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John 1-8
New American Standard Bible

1 (A)In the beginning was (B)the Word, and the Word was (C)with God, and (D)the Word was God. 2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. 3 (E)All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him [b]not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 (F)In Him was life, and the life was (G)the Light of mankind. 5 And (H)the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [c]grasp it.

The Witness John the Baptist

6 A man [d]came, one sent from God, and his name was (I)John. 7 [e]He came [f](J)as a witness, to testify about the Light, (K)so that all might believe through him. 8 [g](L)He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

9 [h]This was (M)the true Light [i]that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. 10 He was in the world, and (N)the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not [j]know Him. 11 He came to His [k]own, and His own people did not [l]accept Him. 12 But [m]as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become (O)children of God, (P)to those who [n]believe in His name, 13 (Q)who were [o]born, not of [p]blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

The Word Made Flesh

14 And (R)the Word (S)became flesh, and (T)dwelt among us; and (U)we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of (V)grace and (W)truth. 15 John *(X)testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘(Y)He who is coming after me has proved to be [q]my superior, (Z)because He existed before me.’” 16 For of His (AA)fullness [r]we have all received, and [s]grace upon grace. 17 For (AB)the Law was given through Moses; (AC)grace and (AD)truth [t]were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 (AE)No one has seen God at any time; (AF)God the only Son, who is (AG)in the [u]arms of the Father, (AH)He has [v]explained Him.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 This is (AI)the testimony of John, when (AJ)the Jews sent priests and Levites to him (AK)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “(AL)I am not the [w]Christ.” 21 And so they asked him, “What then? Are you (AM)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you (AN)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am (AO)the voice of one calling [x]out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

24 And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the [y]Christ, nor Elijah, nor (AP)the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, saying, “(AQ)I baptize [z]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 It is (AR)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the (AS)strap of His sandal.” 28 These things took place in Bethany (AT)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.

29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, (AU)the Lamb of God who (AV)takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘(AW)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be [aa]my superior, (AX)because He existed before me.’ 31 And I did not recognize [ab]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing [ac]in water.” 32 And John (AY)testified, saying, “(AZ)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 And I did not recognize [ad]Him, but He who sent me to baptize [ae]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, (BA)this is the One who baptizes [af]in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is (BB)the [ag]Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry; First Converts

35 Again (BC)the next day John was standing [ah]with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, (BD)the Lamb of God!” 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “(BE)Rabbi (which translated 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; it was about the [ai]tenth hour. 40 (BF)One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the (BG)Messiah” (which translated means [aj]Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of [ak](BH)John; you shall be called (BI)Cephas” (which is translated [al](BJ)Peter).

43 (BK)The next day He [am]decided to go to (BL)Galilee, and He *found (BM)Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “(BN)Follow Me.” 44 Now (BO)Philip was from (BP)Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 (BQ)Philip *found (BR)Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom (BS)Moses wrote in the Law, and (BT)the prophets also wrote: Jesus (BU)the son of Joseph, from (BV)Nazareth!” 46 Nathanael said to him, “(BW)Can anything good be from Nazareth?” (BX)Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Here is truly an (BY)Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before (BZ)Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered Him, “(CA)Rabbi, You are (CB)the Son of God; You are the (CC)King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that 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, you will see (CD)heaven opened and (CE)the angels of God ascending and descending on (CF)the Son of Man.”

Miracle at Cana

2 On (CG)the third day there was a wedding in (CH)Cana of Galilee, and the (CI)mother of Jesus was there; 2 and both Jesus and His (CJ)disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus *said to her, “[an](CK)What business do you have with Me, (CL)woman? (CM)My hour has not yet come.” 5 His (CN)mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He tells you, do it.” 6 Now there were six stone waterpots standing there (CO)for the Jewish custom of purification, containing [ao]two or three measures each. 7 Jesus *said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the [ap]headwaiter.” And they took it to him. 9 Now when the headwaiter tasted the water (CP)which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the groom, 10 and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests (CQ)are drunk, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This beginning of His [aq](CR)signs Jesus did in Cana of (CS)Galilee, and revealed His (CT)glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

12 After this He went down to (CU)Capernaum, He and His (CV)mother, and His (CW)brothers and His (CX)disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

First Passover—Cleansing the Temple

13 (CY)The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus (CZ)went up to Jerusalem. 14 (DA)And within the temple grounds He found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 And He made a whip of [ar]cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16 and to those who were selling (DB)the doves He said, “Take these things away from here; stop making (DC)My Father’s house a [as]place of business!” 17 His (DD)disciples remembered that it was written: “(DE)Zeal for Your house will consume me.” 18 (DF)The Jews then said to Him, “(DG)What sign do You show us [at]as your authority for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “(DH)Destroy this [au]temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 (DI)The Jews then said, “It took (DJ)forty-six years to build this [av]temple, and yet You will raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking about (DK)the [aw]temple of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His (DL)disciples (DM)remembered that He said this; and they believed (DN)the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at (DO)the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name as they (DP)observed His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because (DQ)He knew all people, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify about mankind, (DR)for He Himself knew what was in mankind.

The New Birth

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named (DS)Nicodemus, a (DT)ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to [ax]Jesus at night and said to Him, “(DU)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these [ay](DV)signs that You do unless (DW)God is with him.” 3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone (DX)is born [az]again he cannot see (DY)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 (DZ)water and the Spirit, he cannot enter (EA)the kingdom of God. 6 (EB)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 [ba]again.’ 8 (EC)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 (ED)the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, (EE)we speak of what we know and (EF)testify of what we have seen, and (EG)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 (EH)No one has ascended into heaven, except (EI)He who descended from heaven: (EJ)the Son of Man. 14 And just as (EK)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must (EL)the Son of Man (EM)be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who [bb]believes will (EN)have eternal life in Him.

16 “For God so (EO)loved the world, that He (EP)gave His (EQ)only Son, so that everyone who (ER)believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God (ES)did not send the Son into the world (ET)to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. 18 (EU)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 (EV)the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that (EW)the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for (EX)their deeds were evil. 20 (EY)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 (EZ)practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed [bc]as having been performed in God.”

John the Baptist’s Last Testimony

22 After these things Jesus and His (FA)disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He was spending time with them and (FB)baptizing. 23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and being baptized— 24 for (FC)John had not yet been thrown into prison.

25 Then a matter of dispute developed on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about [bd](FD)purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “(FE)Rabbi, He who was with you (FF)beyond the Jordan, to whom you (FG)have testified—behold, He is baptizing and all the people are coming to Him.” 27 John replied, “(FH)A person can receive not even one thing unless it (FI)has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves [be]are my witnesses that I said, ‘(FJ)I am not the [bf]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is (FK)the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this (FL)joy of mine has been made full. 30 He must [bg]increase, but I must [bh]decrease.

31 “(FM)He who comes from above is above all; (FN)the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. (FO)He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of this He (FP)testifies; and (FQ)no one accepts His testimony. 33 The one who has accepted His testimony (FR)has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God (FS)sent speaks the words of God; (FT)for He does not give the Spirit [bi]sparingly. 35 (FU)The Father loves the Son and (FV)has entrusted all things to His hand. 36 The one who (FW)believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who (FX)does not [bj]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Jesus Goes to Galilee

4 So then, when (FY)the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that [bk]He was making and (FZ)baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although (GA)Jesus Himself was not baptizing; rather, His (GB)disciples were), 3 He left (GC)Judea and went away (GD)again to Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through (GE)Samaria. 5 So He *came to a city of (GF)Samaria called Sychar, near (GG)the parcel of land that (GH)Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired from His journey, was just sitting by the well. It was about [bl]the sixth hour.

The Woman of Samaria

7 A woman of Samaria *came to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His (GI)disciples had gone away to (GJ)the city to buy food. 9 So the (GK)Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For (GL)Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you (GM)living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “[bm]Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this (GN)living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who (GO)gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him (GP)shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to (GQ)eternal life.”

15 The woman *said to Him, “[bn]Sir, (GR)give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said to Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this which you have said is true.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “[bo]Sir, I perceive that You are (GS)a prophet. 20 (GT)Our fathers worshiped on (GU)this mountain, and yet you Jews say that (GV)in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Believe Me, woman, that [bp](GW)a time is coming when you will worship the Father (GX)neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 (GY)You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because (GZ)salvation is from the Jews. 23 But [bq](HA)a time is coming, and [br]even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (HB)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be [bs]His worshipers. 24 God is [bt]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship (HC)in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that (HD)Messiah is coming ((HE)He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “(HF)I am He, the One speaking to you.”

27 And at this point His (HG)disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What are You seeking?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and *said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man (HH)who told me all the things that I have done; (HI)this is not the [bu]Christ, is He?” 30 They left the city and were coming to Him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “(HJ)Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the (HK)disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to (HL)do the will of Him who sent Me, and to (HM)accomplish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields, that they are white (HN)for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving (HO)wages and is gathering (HP)fruit for (HQ)eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘(HR)One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have [bv]come into their labor.”

The Samaritans

39 Now from (HS)that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “(HT)He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to [bw]Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is (HU)the Savior of the world.”

43 And after (HV)the two days, He departed from there for Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that (HW)a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, only because (HX)they had seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

Healing an Official’s Son

46 Therefore He came again to (HY)Cana of Galilee, (HZ)where He had made the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at (IA)Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come (IB)from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see [bx](IC)signs and (ID)wonders, you simply will not believe.” 49 The royal official *said to Him, “[by]Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus *said to him, “(IE)Go; your son [bz]is alive.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went home. 51 And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his [ca]son was [cb]alive. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the [cc]seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son is alive”; and he himself believed, and (IF)his entire household. 54 This is again a (IG)second [cd]sign that Jesus performed when He had (IH)come from Judea into Galilee.

The Healing at Bethesda

5 After these things there was (II)a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now in Jerusalem, by (IJ)the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which (IK)in [ce]Hebrew is called [cf]Bethesda, having five [cg]porticoes. 3 In these porticoes lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or [ch]paralyzed.[ci] 5 Now a man was there who had been [cj]ill for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, *said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus *said to him, “(IL)Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.

(IM)Now it was a Sabbath on that day. 10 So (IN)the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is a Sabbath, and (IO)it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” 11 But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14 Afterward, Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not (IP)sin anymore, (IQ)so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man went away, and informed (IR)the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason (IS)the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath. 17 But He answered them, “My Father [ck]is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

Jesus’ Equality with God

18 For this reason therefore (IT)the Jews (IU)were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, (IV)making Himself equal with God.

