The Word Became Flesh

1 ^(A)In the beginning was ^(B)the Word, and ^(C)the Word was with God, and ^(D)the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ^3 (E)All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ^4 (F)In him was life,^[a] and ^(G)the life was the light of men. ^5 (H)The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man ^(I)sent from God, whose name was ^(J)John. ⁷ He came as a ^(K)witness, to bear witness about the light, ^(L)that all might believe through him. ^8 (M)He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

^9 (N)The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet ^(O)the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to ^(P)his own,^[b] and ^(Q)his own people^{[c] (R)}did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, ^(S)who believed in his name, ^(T)he gave the right ^(U)to become ^(V)children of God, ¹³ who ^(W)were born, ^(X)not of blood ^(Y)nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And ^(Z)the Word ^(AA)became flesh and ^(AB)dwelt among us, ^(AC)and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son^[d] from the Father, full of ^(AD)grace and ^(AE)truth. ¹⁵ (^(AF)John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ^(AG)‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from ^(AH)his fullness we have all received, ^(AI)grace upon grace.^{[e] 17} For ^(AJ)the law was given through Moses; ^(AK)grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ^18 (AL)No one has ever seen God; ^(AM)the only God,^[f] who is at the Father's side,^{[g] (AN)}he has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ And this is the ^(AO)testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ^(AP)“Who are you?” ^20 (AQ)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? ^(AR)Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(AS)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(AT)the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight^[h] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵ They asked him, ^(AU)“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, ^(AV)“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even ^(AW)he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^(AX)the Lamb of God, who ^(AY)takes away the sin ^(AZ)of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ^(BA)‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but ^(BB)for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John ^(BC)bore witness: ^(BD)“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^(BE)it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but ^(BF)he who sent me to baptize ^(BG)with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^(BH)this is he who baptizes ^(BI)with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^[i] of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ^(BJ)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ^(BK)“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, ^(BL)“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.^{[j] 40 (BM)}One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus^[k] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^(BN)the Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^(BO)John. You shall be called ^(BP)Cephas” (which means ^(BQ)Peter^[l]).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

^43 (BR)The next day Jesus decided ^(BS)to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(BT)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(BU)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom ^(BV)Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus ^(BW)of Nazareth, ^(BX)the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, ^(BY)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^(BZ)an Israelite indeed, ^(CA)in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How ^(CB)do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, ^(CC)“Rabbi, ^(CD)you are the Son of God! You are the ^(CE)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,^[m] you will see ^(CF)heaven opened, and ^(CG)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(CH)the Son of Man.”

You Must Be Born Again

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named ^(A)Nicodemus, ^(B)a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus^{[a] (C)}by night and said to him, ^(D)“Rabbi, ^(E)we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do ^(F)unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is ^(G)born ^(H)again^[b] he cannot ^(I)see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born ^(J)of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ^6 (K)That which is born of the flesh is ^(L)flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^{[c] 7 (M)}Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You^[d] must be born ^(N)again.’ ^8 (O)The wind^[e] blows ^(P)where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to him, ^(Q)“How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel ^(R)and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(S)we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but ^(T)you^[f] do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ^13 (U)No one has ^(V)ascended into heaven except ^(W)he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^{[g] 14} And ^(X)as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man ^(Y)be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes ^(Z)in him ^(AA)may have eternal life.^[h]

For God So Loved the World

¹⁶ “For ^(AB)God so loved ^(AC)the world,^{[i] (AD)}that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not ^(AE)perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For ^(AF)God did not send his Son into the world ^(AG)to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ^18 (AH)Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not ^(AI)believed in the name of the only Son of God. ^19 (AJ)And this is the judgment: ^(AK)the light has come into the world, and ^(AL)people loved the darkness rather than the light because ^(AM)their works were evil. ^20 (AN)For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, ^(AO)lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever ^(AP)does what is true ^(AQ)comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

²² After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and ^(AR)was baptizing. ²³ John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized ²⁴ (for ^(AS)John had not yet been put in prison).

²⁵ Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over ^(AT)purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, ^(AU)“Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, ^(AV)to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and ^(AW)all are going to him.” ²⁷ John answered, ^(AX)“A person cannot receive even one thing ^(AY)unless it is given him ^(AZ)from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ^(BA)‘I am not the Christ, but ^(BB)I have been sent before him.’ ^29 (BC)The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. ^(BD)The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, ^(BE)rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. ^30 (BF)He must increase, but I must decrease.”^[j]

^31 (BG)He who comes from above ^(BH)is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and ^(BI)speaks in an earthly way. ^(BJ)He who comes from heaven ^(BK)is above all. ^32 (BL)He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, ^(BM)yet no one receives his testimony. ³³ Whoever receives his testimony ^(BN)sets his seal to this, ^(BO)that God is true. ³⁴ For he whom ^(BP)God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit ^(BQ)without measure. ^35 (BR)The Father loves the Son and ^(BS)has given all things into his hand. ^36 (BT)Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; ^(BU)whoever does not obey the Son shall not ^(BV)see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.