Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus^(A) who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.^{(B) 2} He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi,^(C) we know^(D) that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs^(E) you are doing if God were not with him.”^(F)

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”^(G)

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.^{(H) 6} Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit.^{(I) 7} You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d](J)

⁹ “How can this be?”^(K) Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,”^(L) said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know,^(M) and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.^{(N) 12} I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven^(O) except the one who came from heaven^(P)—the Son of Man.^{[e](Q) 14} Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,^(R) so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^{[f](S) 15} that everyone who believes^(T) may have eternal life in him.”^[g](U)

¹⁶ For God so loved^(V) the world that he gave^(W) his one and only Son,^(X) that whoever believes^(Y) in him shall not perish but have eternal life.^{(Z) 17} For God did not send his Son into the world^(AA) to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.^{(AB) 18} Whoever believes in him is not condemned,^(AC) but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.^{(AD) 19} This is the verdict: Light^(AE) has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.^{(AF) 20} Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.^{(AG) 21} But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

John Testifies Again About Jesus

²² After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.^{(AH) 23} Now John^(AI) also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. ²⁴ (This was before John was put in prison.)^{(AJ) 25} An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.^{(AK) 26} They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi,^(AL) that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified^(AM) about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

²⁷ To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’^{(AN) 29} The bride belongs to the bridegroom.^(AO) The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.^{(AP) 30} He must become greater; I must become less.”^[h]

³¹ The one who comes from above^(AQ) is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth.^(AR) The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what he has seen and heard,^(AS) but no one accepts his testimony.^{(AT) 33} Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴ For the one whom God has sent^(AU) speaks the words of God, for God^[i] gives the Spirit^(AV) without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.^{(AW) 36} Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,^(AX) but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John^(AY)— ² although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³ So he left Judea^(AZ) and went back once more to Galilee.

⁴ Now he had to go through Samaria.^{(BA) 5} So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.^{(BB) 6} Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”^{(BC) 8} (His disciples had gone into the town^(BD) to buy food.)

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan^(BE) woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.^[j])

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”^(BF)

¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well^(BG) and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.^(BH) Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water^(BI) welling up to eternal life.”^(BJ)

¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty^(BK) and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.^{(BL) 20} Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,^(BM) but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”^(BN)

²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming^(BO) when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.^{(BP) 22} You Samaritans worship what you do not know;^(BQ) we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.^{(BR) 23} Yet a time is coming and has now come^(BS) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit^(BT) and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit,^(BU) and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)^(BV) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”^(BW)

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

²⁷ Just then his disciples returned^(BX) and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

²⁸ Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.^(BY) Could this be the Messiah?”^{(BZ) 30} They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

³¹ Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi,^(CA) eat something.”

³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat^(CB) that you know nothing about.”

³³ Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

³⁴ “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will^(CC) of him who sent me and to finish his work.^{(CD) 35} Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.^{(CE) 36} Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests^(CF) a crop for eternal life,^(CG) so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷ Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’^(CH) is true. ³⁸ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

³⁹ Many of the Samaritans from that town^(CI) believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”^{(CJ) 40} So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹ And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴² They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”^(CK)

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

⁴³ After the two days^(CL) he left for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)^{(CM) 45} When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,^(CN) for they also had been there.

⁴⁶ Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.^(CO) And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,^(CP) he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

⁴⁸ “Unless you people see signs and wonders,”^(CQ) Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

⁴⁹ The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

⁵⁰ “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. ⁵¹ While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. ⁵² When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

⁵³ Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household^(CR) believed.

⁵⁴ This was the second sign^(CS) Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

5 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God,^(A) to offer gifts and sacrifices^(B) for sins.^{(C) 2} He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray,^(D) since he himself is subject to weakness.^{(E) 3} This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.^{(F) 4} And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.^(G)

⁵ In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory^(H) of becoming a high priest.^(I) But God said^(J) to him,

⁶ And he says in another place,

⁷ During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions^(N) with fervent cries and tears^(O) to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard^(P) because of his reverent submission.^{(Q) 8} Son^(R) though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered^{(S) 9} and, once made perfect,^(T) he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ¹⁰ and was designated by God to be high priest^(U) in the order of Melchizedek.^(V)

Warning Against Falling Away^(W)

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths^(X) of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!^{(Y) 13} Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant,^(Z) is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature,^(AA) who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.^(AB)

6 Therefore let us move beyond^(AC) the elementary teachings^(AD) about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,^[c](AE) and of faith in God, ² instruction about cleansing rites,^[d](AF) the laying on of hands,^(AG) the resurrection of the dead,^(AH) and eternal judgment. ³ And God permitting,^(AI) we will do so.

⁴ It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened,^(AJ) who have tasted the heavenly gift,^(AK) who have shared in the Holy Spirit,^{(AL) 5} who have tasted the goodness^(AM) of the word of God^(AN) and the powers of the coming age ⁶ and who have fallen^[e] away, to be brought back to repentance.^(AO) To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God^(AP) all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. ⁷ Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸ But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed.^(AQ) In the end it will be burned.

⁹ Even though we speak like this, dear friends,^(AR) we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. ¹⁰ God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.^{(AS) 11} We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope^(AT) for may be fully realized. ¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate^(AU) those who through faith and patience^(AV) inherit what has been promised.^(AW)

The Certainty of God’s Promise

¹³ When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself,^{(AX) 14} saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”^{[f](AY) 15} And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.^(AZ)

¹⁶ People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.^{(BA) 17} Because God wanted to make the unchanging^(BB) nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised,^(BC) he confirmed it with an oath. ¹⁸ God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie,^(BD) we who have fled to take hold of the hope^(BE) set before us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,^{(BF) 20} where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.^(BG) He has become a high priest^(BH) forever, in the order of Melchizedek.^(BI)

Melchizedek the Priest

7 This Melchizedek was king of Salem^(BJ) and priest of God Most High.^(BK) He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him,^{(BL) 2} and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” ³ Without father or mother, without genealogy,^(BM) without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God,^(BN) he remains a priest forever.

⁴ Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch^(BO) Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!^{(BP) 5} Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people^(BQ)—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. ⁶ This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed^(BR) him who had the promises.^{(BS) 7} And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. ⁸ In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living.^{(BT) 9} One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, ¹⁰ because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Jesus Like Melchizedek

¹¹ If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people^(BU) established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come,^(BV) one in the order of Melchizedek,^(BW) not in the order of Aaron? ¹² For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. ¹³ He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe,^(BX) and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.^{(BY) 14} For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah,^(BZ) and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. ¹⁵ And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶ one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is declared:

¹⁸ The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless^{(CB) 19} (for the law made nothing perfect),^(CC) and a better hope^(CD) is introduced, by which we draw near to God.^(CE)

²⁰ And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, ²¹ but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

²² Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.^(CH)

²³ Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.^{(CI) 25} Therefore he is able to save^(CJ) completely^[i] those who come to God^(CK) through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.^(CL)

²⁶ Such a high priest^(CM) truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners,^(CN) exalted above the heavens.^{(CO) 27} Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices^(CP) day after day, first for his own sins,^(CQ) and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all^(CR) when he offered himself.^{(CS) 28} For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness;^(CT) but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son,^(CU) who has been made perfect^(CV) forever.