19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, (IW)the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever [cl]the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way. 20 (IX)For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him (IY)greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and (IZ)gives them life, so (JA)the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. 22 For not even the Father judges anyone, but (JB)He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. (JC)The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and (JD)believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and (JE)does not come into judgment, but has (JF)passed out of death into life.

Two Resurrections

25 Truly, truly, I say to you, [cm](JG)a time is coming and [cn]even now has arrived, when (JH)the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who (JI)hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He (JJ)gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to (JK)execute judgment, because He is [co]the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this; for [cp](JL)a time is coming when (JM)all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come out: (JN)those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the bad deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

30 “(JO)I can do nothing [cq]on My own. As I hear, I judge; and (JP)My judgment is [cr]righteous, because I do not seek My own will but (JQ)the will of Him who sent Me.

31 “(JR)If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not [cs]true. 32 There is (JS)another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.

Testimony of John the Baptist

33 You have sent messengers to John, and he (JT)has testified to the truth. 34 But (JU)the testimony I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was (JV)the lamp that was burning and shining, and you (JW)were willing to rejoice for [ct]a while in his light.

Testimony of Works

36 But the testimony I have is greater than the testimony of John; for (JX)the works which the Father has given Me (JY)to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father (JZ)has sent Me.

Testimony of the Father

37 And the Father who sent Me, (KA)He has testified about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 Also you do not have (KB)His word remaining in you, because you do not believe Him whom He (KC)sent.

Testimony of the Scripture

39 [cu](KD)You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is (KE)those very Scriptures that testify about Me; 40 and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 41 (KF)I do not receive glory from people; 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not [cv]receive Me; (KG)if another comes in his own name, you will [cw]receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you [cx](KH)accept [cy]glory from one another and you do not seek (KI)the [cz]glory that is from (KJ)the one and only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is (KK)Moses, in whom you have put your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for (KL)he wrote about Me. 47 But (KM)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Five Thousand Men Fed

6 After these things (KN)Jesus went away to the other side of (KO)the Sea of Galilee (or (KP)Tiberias). 2 A large crowd was following Him, because they were watching the [da](KQ)signs which He was performing on those who were sick. 3 But (KR)Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. 4 Now (KS)the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. 5 So Jesus, after raising His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to (KT)Philip, “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” 6 But He was saying this only to (KU)test him, for He Himself knew what He intended to do. 7 (KV)Philip answered Him, “(KW)Two hundred [db]denarii worth of bread is not enough for them, for each to receive just a little!” 8 One of His (KX)disciples, (KY)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two (KZ)fish; but what are these for so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people recline to eat.” Now there was (LA)plenty of grass in the place. So the men reclined, about [dc](LB)five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and (LC)after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were reclining; likewise also of the (LD)fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, He *said to His (LE)disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve (LF)baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Therefore when the people saw the [dd]sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the (LG)Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Water

15 So Jesus, aware that they [de]intended to come and take Him by force (LH)to make Him king, (LI)withdrew again to (LJ)the mountain by Himself, alone.

16 Now when evening came, His (LK)disciples went down to the sea, 17 and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea (LL)to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 In addition, the sea began getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing. 19 Then, when they had rowed about [df]twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat; and they were frightened. 20 But He *said to them, “It is I; [dg](LM)do not be afraid.” 21 So they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

22 The next day (LN)the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus (LO)had not gotten into the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had departed alone. 23 Other small boats came from (LP)Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the (LQ)Lord (LR)had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and (LS)came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “(LT)Rabbi, when did You get here?”

Words to the People

26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you (LU)seek Me, not because you saw [dh](LV)signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not (LW)work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for (LX)eternal life, which (LY)the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, (LZ)has set His [di]seal.” 28 Therefore they said to Him, “What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is (MA)the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He (MB)has sent.” 30 So they said to Him, “(MC)What then are You doing as a (MD)sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing? 31 (ME)Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘(MF)He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 33 For the bread of God is [dj]that which (MG)comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always (MH)give us this bread.”

35 Jesus said to them, “(MI)I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me (MJ)will never be thirsty. 36 But (MK)I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe. 37 (ML)Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. 38 For (MM)I have come down from heaven, (MN)not to do My own will, but (MO)the will of Him who (MP)sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of (MQ)everything that He has given Me I will (MR)lose nothing, but will (MS)raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who (MT)sees the Son and (MU)believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will (MV)raise him up on the last day.”

Words to the Jews

41 (MW)So then the Jews were complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that (MX)came down out of heaven.” 42 And they were saying, “(MY)Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother (MZ)we know? How does He now say, ‘(NA)I have come down out of heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me (NB)draws him; and I will (NC)raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written (ND)in the Prophets: ‘(NE)And they shall all be (NF)taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 (NG)Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes (NH)has eternal life. 48 (NI)I am the bread of life. 49 (NJ)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that (NK)comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and (NL)not die. 51 (NM)I am the living bread that (NN)came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, (NO)he will live forever; and the bread which I will give (NP)for the life of the world also is (NQ)My flesh.”

52 (NR)Then the Jews (NS)began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of (NT)the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will (NU)raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood (NV)remains in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the (NW)living Father (NX)sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that (NY)came down out of heaven, not as (NZ)the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread (OA)will live forever.”

Words to the Disciples

59 These things He said (OB)in the synagogue as He taught (OC)in Capernaum.

60 So then many of His (OD)disciples, when they heard this, said, “(OE)This statement is very [dk]unpleasant; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, (OF)aware that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, “Is this [dl](OG)offensive to you? 62 What then if you see (OH)the Son of Man (OI)ascending to where He was before? 63 (OJ)It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; (OK)the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. 64 But there are (OL)some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus (OM)knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and (ON)who it was who would [dm]betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have (OO)told you that no one can come to Me unless (OP)it has been granted him from the Father.”

Peter’s Confession of Faith

66 As a result of this many of His (OQ)disciples (OR)left, and would no longer walk with Him. 67 So Jesus said to (OS)the twelve, “You do not want to leave also, do you?” 68 (OT)Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have (OU)words of eternal life. 69 And we have already believed and have come to know that You are (OV)the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “(OW)Did I Myself not choose you, (OX)the twelve? And yet one of you is (OY)a devil.” 71 Now He meant Judas (OZ)the son of Simon Iscariot; for he, (PA)one of (PB)the twelve, [dn]was going to betray Him.

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

7 After these things Jesus (PC)was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because (PD)the Jews (PE)were seeking to kill Him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews, (PF)the Feast of Booths, was near. 3 So His (PG)brothers said to Him, “Move on from here and go into Judea, so that Your (PH)disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret [do]when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For not even His (PI)brothers believed in Him. 6 So Jesus *said to them, “(PJ)My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready. 7 (PK)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it, that (PL)its deeds are evil. 8 Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, because (PM)My time has not yet fully arrived.” 9 Now having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

10 But when His (PN)brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret. 11 (PO)So the Jews (PP)were looking for Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” 12 And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: (PQ)some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.” 13 However, no one was speaking openly about Him, for (PR)fear of [dp]the Jews.

14 But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to (PS)teach. 15 (PT)The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man (PU)become learned, not having been educated?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “(PV)My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. 17 (PW)If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. 18 The one who speaks from himself (PX)seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

19 “(PY)Did Moses not give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why are you (PZ)seeking to kill Me?” 20 The crowd answered, “(QA)You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill You?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did (QB)one [dq]deed, and you all are astonished. 22 For this reason (QC)Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from (QD)the fathers), and even on a Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23 (QE)If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry at Me because I made an entire man well on a Sabbath? 24 Do not (QF)judge by the outward appearance, but judge [dr]with righteous judgment.”

25 So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this man not the one whom they are seeking to kill? 26 And yet look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. (QG)The rulers do not really know that this is the [ds]Christ, do they? 27 However, (QH)we know where this man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.” 28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, (QI)teaching and saying, “(QJ)You both know Me and you know where I am from; and (QK)I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 (QL)I do know Him, because (QM)I am from Him, and (QN)He sent Me.” 30 So they (QO)were seeking to arrest Him; and yet no one laid a hand on Him, because His (QP)hour had not yet come. 31 But (QQ)many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “(QR)When the [dt]Christ comes, He will not perform more [du](QS)signs than those which this man has done, will He?”

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent (QT)officers to (QU)arrest Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said, “(QV)For a little while longer I am going to be with you, and then (QW)I am going to Him who sent Me. 34 (QX)You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 (QY)The Jews then said to one another, “(QZ)Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He does not intend to go to (RA)the Dispersion among (RB)the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, does He? 36 What is this statement that He said, ‘(RC)You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

37 Now on (RD)the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “(RE)If anyone is thirsty, [dv]let him come to Me and drink. 38 The one who believes in Me, (RF)as the Scripture said, ‘[dw]From his innermost being will flow rivers of (RG)living water.’” 39 But this He said (RH)in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for (RI)the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet (RJ)glorified.

People’s Division over Jesus

40 Some of the people therefore, after they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is (RK)the Prophet.” 41 Others were saying, “This is the [dx]Christ.” But others were saying, “(RL)Surely the [dy]Christ is not coming from Galilee, is He? 42 Has the Scripture not said that the Christ comes from (RM)the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So (RN)a dissension occurred in the crowd because of Him. 44 And (RO)some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

45 The (RP)officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” 46 The (RQ)officers answered, “(RR)Never has a man spoken in this way!” 47 The Pharisees then replied to them, “(RS)You have not been led astray too, have you? 48 (RT)Not one of (RU)the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49 But this crowd that does not know the Law is accursed!” 50 (RV)Nicodemus (the one who came to Him before, being one of them) *said to them, 51 “(RW)Our Law does not judge the person unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” 52 They answered and said to him, “(RX)You are not from Galilee as well, are you? Examine the Scriptures, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” 53 [[[dz]And everyone went to his home.

The Adulterous Woman

8 But Jesus went to (RY)the Mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning He came again into the temple area, and all the people were coming to Him; and (RZ)He sat down and began teaching them. 3 Now the scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in the act of adultery, and after placing her in the center of the courtyard, 4 they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the Law, (SA)Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 6 Now they were saying this to (SB)test Him, (SC)so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 When they persisted in asking Him, (SD)He straightened up and said to them, “(SE)He who is without sin among you, let him be the (SF)first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Now when they heard this, they began leaving, one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman where she was, in the center of the courtyard. 10 And (SG)straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, [ea]Lord.” And Jesus said, “(SH)I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not (SI)sin any longer.”]]

