John 1
New King James Version
The Eternal Word(A)
1 In the beginning (B)was the Word, and the (C)Word was (D)with God, and the Word was (E)God. 2 (F)He was in the beginning with God. 3 (G)All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 (H)In Him was life, and (I)the life was the light of men. 5 And (J)the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [a]comprehend it.
John’s Witness: The True Light
6 There was a (K)man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a (L)witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might (M)believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that (N)Light. 9 (O)That[b] was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and (P)the world did not know Him. 11 (Q)He came to His [c]own, and His [d]own did not receive Him. 12 But (R)as many as received Him, to them He gave the [e]right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 (S)who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word Becomes Flesh
14 (T)And the Word (U)became (V)flesh and dwelt among us, and (W)we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, (X)full of grace and truth.
15 (Y)John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, (Z)‘He who comes after me [f]is preferred before me, (AA)for He was before me.’ ”
16 [g]And of His (AB)fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For (AC)the law was given through Moses, but (AD)grace and (AE)truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 (AF)No one has seen God at any time. (AG)The only begotten [h]Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
A Voice in the Wilderness(AH)
19 Now this is (AI)the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 (AJ)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you (AK)the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said: (AL)“I am
(AM)‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’
as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, (AN)“I baptize with water, (AO)but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27 (AP)It is He who, coming after me, [i]is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done (AQ)in [j]Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The Lamb of God(AR)
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! (AS)The Lamb of God (AT)who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who [k]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, (AU)therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32 (AV)And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, (AW)this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the (AX)Son of God.”
The First Disciples
35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, (AY)“Behold the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they (AZ)followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was (BA)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the [l]Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of [m]Jonah. (BB)You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, [n]A Stone).
Philip and Nathanael
43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found (BC)Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now (BD)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found (BE)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom (BF)Moses in the law, and also the (BG)prophets, wrote—Jesus (BH)of Nazareth, the (BI)son of Joseph.”
46 And Nathanael said to him, (BJ)“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, (BK)an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, (BL)You are the Son of God! You are (BM)the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered and said to 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, “Most assuredly, I say to you, (BN)hereafter[o] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
Footnotes
- John 1:5 Or overcome
- John 1:9 Or That was the true Light which, coming into the world, gives light to every man.
- John 1:11 His own things or domain
- John 1:11 His own people
- John 1:12 authority
- John 1:15 ranks higher than I
- John 1:16 NU For
- John 1:18 NU God
- John 1:27 ranks higher than I
- John 1:28 NU, M Bethany
- John 1:30 ranks higher than I
- John 1:41 Lit. Anointed One
- John 1:42 NU John
- John 1:42 Gr. Petros, usually translated Peter
- John 1:51 NU omits hereafter
Yochanan 1
Orthodox Jewish Bible
1 Bereshis (in the Beginning) was the Dvar Hashem [YESHAYAH 55:11; BERESHIS 1:3], and the Dvar Hashem was agav (along with, etzel, Mishle 8:30;30:4) Hashem, and the Dvar Hashem was nothing less, by nature, than Elohim! [Psa 56:11(10); Yn 17:5; Rev. 19:13 i.e., the Ma’amar Memra]
2 Bereshis (in the Beginning) this Dvar Hashem was with Hashem [Prov 8:30].
3 All things through him came to be, and without him came to be not one thing which came into being. [Ps 33:6,9; Prov 30:4]
4 In him was Chayyim (Life) and the Chayyim (Life) was the Ohr (Light) of Bnei Adam. [TEHILLIM 36:10 (9)]
5 And the Ohr shines in the choshech [TEHILLIM 18:28], and the choshech did not grasp it. [YESHAYAH 9:1]
6 There came an ish haElohim (a man of G-d), having been sent from Hashem. His name was Yochanan.
7 This Yochanan came for an eidus (witness), that he might give solemn edut (testimony) about the Ohr, that kol Bnei Adam might have emunah through him.
8 This ish haElohim was not the Ohr, but he came that he might give solemn edut (testimony) about the Ohr.
9 The Ohr, the Ohr HaAmitti (the True Light), which gives rational haskalah (enlightenment) to kol Bnei Adam (all mankind), was coming into the Olam Hazeh.
