John 2 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Two days later, there was a wedding in Cana, a town in the Galilee region, and Jesus' mother was there.

Jesus and his followers had also been invited to the wedding.

When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother told him, "They have no more wine."

Jesus said to her, "Dear woman, why are you bringing this to me? My time hasn't come yet."

His mother told the servants, "Whatever he tells you to do, do it."

Now there were six stone water jars sitting there, the kind used for Jewish cleansing rituals. Each one held about twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them right to the top.

Then he said, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of ceremonies." So they did.

When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that had been turned into wine, he had no idea where it had come from — though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom over

and said, "Everyone else serves the best wine first, and then brings out the cheaper stuff after people have had plenty to drink. But you've saved the best for now!"

This was Jesus' first miraculous sign, done in Cana in the Galilee region. It was a stunning display of who he really was, and his followers put their trust in him.

After this, Jesus went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his followers, and they stayed there for a few days.

The Jewish Passover celebration was coming up, so Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem.

In the temple courts, he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.

So he made a whip out of cords and drove everyone out of the temple courts — the sheep and the cattle too. He scattered the money changers' coins and flipped over their tables.

To the dove sellers he said, "Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!"

His followers remembered that the Scripture said, "Passion for your house will consume me."

The Jewish leaders confronted him: "What sign can you show us to prove you have the right to do this?"

Jesus answered them, "Tear down this temple, and I will raise it back up in three days."

The Jewish leaders shot back, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you're going to raise it in three days?"

But the temple he was talking about was his own body.

So after he was raised from the dead, his followers remembered that he had said this. And they trusted the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.

While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, many people saw the miraculous signs he was performing and put their trust in his name.

But Jesus didn't entrust himself to them, because he understood human nature all too well.

He didn't need anyone to tell him what people were really like. He already knew what was going on inside them.