Jesus Is the Light of the World

12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “(SJ)I am the Light of the world; (SK)the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “(SL)You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not [eb]true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “(SM)Even if I am testifying about Myself, My testimony is [ec]true, because I know (SN)where I came from and where I am going; but (SO)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 (SP)You judge [ed]according to the flesh; (SQ)I am not judging anyone. 16 But even (SR)if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in (SS)your Law it has been written that the testimony of (ST)two people is [ee]true. 18 I am He who testifies about Myself, and (SU)the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” 19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; (SV)if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” 20 These words He spoke [ef]in (SW)the treasury, as (SX)He taught in the temple area; and no one arrested Him, because (SY)His hour had not yet come.

21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and (SZ)you will look for Me, and (TA)will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So (TB)the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘(TC)Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 And He was saying to them, “(TD)You are from below, I am from above; (TE)you are of this world, (TF)I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you (TG)will die in your sins; for unless you believe that [eg](TH)I am, (TI)you will die in your sins.” 25 Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “[eh]What have I even been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but (TJ)He who sent Me is true; and (TK)the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.” 27 They did not realize that He was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you (TL)lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that [ei](TM)I am, and (TN)I do nothing [ej]on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me; (TO)He [ek]has not left Me alone, for (TP)I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” 30 As He said these things, (TQ)many came to believe in Him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “(TR)If you continue in My word, then you are truly My (TS)disciples; 32 and (TT)you will know the truth, and (TU)the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered Him, “(TV)We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, (TW)everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 Now (TX)the slave does not remain in the house forever; (TY)the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son (TZ)sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know that you are (UA)Abraham’s descendants; yet (UB)you are seeking to kill Me, because My word [el]has no place in you. 38 I speak of the things which I have seen [em]with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from (UC)your father.”

39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is (UD)our father.” Jesus *said to them, “(UE)If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 But as it is, (UF)you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has (UG)told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 You are doing the deeds of (UH)your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born as a result of sexual immorality; (UI)we have one Father: God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, (UJ)you would love Me, (UK)for I came forth from God and am here; for I have (UL)not even come [en]on My own, but [eo](UM)He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand [ep](UN)what I am saying? It is because you cannot (UO)listen to My word. 44 (UP)You are of (UQ)your father the devil, and (UR)you want to do the desires of your father. (US)He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because (UT)there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells [eq]a lie, he (UU)speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of [er]lies. 45 But because (UV)I say the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If (UW)I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 (UX)The one who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

48 (UY)The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not rightly say that You are a (UZ)Samaritan, and You (VA)have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not (VB)have a demon; on the contrary, I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 But (VC)I am not seeking My glory; there is One who seeks it, and judges. 51 Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone (VD)follows My word, he will never (VE)see death.” 52 (VF)The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You (VG)have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets as well; and yet You say, ‘If anyone (VH)follows My word, he will never (VI)taste of death.’ 53 You (VJ)are not greater than our father Abraham, who died, are You? The prophets died too. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “(VK)If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; (VL)it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 55 and (VM)you have not come to know Him, (VN)but I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I will be (VO)a liar like you; (VP)but I do know Him, and I (VQ)follow His word. 56 (VR)Your father Abraham was (VS)overjoyed that he would see My day, and he saw it and rejoiced.” 57 (VT)So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham [es]was born, [et](VU)I am.” 59 Therefore they (VV)picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus (VW)hid Himself and left the temple grounds.

Footnotes

  1. John 1:2 Lit This one
  2. John 1:3 One early ms nothing came into
  3. John 1:5 Or overpower
  4. John 1:6 Or came into being
  5. John 1:7 Lit This one
  6. John 1:7 Lit for testimony
  7. John 1:8 Lit That one; i.e., John
  8. John 1:9 I.e., the Word, Christ
  9. John 1:9 Or that enlightens every person coming into the world
  10. John 1:10 Or acknowledge
  11. John 1:11 Or own things, possessions, domain
  12. John 1:11 Or receive
  13. John 1:12 Or all who received
  14. John 1:12 Or trust in
  15. John 1:13 Or fathered
  16. John 1:13 Lit bloods
  17. John 1:15 Lit before me
  18. John 1:16 Lit we all received
  19. John 1:16 Lit grace for grace
  20. John 1:17 Lit came to be
  21. John 1:18 Lit chest; or possibly lap
  22. John 1:18 I.e., given a detailed account of
  23. John 1:20 I.e., Messiah
  24. John 1:23 Or out, In the wilderness make the way
  25. John 1:25 I.e., Messiah
  26. John 1:26 The Gr here can be translated in, with, or by
  27. John 1:30 Lit before me
  28. John 1:31 I.e., as the Messiah
  29. John 1:31 The Gr here can be translated in, with, or by
  30. John 1:33 I.e., as the Messiah
  31. John 1:33 The Gr here can be translated in, with, or by
  32. John 1:33 The Gr here can be translated in, with, or by
  33. John 1:34 One early ms Chosen One of
  34. John 1:35 Lit and
  35. John 1:39 I.e., about 4 p.m.
  36. John 1:41 Gr Anointed One
  37. John 1:42 Gr Joannes
  38. John 1:42 I.e., Rock or Stone in Gr
  39. John 1:43 Or resolved
  40. John 2:4 Lit What to Me and to you (an ancient idiom)
  41. John 2:6 About 18 or 27 gallons each; or 68 or 102 liters
  42. John 2:8 I.e., manager of the banquet
  43. John 2:11 I.e., confirming miracles
  44. John 2:15 Or pieces of rope
  45. John 2:16 Lit house
  46. John 2:18 Lit that You do these
  47. John 2:19 Or sanctuary
  48. John 2:20 Or sanctuary
  49. John 2:21 Or sanctuary
  50. John 3:2 Lit Him
  51. John 3:2 I.e., confirming miracles
  52. John 3:3 Or from above
  53. John 3:7 Or from above
  54. John 3:15 Or believes in Him will have eternal life
  55. John 3:21 Lit that they have been
  56. John 3:25 I.e., ceremonial washing
  57. John 3:28 Lit testify for me
  58. John 3:28 I.e., Messiah
  59. John 3:30 Or become greater
  60. John 3:30 Or become less important
  61. John 3:34 Lit from measure
  62. John 3:36 I.e., in belief
  63. John 4:1 Lit Jesus
  64. John 4:6 I.e., noon
  65. John 4:11 Or Lord
  66. John 4:15 Or Lord
  67. John 4:19 Or Lord
  68. John 4:21 Lit an hour
  69. John 4:23 Lit an hour
  70. John 4:23 Lit now is, when
  71. John 4:23 Lit the ones worshiping Him
  72. John 4:24 Or Spirit
  73. John 4:29 I.e., Messiah
  74. John 4:38 I.e., enjoyed the fruit of their labor
  75. John 4:40 Lit Him
  76. John 4:48 I.e., confirming miracles
  77. John 4:49 Or Lord
  78. John 4:50 I.e., is well
  79. John 4:51 Or boy
  80. John 4:51 I.e., well
  81. John 4:52 I.e., 1 p.m.
  82. John 4:54 I.e., confirming miracle
  83. John 5:2 I.e., Jewish Aramaic
  84. John 5:2 Some early mss Bethsaida or Bethzatha
  85. John 5:2 Or colonnades (with roofs)
  86. John 5:3 Or had shrunken limbs
  87. John 5:3 Late mss add the following as the remainder of v 3, and v 4: paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first stepped in after the stirring up of the water was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted
  88. John 5:5 Lit in his sickness
  89. John 5:17 I.e., has been and continues
  90. John 5:19 Lit that One
  91. John 5:25 Lit an hour
  92. John 5:25 Lit now is, when
  93. John 5:27 Or a son of man
  94. John 5:28 Lit an hour
  95. John 5:30 Or of Myself
  96. John 5:30 Or fair
  97. John 5:31 I.e., admissible as legal evidence
  98. John 5:35 Lit an hour
  99. John 5:39 Or (a command) Examine the Scriptures
  100. John 5:43 Or accept
  101. John 5:43 Or accept
  102. John 5:44 Or receive
  103. John 5:44 Or honor
  104. John 5:44 Or honor
  105. John 6:2 I.e., confirming miracles
  106. John 6:7 The denarius was a day’s wages for a laborer
  107. John 6:10 I.e., 5,000 men plus women and children, cf. Matt 14:21
  108. John 6:14 I.e., confirming miracle
  109. John 6:15 Or were about
  110. John 6:19 Possibly 3-4 miles or 4.8-6.4 km; a Roman stadion perhaps averaged 607 ft. or 185 m
  111. John 6:20 Or stop being afraid
  112. John 6:26 I.e., confirming miracles
  113. John 6:27 I.e., of identification or authenticity
  114. John 6:33 Or He who comes
  115. John 6:60 Or hard
  116. John 6:61 Or shocking
  117. John 6:64 Or hand Him over
  118. John 6:71 Or was intending to
  119. John 7:4 Lit and
  120. John 7:13 I.e., the Jewish leaders
  121. John 7:21 Or work
  122. John 7:24 Lit the righteous judgment
  123. John 7:26 I.e., Messiah
  124. John 7:31 I.e., Messiah
  125. John 7:31 I.e., confirming miracles
  126. John 7:37 Or come to Me and drink
  127. John 7:38 Lit Out of his belly
  128. John 7:41 I.e., Messiah
  129. John 7:41 I.e., Messiah
  130. John 7:53 Later mss add the story of the adulterous woman, numbering it as John 7:53-8:11
  131. John 8:11 Or Sir
  132. John 8:13 Or valid
  133. John 8:14 Or valid
  134. John 8:15 I.e., by a carnal standard
  135. John 8:17 I.e., valid or admissible
  136. John 8:20 Or at
  137. John 8:24 Or I AM, you will die...; Jesus may be referring to Ex 3:14, I AM WHO I AM
  138. John 8:25 Or That which I have even been saying to you from the beginning
  139. John 8:28 Or I AM, and...; (see note v 24)
  140. John 8:28 Or of Myself
  141. John 8:29 Or did not leave
  142. John 8:37 Or is making no headway among you
  143. John 8:38 Or in the presence of
  144. John 8:42 Or of Myself
  145. John 8:42 Lit that One
  146. John 8:43 Or My way of speaking
  147. John 8:44 Lit the lie
  148. John 8:44 Lit it
  149. John 8:58 Lit came into being
  150. John 8:58 Or I AM; Jesus may be referring to Ex 3:14, I AM WHO I AM
Listen to John 1-6
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John 1-6
New International Version

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word,(A) and the Word was with God,(B) and the Word was God.(C) 2 He was with God in the beginning.(D) 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.(E) 4 In him was life,(F) and that life was the light(G) of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness,(H) and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.(I)

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.(J) 7 He came as a witness to testify(K) concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.(L) 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light(M) that gives light to everyone(N) was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,(O) the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.(P) 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed(Q) in his name,(R) he gave the right to become children of God(S)— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.(T)

14 The Word became flesh(U) and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,(V) the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace(W) and truth.(X)

15 (John testified(Y) concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)(Z) 16 Out of his fullness(AA) we have all received grace(AB) in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses;(AC) grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.(AD) 18 No one has ever seen God,(AE) but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b](AF) is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

19 Now this was John’s(AG) testimony when the Jewish leaders[c](AH) in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”(AI)

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”(AJ)

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”(AK)

He answered, “No.”

