John 2:1-11

The First Sign: Turning Water into Wine

1 On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and
2 Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding as well.
3 When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother told Him, "They don't have any wine."
4 "What has this concern of yours to do with Me, [a] woman?" Jesus asked. "My hour [b] has not yet come."
5 "Do whatever He tells you," His mother told the servants.
6 Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained 20 or 30 gallons.[c]
7 "Fill the jars with water," Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim.
8 Then He said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the chief servant." [d] And they did.
9 When the chief servant tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from-though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom
10 and told him, "Everybody sets out the fine wine first, then, after people have drunk freely, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now."
11 Jesus performed this first sign[e] in Cana of Galilee. He displayed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. Or You and I see things differently; lit What to Me and to you; Mt 8:29; Mk 1:24; 5:7; Lk 8:28
  • [b]. The time of His sacrificial death and exaltation; Jn 7:30; 8:20; 12:23,27; 13:1; 17:1
  • [c]. Lit 2 or 3 measures
  • [d]. Lit ruler of the table; perhaps master of the feast, or headwaiter
  • [e]. Lit this beginning of the signs; Jn 4:54; 20:30. Seven miraculous signs occur in John's Gospel and are so noted in the headings.
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