been that the man's disability was the result of personal choices. At the same time, Jesus may simply be reminding the man that there are worse things than being crippled, including the eternal penalties of sin (Luke 12:4–5).
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