22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,(AL) ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”[d](AM)

24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26 “I baptize with[e] water,”(AN) John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me,(AO) the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”(AP)

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan,(AQ) where John was baptizing.

John Testifies About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God,(AR) who takes away the sin of the world!(AS) 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’(AT) 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.(AU) 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water(AV) told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’(AW) 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”[f](AX)

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus(AY)

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

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”(BB) (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).(BC) 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

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

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

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

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.(BH) 45 Philip found Nathanael(BI) and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,(BJ) and about whom the prophets also wrote(BK)—Jesus of Nazareth,(BL) the son of Joseph.”(BM)

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

“Come and see,” said Philip.

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

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,(BQ) you are the Son of God;(BR) you are the king of Israel.”(BS)

50 Jesus said, “You believe[h] 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,[i] you[j] will see ‘heaven open,(BT) and the angels of God ascending and descending(BU) on’[k] the Son of Man.”(BV)

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.(BW) Jesus’ mother(BX) was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

4 “Woman,[l](BY) why do you involve me?”(BZ) Jesus replied. “My hour(CA) has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”(CB)

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,(CC) each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[m]

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.(CD) He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs(CE) through which he revealed his glory;(CF) and his disciples believed in him.(CG)

12 After this he went down to Capernaum(CH) with his mother(CI) and brothers(CJ) and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts(CK)

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,(CL) Jesus went up to Jerusalem.(CM) 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves,(CN) and others sitting at tables exchanging money.(CO) 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house(CP) into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”[n](CQ)

18 The Jews(CR) then responded to him, “What sign(CS) can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”(CT)

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”(CU)

20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.(CV) 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.(CW) Then they believed the scripture(CX) and the words that Jesus had spoken.

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,(CY) many people saw the signs(CZ) he was performing and believed(DA) in his name.[o] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind,(DB) for he knew what was in each person.(DC)

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus(DD) who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.(DE) 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi,(DF) we know(DG) that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs(DH) you are doing if God were not with him.”(DI)

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

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.(DK) 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[q] gives birth to spirit.(DL) 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[r] 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.”[s](DM)

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

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,”(DO) said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know,(DP) and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.(DQ) 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(DR) except the one who came from heaven(DS)—the Son of Man.[t](DT) 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,(DU) so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[u](DV) 15 that everyone who believes(DW) may have eternal life in him.”[v](DX)

16 For God so loved(DY) the world that he gave(DZ) his one and only Son,(EA) that whoever believes(EB) in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(EC) 17 For God did not send his Son into the world(ED) to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.(EE) 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned,(EF) but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.(EG) 19 This is the verdict: Light(EH) has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.(EI) 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.(EJ) 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.(EK) 23 Now John(EL) 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.)(EM) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.(EN) 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi,(EO) that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified(EP) 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.’(EQ) 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom.(ER) 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.(ES) 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”[w]

31 The one who comes from above(ET) is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth.(EU) The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard,(EV) but no one accepts his testimony.(EW) 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent(EX) speaks the words of God, for God[x] gives the Spirit(EY) without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.(EZ) 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,(FA) 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(FB)— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea(FC) and went back once more to Galilee.

4 Now he had to go through Samaria.(FD) 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.(FE) 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?”(FF) 8 (His disciples had gone into the town(FG) to buy food.)

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

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.”(FI)

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(FJ) 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.(FK) Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water(FL) welling up to eternal life.”(FM)

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty(FN) 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.(FO) 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,(FP) but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”(FQ)

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming(FR) when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.(FS) 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;(FT) we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.(FU) 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come(FV) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit(FW) and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit,(FX) and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

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

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

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned(GA) 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.(GB) Could this be the Messiah?”(GC) 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

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

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat(GE) 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(GF) of him who sent me and to finish his work.(GG) 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.(GH) 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests(GI) a crop for eternal life,(GJ) so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’(GK) 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(GL) believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”(GM) 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.”(GN)

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

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

46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.(GR) 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,(GS) 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,”(GT) 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(GU) believed.

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

The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate(GW) a pool, which in Aramaic(GX) is called Bethesda[z] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] [aa] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”(GY) 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,(GZ) 10 and so the Jewish leaders(HA) said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”(HB)

11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning(HC) or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders(HD) that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Authority of the Son

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father(HE) is always at his work(HF) to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him;(HG) not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.(HH)

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself;(HI) he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son(HJ) and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these,(HK) so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,(HL) even so the Son gives life(HM) to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,(HN) 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.(HO)

24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me(HP) has eternal life(HQ) and will not be judged(HR) but has crossed over from death to life.(HS) 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come(HT) when the dead will hear(HU) the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life(HV) in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge(HW) because he is the Son of Man.

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming(HX) when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.(HY) 30 By myself I can do nothing;(HZ) I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just,(IA) for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.(IB)

Testimonies About Jesus

31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.(IC) 32 There is another who testifies in my favor,(ID) and I know that his testimony about me is true.

33 “You have sent to John and he has testified(IE) to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony;(IF) but I mention it that you may be saved.(IG) 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light,(IH) and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John.(II) For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing(IJ)—testify that the Father has sent me.(IK) 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.(IL) You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,(IM) 38 nor does his word dwell in you,(IN) for you do not believe(IO) the one he sent.(IP) 39 You study[ab] the Scriptures(IQ) diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life.(IR) These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,(IS) 40 yet you refuse to come to me(IT) to have life.

41 “I do not accept glory from human beings,(IU) 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God[ac]?(IV)

45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses,(IW) on whom your hopes are set.(IX) 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.(IY) 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”(IZ)

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand(JA)

6 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs(JB) he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside(JC) and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival(JD) was near.

5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip,(JE) “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages[ad] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother,(JF) spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”(JG)

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks,(JH) and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14 After the people saw the sign(JI) Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”(JJ) 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king(JK) by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.(JL)

Jesus Walks on the Water(JM)

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,[ae] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water;(JN) and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”(JO) 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake(JP) realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.(JQ) 23 Then some boats from Tiberias(JR) landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.(JS) 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

Jesus the Bread of Life

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi,(JT) when did you get here?”

26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me,(JU) not because you saw the signs(JV) I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures(JW) to eternal life,(JX) which the Son of Man(JY) will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal(JZ) of approval.”

28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe(KA) in the one he has sent.”(KB)

30 So they asked him, “What sign(KC) then will you give that we may see it and believe you?(KD) What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna(KE) in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[af]”(KF)

32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven(KG) and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”(KH)

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am(KI) the bread of life.(KJ) Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes(KK) in me will never be thirsty.(KL) 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me(KM) will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

Footnotes

  1. John 1:5 Or understood
  2. John 1:18 Some manuscripts but the only Son, who
  3. John 1:19 The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19.
  4. John 1:23 Isaiah 40:3
  5. John 1:26 Or in; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice)
  6. John 1:34 See Isaiah 42:1; many manuscripts is the Son of God.
  7. John 1:42 Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) both mean rock.
  8. John 1:50 Or Do you believe … ?
  9. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
  10. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
  11. John 1:51 Gen. 28:12
  12. John 2:4 The Greek for Woman does not denote any disrespect.
  13. John 2:6 Or from about 75 to about 115 liters
  14. John 2:17 Psalm 69:9
  15. John 2:23 Or in him
  16. John 3:3 The Greek for again also means from above; also in verse 7.
  17. John 3:6 Or but spirit
  18. John 3:7 The Greek is plural.
  19. John 3:8 The Greek for Spirit is the same as that for wind.
  20. John 3:13 Some manuscripts Man, who is in heaven
  21. John 3:14 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted.
  22. John 3:15 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 21.
  23. John 3:30 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 36.
  24. John 3:34 Greek he
  25. John 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used
  26. John 5:2 Some manuscripts Bethzatha; other manuscripts Bethsaida
  27. John 5:4 Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.
  28. John 5:39 Or 39 Study
  29. John 5:44 Some early manuscripts the Only One
  30. John 6:7 Greek take two hundred denarii
  31. John 6:19 Or about 5 or 6 kilometers
  32. John 6:31 Exodus 16:4; Neh. 9:15; Psalm 78:24,25
Close CEV

John 1-8
Contemporary English Version

The Word of Life

1 In the beginning was the one
    who is called the Word.
The Word was with God
    and was truly God.
2 From the very beginning
    the Word was with God.

3 And with this Word,
    God created all things.
Nothing was made
    without the Word.
Everything that was created
4     received its life from him,
and his life gave light
    to everyone.
5 The light keeps shining
    in the dark,
and darkness has never
    put it out.[a]
6 (A) God sent a man named John,
7 who came to tell
    about the light
and to lead all people
    to have faith.
8 John wasn't this light.
He came only to tell
    about the light.

9 The true light that shines
on everyone
    was coming into the world.
10 The Word was in the world,
    but no one knew him,
though God had made the world
    with his Word.
11 He came into his own world,
but his own nation
    did not welcome him.
12 Yet some people accepted him
    and put their faith in him.
So he gave them the right
    to be the children of God.
13 They were not God's children
by nature or because
    of any human desires.
God himself was the one
    who made them his children.

