The New Birth

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named ^(A)Nicodemus, a ^(B)ruler of the Jews; ² this man came to ^[a]Jesus at night and said to Him, “^(C)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these ^[b](D)signs that You do unless ^(E)God is with him.” ³ Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone ^(F)is born ^[c]again he cannot see ^(G)the kingdom of God.”

⁴ Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of ^(H)water and the Spirit, he cannot enter ^(I)the kingdom of God. ^6 (J)That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born ^[d]again.’ ^8 (K)The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “You are ^(L)the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(M)we speak of what we know and ^(N)testify of what we have seen, and ^(O)you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ^13 (P)No one has ascended into heaven, except ^(Q)He who descended from heaven: ^(R)the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as ^(S)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must ^(T)the Son of Man ^(U)be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who ^[e]believes will ^(V)have eternal life in Him.

¹⁶ “For God so ^(W)loved the world, that He ^(X)gave His ^(Y)only Son, so that everyone who ^(Z)believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God ^(AA)did not send the Son into the world ^(AB)to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. ^18 (AC)The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ^(AD)the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment, that ^(AE)the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for ^(AF)their deeds were evil. ^20 (AG)For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. ²¹ But the one who ^(AH)practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed ^[f]as having been performed in God.”

Made Alive in Christ

2 And ^[a]you ^[b]were ^(A)dead ^[c]in your offenses and sins, ² in which you ^(B)previously walked according to the ^[d]course of ^(C)this world, according to ^(D)the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in ^(E)the ^[e]sons of disobedience. ³ Among them ^[f]we too all ^(F)previously lived in ^(G)the lusts of our flesh, ^[g]indulging the desires of the flesh and of the ^[h]mind, and were ^(H)by nature ^(I)children of wrath, ^(J)just as the rest. ⁴ But God, being ^(K)rich in mercy, because of ^(L)His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were ^(M)dead ^[i]in our wrongdoings, made us alive together ^[j]with Christ (^(N)by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and ^(O)raised us up with Him, and ^(P)seated us with Him in ^(Q)the heavenly places in ^(R)Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come He might show the ^[k]boundless ^(S)riches of His grace in ^(T)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For ^(U)by grace you have been saved ^(V)through faith; and ^[l]this is not of yourselves, it is ^(W)the gift of God; ^9 (X)not a result of works, so that ^(Y)no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, ^(Z)created in ^(AA)Christ Jesus for ^(AB)good works, which God ^(AC)prepared beforehand so that we would ^(AD)walk in them.

¹¹ Therefore remember that ^(AE)previously ^(AF)you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “^(AG)Uncircumcision” by the so-called “^(AH)Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, ^[m](AI)excluded from ^[n]the people of Israel, and strangers to ^(AJ)the covenants of the promise, having ^(AK)no hope and ^(AL)without God in the world. ¹³ But now in ^(AM)Christ Jesus you who ^(AN)previously were ^(AO)far away ^[o]have ^(AP)been brought near ^[p](AQ)by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For He Himself is ^(AR)our peace, ^(AS)who made both groups into one and broke down the ^[q]barrier of the dividing wall, ^15 [r]by ^(AT)abolishing ^[s]in His flesh the hostility, which is ^(AU)the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might ^[t](AV)make the two ^(AW)one new person, in this way establishing ^(AX)peace; ¹⁶ and that He might ^(AY)reconcile them both in ^(AZ)one body to God through the cross, ^[u]by it having ^(BA)put to death the hostility. ¹⁷ And ^(BB)He came and preached ^(BC)peace to you who were ^(BD)far away, and peace to those who were ^(BE)near; ¹⁸ for through Him we both have ^(BF)our access in ^(BG)one Spirit to ^(BH)the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer ^(BI)strangers and foreigners, but you are ^(BJ)fellow citizens with the ^[v]saints, and are of ^(BK)God’s household, ²⁰ having been ^(BL)built on ^(BM)the foundation of ^(BN)the apostles and prophets, ^(BO)Christ Jesus Himself being the ^(BP)cornerstone, ^21 (BQ)in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into ^(BR)a holy ^[w]temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being ^(BS)built together into a ^(BT)dwelling of God in the Spirit.