10 He was in the Olam Hazeh, the Olam (world) came to be through him [Ps 33:6,9]; yet the Olam Hazeh did not recognize him.
11 He came to his own, and his own were not mekabel (accepting) the Kabbalus HaMalchus of him [YESHAYAH 53:3].
12 But as many as him lekabel pnei Moshiach (receive him as Moshiach), to them he gave the tokef (authority) to become in fact yeladim haElohim [DEVARIM 14:1].
13 He gave this tokef to the ones whose being born was not by the agency of natural descent, nor by the ratzon (will) of basar (fallen human nature), nor by the ratzon of a gever (male)—rather, to the ones born of G-d (Yn 3:3,7).
14 And the Dvar Hashem took on gufaniyut (corporeality) and made his sukkah, his Mishkan (Tabernacle) among us [YESHAYAH 7:14], and we [Shlichim, 1Y 1:1-2] gazed upon his Kavod [SHEMOT 33:18; 40:34; YESHAYAH 60:1-2], the Shechinah of the Ben Yachid from Elohim HaAv, full of Hashem’s Chesed v’Emes.
15 And Yochanan gives solemn edut (testimony) about him and has cried out, This was he about whom I said, Hu HaBah (He who comes [Gn 49:10; Ezek 21:27]) after me is really before me in priority, because, before I came to be, he was (Yn 8:58).
16 For from the kol melo (all the plentitude) of him we all received Chesed upon Chesed.
17 Because the matan Torah (giving of the Torah) was graciously bestowed through Moshe [Rabbeinu] [DEVARIM 32:46 SHEMOT 31:18; 34:28], but Chesed and Emes of Hashem came through [Rebbe,] Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua [Ex 34:6; Ps 25:10; 40:11; 85:11; Yochanan 1:49].
18 No one has ever seen Hashem [Ex 33:20]. It is Elohim the Ben Yachid [who shares the nature of Hashem, the Chochman Ben Elohim at his side, see very importantly Mishle 8:30; 30:4)], it is he, the one being in the kheyk (bosom) of HaAv, this one is Hashem’s definitive midrash (exegesis).
19 And this is the solemn edut (testimony) of Yochanan, when those of Yehudah sent kohanim and L’viim from Yerushalayim to him that they might ask him, Mi atah? (Who are you?).
20 Yochanan made hoda’a (confession, admission)‖he did not fail to make hoda’a‖and said clearly, I am not the [Rebbe,] Melech HaMoshiach.
21 And they asked Yochanan, What, then? Are you Eliyahu HaNavi? And Yochanan says, I am not. Are you the Navi? (DEVARIM 18:15,18) And he answered, Lo (No).
22 They said then to him, Mi atah? That we may give a teshuvah (answer) to the ones who sent us. What do you say about yourself?
23 Yochanan said, I am a KOL KOREY BAMIDBAR, make straight the DERECH HASHEM! (YESHAYAH 40:3, TARGUM HASHIVIM), as Yeshayah HaNavi said.
24 And the ones that had been sent were of the Perushim.
25 And the Perushim asked Yochanan, If you are not the [Rebbe,] Melech HaMoshiach nor Eliyahu nor the Navi, then why do you administer the mikveh mayim’s tevilah?
26 Yochanan answered the Perushim, I give a tevilah in a mikveh mayim; among you is standing one of whom you do not have da’as.
27 Hu HaBah (he who comes, i.e., the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach who is coming into the Olam Hazeh), that is, He who comes after me, is one that I am not worthy even to untie the thong of his sandal.
28 These events took place in Beit-Anyah (Bethany), beyond the Yarden River, which Yochanan was using as a mikveh mayim in which to administer the tevilah.
29 On the next day, Yochanan sees Yehoshua coming to him, and Yochanan says, Hinei! The Seh HaElohim (Gn 22:8; Ex 12:5-13; Isa 53:7), the one carrying away the avonot HaOlam Hazeh (sins of this world i.e., as the sa’ir l’Azazel kapporah, Isa 53:6 7,12; Lv 16:22).
30 This is he about whom I said, After me comes an ISH (ZECHARYAH 6:12) who is really before me in priority, because, before I came to be, he was (Yochanan 8:58).