14 The Word became
a human being
    and lived here with us.
We saw his true glory,
the glory of the only Son
    of the Father.
From him the complete gifts
of undeserved grace and truth
    have come down to us.

15 John spoke about him and shouted, “This is the one I told you would come! He is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.”

16 Because of all that the Son is, we have been given one blessing after another.[b] 17 The Law was given by Moses, but Jesus Christ brought us undeserved kindness and truth. 18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is truly God and is closest to the Father, has shown us what God is like.

John the Baptist Tells about Jesus

(Matthew 3.1-12; Mark 1.1-8; Luke 3.15-17)

19-20 The religious authorities in Jerusalem sent priests and temple helpers to ask John who he was. He told them plainly, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 (B) Then when they asked him if he were Elijah, he said, “No, I am not!” And when they asked if he were the Prophet,[c] he also said “No!”

22 Finally, they said, “Who are you then? We have to give an answer to the ones who sent us. Tell us who you are!”

23 (C) John answered in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I am only someone shouting in the desert, ‘Get the road ready for the Lord!’ ”

24 Some Pharisees had also been sent to John. 25 They asked him, “Why are you baptizing people, if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?”

26 John told them, “I use water to baptize people. But here with you is someone you don't know. 27 Even though I came first, I am not good enough to untie his sandals.” 28 John said this as he was baptizing east of the Jordan River in Bethany.[d]

The Lamb of God

29 The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said:

Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 He is the one I told you about when I said, “Someone else will come, who is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.” 31 I didn't know who he was. But I came to baptize you with water, so that everyone in Israel would see him.

32 I was there and saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven. And the Spirit stayed on him. 33 Before this I didn't know who he was. But the one who sent me to baptize with water had told me, “You will see the Spirit come down and stay on someone. Then you will know that he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” 34 I saw this happen, and I tell you that he is the Son of God.

The First Disciples of Jesus

35 The next day, John was there again, and two of his followers were with him. 36 When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Here is the Lamb of God!” 37 John's two followers heard him, and they went with Jesus.

38 When Jesus turned and saw them, he asked, “What do you want?”

They answered, “Rabbi, where do you live?” The Hebrew word “Rabbi” means “Teacher.”

39 Jesus replied, “Come and see!” It was already about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him and saw where he lived. So they stayed on for the rest of the day.

40 One of the two men who had heard John and had gone with Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, “We have found the Messiah!” The Hebrew word “Messiah” means the same as the Greek word “Christ.”

42 Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, “Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas.” This name can be translated as “Peter.”[e]

Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael

43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, “Follow me.”

45 Philip then found Nathanael and said, “We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets[f] wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

46 Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Philip answered, “Come and see.”

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is a true descendant of our ancestor Israel. And he isn't deceitful.”[g]

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

Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

49 Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus answered, “Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. 51 (D) I tell you for certain you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”[h]

Jesus at a Wedding in Cana

2 Three days later Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at a wedding feast in the village of Cana in Galilee. 2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited and were there.

3 When the wine was all gone, Mary said to Jesus, “They don't have any more wine.”

4 Jesus replied, “Mother, my time hasn't yet come![i] You must not tell me what to do.”

5 Mary then said to the servants, “Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.”

6 At the feast there were six stone water jars that were used by the people for washing themselves in the way that their religion said they must. Each jar held about 100 liters. 7 Jesus told the servants to fill them to the top with water. Then after the jars had been filled, 8 he said, “Now take some water and give it to the man in charge of the feast.”

The servants did as Jesus told them, 9 and the man in charge drank some of the water that had now turned into wine. He did not know where the wine had come from, but the servants did. He called the bridegroom over 10 and said, “The best wine is always served first. Then after the guests have had plenty, the other wine is served. But you have kept the best until last!”

11 This was Jesus' first miracle,[j] and he did it in the village of Cana in Galilee. There Jesus showed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. 12 (E) After this, he went with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples to the town of Capernaum, where they stayed for a few days.

Jesus in the Temple

(Matthew 21.12,13; Mark 11.15-17; Luke 19.45,46)

13 (F) Not long before the Jewish festival of Passover, Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 There he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves in the temple. He also saw moneychangers sitting at their tables. 15 So he took some rope and made a whip. Then he chased everyone out of the temple, together with their sheep and cattle. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins.

16 Jesus said to the people who had been selling doves, “Get those doves out of here! Don't make my Father's house a marketplace.”

17 (G) The disciples then remembered that the Scriptures say, “My love for your house burns in me like a fire.”

18 The Jewish leaders asked Jesus, “What miracle[k] will you work to show us why you have done this?”

19 (H) “Destroy this temple,” Jesus answered, “and in three days I will build it again!”

20 The leaders replied, “It took 46 years to build this temple. What makes you think you can rebuild it in three days?”

21 But Jesus was talking about his body as a temple. 22 And when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered what he had told them. Then they believed the Scriptures and the words of Jesus.

Jesus Knows What People Are Like

23 In Jerusalem during Passover many people put their faith in Jesus, because they saw him work miracles.[l] 24 But Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and he would not let them have power over him. 25 No one had to tell him what people were like. He already knew.

Jesus and Nicodemus

3 There was a man named Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and a Jewish leader. 2 One night he went to Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we know that God has sent you to teach us. You could not work these miracles, unless God were with you.”

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above[m] before you can see God's kingdom!”

4 Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”

5 Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that before you can get into God's kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit. 6 Humans give life to their children. Yet only God's Spirit can change you into a child of God. 7 Don't be surprised when I say that you must be born from above. 8 Only God's Spirit gives new life. The Spirit is like the wind that blows wherever it wants to. You can hear the wind, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going.

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 Jesus replied:

How can you be a teacher of Israel and not know these things? 11 I tell you for certain we know what we are talking about because we have seen it ourselves. But none of you will accept what we say. 12 (I) If you don't believe when I talk to you about things on earth, how can you possibly believe if I talk to you about things in heaven?

13 (J) No one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from there. 14 (K) And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as the metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert.[n] 15 Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life.

16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! 18 No one who has faith in God's Son will be condemned. But everyone who doesn't have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God's only Son.

19 The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. 20 People who do evil hate the light and won't come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done. 21 But everyone who lives by the truth will come to the light, because they want others to know that God is really the one doing what they do.

Jesus and John the Baptist

22 Later, Jesus and his disciples went to Judea, where he stayed with them for a while and was baptizing people.

23-24 (L) John had not yet been put in jail. He was at Aenon near Salim, where there was a lot of water, and people were coming there for John to baptize them.

25 John's followers got into an argument with a Jewish man[o] about a ceremony of washing.[p] 26 They went to John and said, “Rabbi, you spoke about a man when you were with him east of the Jordan. He is now baptizing people, and everyone is going to him.”

27 John replied:

No one can do anything unless God in heaven allows it. 28 (M) You surely remember how I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am only the one sent ahead of him.

29 At a wedding the groom is the one who gets married. The best man is glad just to be there and to hear the groom's voice. That's why I am so glad. 30 Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.

The One Who Comes from Heaven

31 God's Son comes from heaven and is above all others. Everyone who comes from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all others. 32 He speaks about what he has seen and heard, and yet no one believes him. 33 But everyone who does believe him has shown that God is truthful. 34 The Son was sent to speak God's message, and he has been given the full power of God's Spirit.

35 (N) The Father loves the Son and has given him everything. 36 Everyone who has faith in the Son has eternal life. But no one who rejects him will ever share in that life, and God will be angry with them forever.

4 Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that he was winning and baptizing more followers than John was. 2 But Jesus' disciples were really the ones doing the baptizing, and not Jesus himself.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

3 Jesus left Judea and started for Galilee again. 4 This time he had to go through Samaria, 5 (O) and on his way he came to the town of Sychar. It was near the field that Jacob had long ago given to his son Joseph. 6-8 The well that Jacob had dug was still there, and Jesus sat down beside it because he was tired from traveling. It was noon, and after Jesus' disciples had gone into town to buy some food, a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well.

Jesus asked her, “Would you please give me a drink of water?”

9 (P) “You are a Jew,” she replied, “and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink of water when Jews and Samaritans won't have anything to do with each other?”[q]

10 Jesus answered, “You don't know what God wants to give you, and you don't know who is asking you for a drink. If you did, you would ask me for the water that gives life.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you don't even have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this life-giving water? 12 Our ancestor Jacob dug this well for us, and his family and animals got water from it. Are you greater than Jacob?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again. 14 But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give will become in that person a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.”

15 The woman replied, “Sir, please give me a drink of that water! Then I won't get thirsty and have to come to this well again.”

16 Jesus told her, “Go and bring your husband.”

17-18 The woman answered, “I don't have a husband.”

“That's right,” Jesus replied, “you're telling the truth. You don't have a husband. You have already been married five times, and the man you are now living with isn't your husband.”

19 The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 My ancestors worshiped on this mountain,[r] but you Jews say Jerusalem is the only place to worship.”

21 Jesus said to her:

Believe me, the time is coming when you won't worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans don't really know the one you worship. But we Jews do know the God we worship, and by using us, God will save the world. 23 But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth.

25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah will come. He is the one we call Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 “I am that one,” Jesus told her, “and I am speaking to you now.”

27 The disciples returned about this time and were surprised to find Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them asked him what he wanted or why he was talking with her.

28 The woman left her water jar and ran back into town, where she said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Could he be the Messiah?” 30 Everyone in town went out to see Jesus.

31 While this was happening, Jesus' disciples were saying to him, “Teacher, please eat something.”

32 But Jesus told them, “I have food you don't know anything about.”

33 His disciples started asking each other, “Has someone brought him something to eat?”

34 Jesus said:

My food is to do what God wants! He is the one who sent me, and I must finish the work that he gave me to do. 35 You may say there are still four months until harvest time. But I tell you to look, and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready to harvest.

36 Even now the harvest workers are receiving their reward by gathering a harvest that brings eternal life. Then everyone who planted the seed and everyone who harvests the crop will celebrate together. 37 So the saying proves true, “Some plant the seed, and others harvest the crop.” 38 I am sending you to harvest crops in fields where others have done all the hard work.

39 A lot of Samaritans in that town put their faith in Jesus because the woman had said, “This man told me everything I have ever done.” 40 They came and asked him to stay in their town, and he stayed on for two days.

