The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household^(A) to the land^(B) I will show you.^(C)

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot^(I) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old^(J) when he set out from Harran.^{(K) 5} He took his wife Sarai,^(L) his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated^(M) and the people^(N) they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,^(O) and they arrived there.

⁶ Abram traveled through the land^(P) as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh^(Q) at Shechem.^(R) At that time the Canaanites^(S) were in the land. ⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram^(T) and said, “To your offspring^[c] I will give this land.^(U)”^(V) So he built an altar there to the Lord,^(W) who had appeared to him.

⁸ From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel^(X) and pitched his tent,^(Y) with Bethel on the west and Ai^(Z) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.^(AA)

⁹ Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.^(AB)

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus^(A)

³⁵ The next day John^(B) was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”^(C)

³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi”^(D) (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).^{(E) 42} And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called^(F) Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter^[a]).^(G)

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip,^(H) he said to him, “Follow me.”^(I)

⁴⁴ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.^{(J) 45} Philip found Nathanael^(K) and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,^(L) and about whom the prophets also wrote^(M)—Jesus of Nazareth,^(N) the son of Joseph.”^(O)

⁴⁶ “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”^(P) Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite^(Q) in whom there is no deceit.”^(R)

⁴⁸ “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹ Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi,^(S) you are the Son of God;^(T) you are the king of Israel.”^(U)

⁵⁰ Jesus said, “You believe^[b] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹ He then added, “Very truly I tell you,^[c] you^[d] will see ‘heaven open,^(V) and the angels of God ascending and descending^(W) on’^[e] the Son of Man.”^(X)