31 And I did not recognize him, but that he might be manifested to Klal Yisroel, I came, therefore, administering the mikveh mayim’s tevilah.
32 And Yochanan gave solemn edut, I have seen the Ruach Hakodesh descending like a yonah out of Shomayim and remaining upon him. (YESHAYAH 11:2)
33 And I did not recognize him, but the One who sent me to give the mikveh mayim’s tevilah said to me, Upon whomever you see the Ruach Hakodesh descending and remaining, this is the One giving the tevilah in the Ruach Hakodesh. [YOEL 3:1 (2:28)]
34 And I have seen and I have given solemn edut (testimony) that this One is the Ben HaElohim. [2Sm 7:14; Ps 2:7; 1Ch 17:10-14; Prov 8:30; 30:4]
35 On the next day, Yochanan was standing with two of his talmidim.
36 And as Yochanan watched Yehoshua walking by, Yochanan says, Hinei the Seh HaElohim! (Gn 22:8; Ex 12:5-13; Isa 53:7)
37 And the two talmidim heard Yochanan speaking, and they followed after him.
38 When he turned and saw them following, he says to them, Mah tevakkeshun? (What do you seek?) And they said to him, Rebbe (which means, being translated, my Master Moreh [teacher]), where is your mekom megurim (dwelling place)?
39 And he says to them, Bo’u u’re’u! (Come and see!) They went, therefore, and saw his mekom megurim, and remained with him that day. The hour was about the tenth (four o’clock in the afternoon).
40 One of the two was the achi Shimon Kefa. His name was Andrew. He was one of the two who heard Yochanan and followed him.
41 Andrew first finds his own achi Shimon Kefa and says to him, We have found the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach!—the word, being translated, means "Messiah". [DANIEL 9:25; TEHILLIM 2:2; SHMUEL ALEF 2:10]
42 Andrew led Shimon to Yehoshua. When Yehoshua gazed at Shimon, he said, You are Shimon Bar Yonah. You will be called Kefa, which is translated Petros [Rock]. [BERESHIS 17:5,15; 32:28; 35:10]
43 On the next day he wanted to go out into the Galil, and he finds Philippos, and says to Philippos, Follow me [as my talmid]. [MELACHIM ALEF 19:19]
44 Now Philippos was from Beit Tzaidah, the shtetl of Andrew and Kefa.
45 Philippos finds Natan’el and says to him, He whom Moshe [Rabbeinu] wrote of in the Sefer Torah, he whom the Nevi’im also wrote of—Yehoshua ben Yosef [ben Dovid], from Natzeret we have found! [DEVARIM 18:18; YESHAYAH 7:14; 9:5[6]; YECHEZKEL 34:23]
46 And Natan’el said to Philippos, Can anything good come out of Natzeret? [7:41; YESHAYAH 11:1; ZECHARYAH 6:11 12] Philippos says to Natan’el, Bo’u u’re’u! (Come and see!) [MELACHIM BAIS 6:13]
47 Yehoshua saw Natan’el coming to him, and he says, Hinei a genuine Ben Yisroel, in whom is no MIRMAH (deceit). [TEHILLIM 32:2; TZEFANYAH 3:13; YESHAYAH 53:9]
48 Natan’el says to him, How do you have da’as of me? In reply, Yehoshua said to him, Before you received your kri’ah (call) from Philippos, while you were beneath the etz hate’enah (fig tree, MICHOH 4:4; ZECHARYAH 3:10), I watched you.
49 In reply, Natan’el said to him, Rebbe, you are the Ben HaElohim [SHMUEL BAIS 7:14; TEHILLIM 2:7;89:26-27], the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach of Yisroel.
50 In reply, Yehoshua said to Natan’el, Because I told you that I watched you beneath the etz hate’enah, do you have emunah (faith)? Greater than these things you will see.
51 And he says to Natan’el, Omein, omein, I say to you, you will see Shomayim having been opened and malachim (angels) of Hashem ascending and descending on the Ben HaAdam [i.e, Moshiach DANIEL 7:13-14; TZEFANYAH 3:15; BERESHIS 28:12].
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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