41 Many more Samaritans put their faith in Jesus because of what they heard him say. 42 They told the woman, “We no longer have faith in Jesus just because of what you told us. We have heard him ourselves, and we are certain that he is the Savior of the world!”

Jesus Heals an Official's Son

(Matthew 8.5-13; Luke 7.1-10)

43-44 (Q) Jesus had said, “Prophets are honored everywhere, except in their own country.” Then two days later he left 45 (R) and went to Galilee. The people there welcomed him, because they had gone to the festival in Jerusalem and had seen everything he had done.

46 (S) While Jesus was in Galilee, he returned to the village of Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was an official in Capernaum whose son was sick. 47 And when the man heard that Jesus had come from Judea, he went and begged him to keep his son from dying.

48 Jesus told the official, “You won't have faith unless you see miracles and wonders!”

49 The man replied, “Lord, please come before my son dies!”

50 Jesus then said, “Your son will live. Go on home to him.” The man believed Jesus and started back home.

51 Some of the official's servants met him along the road and told him, “Your son is better!” 52 He asked them when the boy got better, and they answered, “The fever left him yesterday at one o'clock.”

53 The boy's father realized that at one o'clock the day before, Jesus had told him, “Your son will live!” So the man and everyone in his family put their faith in Jesus.

54 This was the second miracle[s] that Jesus worked after he left Judea and went to Galilee.

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

5 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for another Jewish festival.[t] 2 In the city near the sheep gate was a pool with five porches, and its name in Hebrew was Bethzatha.[u]

3-4 Many sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying close to the pool.[v]

5 Beside the pool was a man who had been sick for 38 years. 6 When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”

7 The man answered, “Sir, I don't have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone else always gets there first.”

8 Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat and walk!” 9 Right then the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking around. The day on which this happened was a Sabbath.

10 (T) When the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat, they said to him, “This is the Sabbath! No one is allowed to carry a mat on the Sabbath.”

11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me to pick up my mat and walk.”

12 They asked him, “Who is this man that told you to pick up your mat and walk?” 13 But he did not know who Jesus was, and Jesus had left because of the crowd.

14 Later, Jesus met the man in the temple and told him, “You are now well. But don't sin anymore or something worse might happen to you.” 15 The man left and told the leaders that Jesus was the one who had healed him. 16 They started making a lot of trouble for Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath.

17 But Jesus said, “My Father has never stopped working, and this is why I keep on working.” 18 (U) Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said God was his Father, which made him equal with God.

The Son's Authority

19 Jesus told the people:

I tell you for certain the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do. 20 The Father loves the Son and has shown him everything he does. The Father will show him even greater things, and you will be amazed. 21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants to.

22 The Father doesn't judge anyone, but he has made his Son the judge of everyone. 23 The Father wants all people to honor the Son as much as they honor him. When anyone refuses to honor the Son, this is the same as refusing to honor the Father who sent him. 24 I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life.

25 I tell you for certain the time will come, and it is already here, when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen to it will live! 26 The Father has the power to give life, and he has given that same power to the Son. 27 And he has given his Son the right to judge everyone, because he is the Son of Man.

28 Don't be surprised! The time will come when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man, 29 (V) and they will come out of their graves. Everyone who has done good things will rise to life, but everyone who has done evil things will rise and be condemned.

30 I cannot do anything on my own. The Father sent me, and he is the one who told me how to judge. I judge with fairness, because I obey him, and I don't just try to please myself.

Witnesses to Jesus

31 If I speak for myself, there is no way to prove I am telling the truth. 32 But there is someone else who speaks for me, and I know what he says is true. 33 (W) You sent messengers to John, and he told them the truth. 34 I don't depend on what people say about me, but I tell you these things so that you may be saved. 35 (X) John was a lamp that gave a lot of light, and you were glad to enjoy his light for a while.

36 But something more important than John speaks for me. I mean the things that the Father has given me to do! All of these speak for me and prove that the Father sent me.

37 (Y) The Father who sent me also speaks for me, but you have never heard his voice or seen him face to face. 38 You have not believed his message, because you refused to have faith in the one he sent.

39 (Z) You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me, 40 but you refuse to come to me for eternal life.

41 I don't care about human praise, 42 but I do know that none of you love God. 43 I have come with my Father's authority, and you have not welcomed me. But you will welcome people who come on their own. 44 How could you possibly believe? You like to have your friends praise you, and you don't care about praise that the only God can give!

45 Don't think that I will be the one to accuse you to the Father. You have put your hope in Moses, yet he is the very one who will accuse you. 46 Moses wrote about me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. 47 But if you don't believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?

Feeding Five Thousand

(Matthew 14.13-21; Mark 6.30-44; Luke 9.10-17)

6 Jesus crossed Lake Galilee, which was also known as Lake Tiberias. 2 A large crowd had seen him work miracles to heal the sick, and those people went with him. 3-4 It was almost time for the Jewish festival of Passover, and Jesus went up on a mountain with his disciples and sat down.[w]

5 When Jesus saw the large crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?” 6 He said this to test Philip, since he already knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered, “Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wages[x] just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?”

8 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples. He spoke up and said, 9 “There is a boy here who has five small loaves[y] of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people?”

10 The ground was covered with grass, and Jesus told his disciples to tell everyone to sit down. About 5,000 men were in the crowd. 11 Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the people, and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.

12 The people ate all they wanted, and Jesus told his disciples to gather up the leftovers, so that nothing would be wasted. 13 The disciples gathered them up and filled twelve large baskets with what was left over from the five barley loaves.

14 After the people had seen Jesus work this miracle,[z] they began saying, “This must be the Prophet[aa] who is to come into the world!” 15 Jesus realized that they would try to force him to be their king. So he went up on a mountain, where he could be alone.

Jesus Walks on the Water

(Matthew 14.22-27; Mark 6.45-52)

16 That evening, Jesus' disciples went down to the lake. 17 They got into a boat and started across for Capernaum. Later that evening Jesus had still not come to them, 18 and a strong wind was making the water rough.

19 When the disciples had rowed for five or six kilometers, they saw Jesus walking on the water. He kept coming closer to the boat, and they were terrified. 20 But he said, “I am Jesus![ab] Don't be afraid!” 21 The disciples wanted to take him into the boat, but suddenly the boat reached the shore where they were headed.

The Bread That Gives Life

22 The people who had stayed on the east side of the lake knew that only one boat had been there. They also knew that Jesus had not left in it with his disciples. But the next day 23 some boats from Tiberias sailed near the place where the crowd had eaten the bread for which the Lord had given thanks. 24 They saw that Jesus and his disciples had left. Then they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus. 25 They found him on the west side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles,[ac] but because you ate all the food you wanted. 27 (AA) Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”

28 “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked.

29 Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”

30 They replied, “What miracle will you work, so that we can have faith in you? What will you do? 31 (AB) For example, when our ancestors were in the desert, they were given manna[ad] to eat. It happened just as the Scriptures say, ‘God gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

32 Jesus then told them, “I tell you for certain that Moses wasn't the one who gave you bread from heaven. My Father is the one who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 And the bread that God gives is the one who came down from heaven to give life to the world.”

34 The people said, “Sir, give us this bread and don't ever stop!”

35 Jesus replied:

I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty. 36 I have told you already that you have seen me and still do not have faith in me. 37 Everything and everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I won't turn any of them away.

38 I didn't come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, 39 and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost. Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day.[ae] 40 My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.

41 The people started grumbling because Jesus had said he was the bread that had come down from heaven. 42 They were asking each other, “Isn't he Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don't we know his father and mother? How can he say that he has come down from heaven?”

43 Jesus told them:

Stop grumbling! 44 No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me makes them want to come. But if they do come, I will raise them to life on the last day. 45 (AC) One of the prophets wrote, “God will teach all of them.” And so everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him will come to me.

46 The only one who has seen the Father is the one who has come from him. No one else has ever seen the Father. 47 I tell you for certain that everyone who has faith in me has eternal life.

48 I am the bread that gives life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna[af] in the desert, and later they died. 50 But the bread from heaven has come down, so that no one who eats it will ever die. 51 I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live forever. My flesh is the life-giving bread I give to the people of this world.

52 They started arguing with each other and asked, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that you won't live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. 54 But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day. 55 My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. 56 If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.

57 The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me. 58 The bread that comes down from heaven isn't like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.

59 Jesus was teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum when he said these things.

The Words of Eternal Life

60 Many of Jesus' disciples heard him and said, “This is too hard for anyone to understand.”

61 Jesus knew that his disciples were grumbling. So he asked, “Does this bother you? 62 What if you should see the Son of Man go up to heaven where he came from? 63 (AD) The Spirit is the one who gives life! Human strength can do nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are from that life-giving Spirit. 64 But some of you refuse to have faith in me.” Jesus said this, because from the beginning he knew who would have faith in him. He also knew which one would betray him.

65 Then Jesus said, “You cannot come to me, unless the Father makes you want to come. That is why I have told these things to all of you.”

66 Because of what Jesus said, many of his disciples turned their backs on him and stopped following him. 67 Jesus then asked his twelve disciples if they also were going to leave him. 68 (AE) Simon Peter answered, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life. 69 We have faith in you, and we are sure that you are God's Holy One.”

70 Jesus told his disciples, “I chose all twelve of you, but one of you is a demon!” 71 Jesus was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.[ag] He would later betray Jesus, even though he was one of the twelve disciples.

Jesus' Brothers Don't Have Faith in Him

7 Jesus decided to leave Judea and to start going through Galilee because the leaders of the people wanted to kill him. 2 (AF) It was almost time for the Festival of Shelters, 3 and Jesus' brothers said to him, “Why don't you go to Judea? Then your disciples can see what you are doing. 4 No one does anything in secret, if they want others to know about them. So let the world know what you are doing!” 5 Even Jesus' own brothers had not yet become his followers.

6 Jesus answered, “My time hasn't yet come,[ah] but your time is always here. 7 The people of this world cannot hate you. They hate me, because I tell them that they do evil things. 8 Go on to the festival. My time hasn't yet come, and I am not going.” 9 Jesus said this and stayed on in Galilee.

