John

John

¹In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning, from the very first, with God. ³Everything came into being through him, and apart from him nothing at all came into being of what has come to be. ⁴What came to be through him had life in him, and that life was the light of humankind. ⁵The light shines in the darkness and shows itself, and the darkness cannot overtake it or come near it. ⁶There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷He came to be a witness about the light, so that everyone might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light. He came only to be a witness about the light. ⁹The true light, which gives light to every person, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹²But to those who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³They were born not of flesh and blood, nor from the desire of a man and a woman, but of God. ¹⁴The Word became flesh and lived among us, and veiled himself from us. We saw his glory, glory like that of the Father's one and only Son, full of grace, truth and favor. ¹⁵John testified about him and cried out, "This is the one I told you about. I said, 'One is coming after me, a man who existed before me, because he came before me.'" ¹⁶From his overflowing fullness we have all received grace upon grace, one grace after another. ¹⁷For the law was given to us through Moses, but grace and truth came to us through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. But the one and only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made him known to us. ¹⁹This is John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to question him and ask, "Who are you?" ²⁰He declared it and did not deny it: he was not the Christ. ²¹They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." They asked, "Are you the Prophet?" He said, "No." ²²They said to him, "Then who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" ²³He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make the way of the Lord straight,' as the prophet Isaiah said." ²⁴Those who had been sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵They questioned him and said, "Then why do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, or Elijah, or the Prophet?" ²⁶John answered them, "I baptize you with water. But among you stands one whom you do not know. ²⁷He is the one who comes after me, who existed before me. I am not worthy to untie the straps of the sandals on his feet. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." ²⁸This took place at Bethany, at Bethabara, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ²⁹The next day John saw the Lord Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away and removes the sin of the world. ³⁰This is the one I told you about when I said, 'A man is coming after me who existed before me, because he was before me.' ³¹I did not know him myself, but I came baptizing with water for this reason: so that Israel would come to know him." ³²John gave his testimony and said, "I saw the Holy Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting on him. ³³I did not know him. But the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The one on whom you see the Holy Spirit come down and rest, he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' ³⁴I have seen it myself, and I testify that this is the Son of God." ³⁵The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶He saw the Lord Jesus walking by and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away and removes the sin of the world." ³⁷His two disciples heard him say this, and they followed the Lord Jesus. ³⁸Jesus turned and saw them following him, and said to them, "What are you looking for?" ³⁹They said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" ⁴⁰He said to them, "Come and see where I am staying." So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day until the tenth hour. ⁴¹One of the two who had heard John and followed the Lord Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. ⁴²He was the first to find his own brother Simon, and he told him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). ⁴³He brought him to the Lord Jesus. When the Lord Jesus saw him, he said, "You are Simon son of Jonah. You will be called Cephas" (which means Peter). ⁴⁴The next day he decided to go to Galilee. The Lord Jesus found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." ⁴⁵Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁶Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth, the one Moses wrote about in the law and the prophets also foretold." ⁴⁷Nathanael said to him, "Can a good man come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." ⁴⁸When the Lord Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Look, here is a true Israelite, with no deceit in his heart." ⁴⁹Nathanael asked him, "How do you know me?" The Lord Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." ⁵⁰Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, truly you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel." ⁵¹The Lord Jesus answered him, "Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? From now on you will see greater things than this." ⁵²Then he said to them, "Truly, truly, I tell you, from now on you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man."