Jesus at the Festival of Shelters

10 After Jesus' brothers had gone to the festival, he went secretly, without telling anyone.

11 During the festival the leaders of the people looked for Jesus and asked, “Where is he?” 12 The crowds even got into an argument about him. Some were saying, “Jesus is a good man,” while others were saying, “He is lying to everyone.” 13 But the people were afraid of their leaders, and none of them talked in public about him.

14 When the festival was about half over, Jesus went into the temple and started teaching. 15 The leaders were surprised and said, “How does this man know so much? He has never been taught!”

16 Jesus replied:

I am not teaching something I thought up. What I teach comes from the one who sent me. 17 If you really want to obey God, you will know if what I teach comes from God or from me. 18 If I wanted to bring honor to myself, I would speak for myself. But I want to honor the one who sent me. This is why I tell the truth and not a lie. 19 Didn't Moses give you the Law? Yet none of you obey it! So why do you want to kill me?

20 The crowd replied, “You're crazy! What makes you think someone wants to kill you?”

21 Jesus answered:

I worked one miracle,[ai] and it amazed you. 22 (AG) Moses commanded you to circumcise your sons. But it wasn't really Moses who gave you this command. It was your ancestors, and even on the Sabbath you circumcise your sons 23 (AH) in order to obey the Law of Moses. Why are you angry with me for making someone completely well on the Sabbath? 24 Don't judge by appearances. Judge by what is right.

25 Some of the people from Jerusalem were saying, “Isn't this the man they want to kill? 26 Yet here he is, speaking for everyone to hear. And no one is arguing with him. Do you suppose the authorities know he is the Messiah? 27 But how could that be? No one knows where the Messiah will come from, but we know where this man comes from.”

28 As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he shouted, “Do you really think you know me and where I came from? I didn't come on my own! The one who sent me is truthful, and you don't know him. 29 But I know the one who sent me, because I came from him.”

30 Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus right then. But no one even laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.[aj] 31 A lot of people in the crowd put their faith in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he surely won't perform more miracles[ak] than this man has done!”

Officers Sent To Arrest Jesus

32 When the Pharisees heard the crowd arguing about Jesus, they got together with the chief priests and sent some temple police to arrest him. 33 But Jesus told them, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I will return to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you won't find me. You cannot go where I am going.”

35 The people asked each other, “Where can he go to keep us from finding him? Is he going to some foreign country where our people live? Is he going there to teach the Greeks?[al] 36 What did he mean by saying that we will look for him, but won't find him? Why can't we go where he is going?”

Streams of Life-Giving Water

37 (AI) On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! 38 (AJ) Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” 39 Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. The Spirit had not yet been given to anyone, since Jesus had not yet been given his full glory.[am]

The People Take Sides

40 When the crowd heard Jesus say this, some of them said, “He must be the Prophet!”[an] 41 Others said, “He is the Messiah!” Others even said, “Can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 (AK) The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn't this mean that he will be born in David's hometown of Bethlehem?” 43 The people started taking sides against each other because of Jesus. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.

The Leaders Refuse To Have Faith in Jesus

45 When the temple police returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, they were asked, “Why didn't you bring Jesus here?”

46 They answered, “No one has ever spoken like this man!”

47 The Pharisees said to them, “Have you also been fooled? 48 Not one of the chief priests or the Pharisees has faith in him. 49 And these people who don't know the Law are under God's curse anyway.”

50 (AL) Nicodemus was there at the time. He was a member of the council, and was the same one who had earlier come to see Jesus.[ao] He said, 51 “Our Law doesn't let us condemn people before we hear what they have to say. We cannot judge them before we know what they have done.”

52 Then they said, “Nicodemus, you must be from Galilee! Read the Scriptures, and you will find that no prophet is to come from Galilee.”

A Woman Caught in Sin

53 Everyone else went home, 8 1 but Jesus walked out to the Mount of Olives. 2 Then early the next morning he went to the temple. The people came to him, and he sat down[ap] and started teaching them.

3 The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who wasn't her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. 4 Then they said, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn't her husband. 5 (AM) The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?”

6 They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.

7 (AN) They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!” 8 Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground. 9 The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone.

10 Jesus stood up and asked her, “Where is everyone? Isn't there anyone left to accuse you?”

11 “No sir,” the woman answered.

Then Jesus told her, “I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don't sin anymore.”[aq]

Jesus Is the Light for the World

12 (AO) Once again Jesus spoke to the people. This time he said, “I am the light for the world! Follow me, and you won't be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life.”

13 (AP) The Pharisees objected, “You are the only one speaking for yourself, and what you say isn't true!”

14 Jesus replied:

Even if I do speak for myself, what I say is true! I know where I came from and where I am going. But you don't know where I am from or where I am going. 15 You judge in the same way that everyone else does, but I don't judge anyone. 16 If I did judge, I would judge fairly, because I would not be doing it alone. The Father who sent me is here with me. 17 (AQ) Your Law requires two witnesses to prove that something is true. 18 I am one of my witnesses, and the Father who sent me is the other one.

19 “Where is your Father?” they asked.

“You don't know me or my Father!” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would know my Father.”

20 Jesus said this while he was still teaching in the place where the temple treasures were stored. But no one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.[ar]

You Cannot Go Where I Am Going

21 Jesus also told them, “I am going away, and you will look for me. But you cannot go where I am going, and you will die with your sins unforgiven.”

22 The people asked, “Does he intend to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying we cannot go where he is going?”

23 Jesus answered, “You are from below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don't. 24 This is why I said you will die with your sins unforgiven. If you don't have faith in me for who I am,[as] you will die, and your sins will not be forgiven.”

25 “Who are you?” they asked Jesus.

Jesus answered, “I am exactly who I told you at the beginning. 26 There is a lot more I could say to condemn you. But the one who sent me is truthful, and I tell the people of this world only what I have heard from him.”

27 No one understood that Jesus was talking to them about the Father.

28 Jesus went on to say, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man,[at] you will know who I am. You will also know that I don't do anything on my own. I say only what my Father taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me. I always do what pleases him, and he will never leave me.”

30 After Jesus said this, many of the people put their faith in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

31 Jesus told the people who had faith in him, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples. 32 (AR) You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 (AS) They answered, “We are Abraham's children! We have never been anyone's slaves. How can you say we will be set free?”

34 Jesus replied:

I tell you for certain that anyone who sins is a slave of sin! 35 And slaves don't stay in the family forever, though the Son will always remain in the family. 36 If the Son gives you freedom, you are free! 37 I know that you are from Abraham's family. Yet you want to kill me, because my message isn't really in your hearts. 38 I am telling you what my Father has shown me, just as you are doing what your father has taught you.

Your Father Is the Devil

39 The people said to Jesus, “Abraham is our father!”

Jesus replied, “If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did. 40 Instead, you want to kill me for telling you the truth that God gave me. Abraham never did anything like that. 41 But you are doing exactly what your father does.”

“Don't accuse us of having someone else as our father!” they said. “We just have one father, and he is God.”

42 Jesus answered:

If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and now I am here. He sent me. I did not come on my own. 43 Why can't you understand what I am talking about? Can't you stand to hear what I am saying? 44 (AT) Your father is the devil, and you do exactly what he wants. He has always been a murderer and a liar. There is nothing truthful about him. He speaks on his own, and everything he says is a lie. Not only is he a liar himself, but he is also the father of all lies.

45 Everything I have told you is true, and you still refuse to have faith in me. 46 Can any of you accuse me of sin? If you cannot, why won't you have faith in me? After all, I am telling you the truth. 47 Anyone who belongs to God will listen to his message. But you refuse to listen, because you don't belong to God.

Jesus and Abraham

48 The people told Jesus, “We were right to say that you are a Samaritan[au] and that you have a demon in you!”

49 Jesus answered, “I don't have a demon in me. I honor my Father, and you refuse to honor me. 50 I don't want honor for myself. But there is one who wants me to be honored, and he is also the one who judges. 51 I tell you for certain that if you obey my words, you will never die.”

52 Then the people said, “Now we are sure that you have a demon. Abraham is dead, and so are the prophets. How can you say that no one who obeys your words will ever die? 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

54 Jesus replied, “If I honored myself, it would mean nothing. My Father is the one who honors me. You claim that he is your God, 55 even though you don't really know him. If I said I didn't know him, I would be a liar, just like all of you. But I know him, and I do what he says. 56 Your father Abraham was really glad to see me.”

57 “You are not even 50 years old!” they said. “How could you have seen Abraham?”

58 Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that even before Abraham was, I was, and I am.”[av] 59 The people picked up stones to kill Jesus, but he hid and left the temple.

Footnotes

  1. 1.5 put it out: Or “understood it.”
  2. 1.16 one blessing after another: Or “one blessing in place of another.”
  3. 1.21 the Prophet: Many of the Jewish people expected God to send them a prophet who would be like Moses, but with even greater power (see Deuteronomy 18.15,18).
  4. 1.28 Bethany: An unknown village east of the Jordan with the same name as the village near Jerusalem.
  5. 1.42 Peter: The Aramaic name “Cephas” and the Greek name “Peter” each mean “rock.”
  6. 1.45 Moses and the Prophets: The Jewish Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament.
  7. 1.47 Israel … isn't deceitful: Israel (meaning “a man who wrestled with God” or “a prince of God”) was the name that the Lord gave to Jacob (meaning “cheater” or “deceiver”), the famous ancestor of the Jewish people.
  8. 1.51 going up and coming down on the Son of Man: When Jacob (see the note at 1.47) was running from his brother Esau, he had a dream in which he saw angels going up and down on a ladder from earth to heaven (see Genesis 28.10-22).
  9. 2.4 my time hasn't yet come: The time when the true glory of Jesus would be seen, and he would be recognized as God's Son (see 12.23).
  10. 2.11 miracle: The Greek text has “sign.” In the Gospel of John the word “sign” is used for the miracle itself and as a way of pointing to Jesus as the Son of God.
  11. 2.18 miracle: See the note at 2.11.
  12. 2.23 miracle: See the note at 2.11.
  13. 3.3 from above: Or “in a new way.” The same Greek word is used in verses 7,31.
  14. 3.14 just as the metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert: When the Lord punished the people of Israel by sending snakes to bite them, he told Moses to hold a metal snake up on a pole. Everyone who looked at the snake was cured of the snake bites (see Numbers 21.4-9).
  15. 3.25 a Jewish man: Some manuscripts have “some Jewish men.”
  16. 3.25 about a ceremony of washing: The Jewish people had many rules about washing themselves and their dishes, in order to make themselves fit to worship God.
  17. 4.9 won't have anything to do with each other: Or “won't use the same cups.” The Samaritans lived in the land between Judea and Galilee. They worshiped God differently from the Jews and did not get along with them.
  18. 4.20 this mountain: Mount Gerizim, near the city of Shechem.
  19. 4.54 miracle: See the note at 2.11.
  20. 5.1 another Jewish festival: Either the Festival of Shelters or Passover.
  21. 5.2 Bethzatha: Some manuscripts have “Bethesda” and others have “Bethsaida.”
  22. 5.3,4 pool: Some manuscripts add, “They were waiting for the water to be stirred, because an angel from the Lord would sometimes come down and stir it. The first person to get into the pool after that would be healed.”
  23. 6.3,4 sat down: Possibly to teach. Teachers in the ancient world, including Jewish teachers, usually sat down to teach.
  24. 6.7 almost a year's wages: The Greek text has “200 silver coins.” Each coin was worth the average day's wages for a worker.
  25. 6.9 small loaves: These would have been flat and round or in the shape of a bun.
  26. 6.14 miracle: See the note at 2.11.
  27. 6.14 the Prophet: See the note at 1.21.
  28. 6.20 I am Jesus: The Greek text has “I am” (see the note at 8.24).
  29. 6.26 miracles: The Greek text has “signs” here and “sign” in verse 30 (see the note at 2.11).
  30. 6.31 manna: When the people of Israel were wandering through the desert, the Lord gave them a special kind of food to eat. It tasted like a wafer and was called “manna,” which in Hebrew means, “What is this?”
  31. 6.39 the last day: When God will judge all people.
  32. 6.49 manna: See the note at 6.31.
  33. 6.71 Iscariot: This may mean “a man from Kerioth” (a place in Judea). But more probably it means “a man who was a liar” or “a man who was a betrayer.”
  34. 7.6 My time hasn't yet come: See the note at 2.4.
  35. 7.21 one miracle: The healing of the sick man (5.1-18; see also the note at 2.11).
  36. 7.30 his time had not yet come: See the note at 2.4.
  37. 7.31 miracles: See the note at 2.11.
  38. 7.35 Greeks: Perhaps Gentiles or Jews who followed Greek customs.
  39. 7.39 had not yet been given his full glory: In the Gospel of John, Jesus is given his full glory both when he is nailed to the cross and when he is raised from death to sit beside his Father in heaven.
  40. 7.40 the Prophet: See the note at 1.21.
  41. 7.50 who had earlier come to see Jesus: See 3.1-21.
  42. 8.2 sat down: See the note at 6.3,4.
  43. 8.11 don't sin anymore: Verses 1-11 are not in some manuscripts. In other manuscripts these verses are placed after 7.36 or after 21.25 or after Luke 21.38, with some differences in the text.
  44. 8.20 his time had not yet come: See the note at 2.4.
  45. 8.24 I am: For the Jewish people the most holy name of God is “Yahweh,” which may be translated “I am.” In the Gospel of John “I am” is sometimes used by Jesus to show that he is that one.
  46. 8.28 lifted up the Son of Man: See the note at 7.39.
  47. 8.48 Samaritan: See 4.9 and the note there.
  48. 8.58 I am: See the note at 8.24.
Listen to John 1-8
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John 1-8
The Message

The Life-Light

1 1-2 The Word was first,
    the Word present to God,
    God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
    in readiness for God from day one.

3-5 Everything was created through him;
    nothing—not one thing!—
    came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
    and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
    the darkness couldn’t put it out.

6-8 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.

9-13 The Life-Light was the real thing:
    Every person entering Life
    he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
    the world was there through him,
    and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
    but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
    who believed he was who he claimed
    and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
    their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
    not blood-begotten,
    not flesh-begotten,
    not sex-begotten.

14 The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

15 John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

16-18 We all live off his generous abundance,
    gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
    and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
    all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
    not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
    who exists at the very heart of the Father,
    has made him plain as day.

Thunder in the Desert

19-20 When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn’t evade the question. He told the plain truth: “I am not the Messiah.”

21 They pressed him, “Who, then? Elijah?”

“I am not.”

“The Prophet?”

“No.”

22 Exasperated, they said, “Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself.”

23 “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I’m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.”

24-25 Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: “If you’re neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?”

26-27 John answered, “I only baptize using water. A person you don’t recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat for him.”

28 These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time.

The God-Revealer

29-31 The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’ I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.”

32-34 John clinched his witness with this: “I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ That’s exactly what I saw happen, and I’m telling you, there’s no question about it: This is the Son of God.”

Come, See for Yourself

35-36 The next day John was back at his post with two disciples, who were watching. He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb.”

37-38 The two disciples heard him and went after Jesus. Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, “What are you after?”

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

39 He replied, “Come along and see for yourself.”

They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened.

40-42 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, “We’ve found the Messiah” (that is, “Christ”). He immediately led him to Jesus.

Jesus took one look up and said, “You’re John’s son, Simon? From now on your name is Cephas” (or Peter, which means “Rock”).

43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, “Come, follow me.” (Philip’s hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)

45-46 Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”

But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.”

47 When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”

48 Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”

Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”

49 Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”

50-51 Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

From Water to Wine

2 1-3 Three days later there was a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and his disciples were guests also. When they started running low on wine at the wedding banquet, Jesus’ mother told him, “They’re just about out of wine.”

4 Jesus said, “Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine? This isn’t my time. Don’t push me.”

5 She went ahead anyway, telling the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”

6-7 Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus ordered the servants, “Fill the pots with water.” And they filled them to the brim.

8 “Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host,” Jesus said, and they did.

9-10 When the host tasted the water that had become wine (he didn’t know what had just happened but the servants, of course, knew), he called out to the bridegroom, “Everybody I know begins with their finest wines and after the guests have had their fill brings in the cheap stuff. But you’ve saved the best till now!”

11 This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

12 After this he went down to Capernaum along with his mother, brothers, and disciples, and stayed several days.

Tear Down This Temple . . .

13-14 When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.

15-17 Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!” That’s when his disciples remembered the Scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”

18-19 But the Jews were upset. They asked, “What credentials can you present to justify this?” Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.”

20-22 They were indignant: “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you’re going to rebuild it in three days?” But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.

23-25 During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. But Jesus didn’t entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn’t need any help in seeing right through them.

Born from Above

3 1-2 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.”

3 Jesus said, “You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.”

4 “How can anyone,” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?”

5-6 Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

7-8 “So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.”

9 Nicodemus asked, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?”

10-12 Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics? Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God?

13-15 “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

The Bridegroom’s Friend

22-26 After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John’s disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, “Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he’s now competing with us. He’s baptizing, too, and everyone’s going to him instead of us.”

27-29 John answered, “It’s not possible for a person to succeed—I’m talking about eternal success—without heaven’s help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom’s friend, his ‘best man’—that’s me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start?

29-30 “That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.

31-33 “The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth.

34-36 “The One that God sent speaks God’s words. And don’t think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn’t see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that.”

The Woman at the Well

4 1-3 Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.

4-6 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.

7-8 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)

9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”

11-12 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”

13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”

15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”

16 He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.”

17-18 “I have no husband,” she said.

“That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”

19-20 “Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”

21-23 “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

23-24 “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

25 The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.”

26 “I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”

27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.

28-30 The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves.

It’s Harvest Time

31 In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, “Rabbi, eat. Aren’t you going to eat?”

32 He told them, “I have food to eat you know nothing about.”

33 The disciples were puzzled. “Who could have brought him food?”

34-35 Jesus said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time!

36-38 “The Harvester isn’t waiting. He’s taking his pay, gathering in this grain that’s ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That’s the truth of the saying, ‘This one sows, that one harvests.’ I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others.”

39-42 Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, “We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He’s the Savior of the world!”

* * *

43-45 After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to.

46-48 Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king’s court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: “Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe.”

49 But the court official wouldn’t be put off. “Come down! It’s life or death for my son.”

50-51 Jesus simply replied, “Go home. Your son lives.”

The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home. On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, “Your son lives!”

52-53 He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, “The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o’clock.” The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, “Your son lives.”

53-54 That settled it. Not only he but his entire household believed. This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee.

Even on the Sabbath

5 1-6 Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”

7 The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”

8-9 Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.

9-10 That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, “It’s the Sabbath. You can’t carry your bedroll around. It’s against the rules.”

11 But he told them, “The man who made me well told me to. He said, ‘Take your bedroll and start walking.’”

12-13 They asked, “Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?” But the healed man didn’t know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.

14 A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “You look wonderful! You’re well! Don’t return to a sinning life or something worse might happen.”

15-16 The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus—because he did this kind of thing on the Sabbath.

17 But Jesus defended himself. “My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I.”

18 That really set them off. The Jews were now not only out to expose him; they were out to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own Father, putting himself on a level with God.

What the Father Does, the Son Does

19-20 So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing.

20-23 “But you haven’t seen the half of it yet, for in the same way that the Father raises the dead and creates life, so does the Son. The Son gives life to anyone he chooses. Neither he nor the Father shuts anyone out. The Father handed all authority to judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honored equally with the Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son, dishonors the Father, for it was the Father’s decision to put the Son in the place of honor.

24 “It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.

25-27 “It’s urgent that you get this right: The time has arrived—I mean right now!—when dead men and women will hear the voice of the Son of God and, hearing, will come alive. Just as the Father has life in himself, he has conferred on the Son life in himself. And he has given him the authority, simply because he is the Son of Man, to decide and carry out matters of Judgment.

28-29 “Don’t act so surprised at all this. The time is coming when everyone dead and buried will hear his voice. Those who have lived the right way will walk out into a resurrection Life; those who have lived the wrong way, into a resurrection Judgment.

30-33 “I can’t do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I’m not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders. If I were simply speaking on my own account, it would be an empty, self-serving witness. But an independent witness confirms me, the most reliable Witness of all. Furthermore, you all saw and heard John, and he gave expert and reliable testimony about me, didn’t he?

34-38 “But my purpose is not to get your vote, and not to appeal to mere human testimony. I’m speaking to you this way so that you will be saved. John was a torch, blazing and bright, and you were glad enough to dance for an hour or so in his bright light. But the witness that really confirms me far exceeds John’s witness. It’s the work the Father gave me to complete. These very tasks, as I go about completing them, confirm that the Father, in fact, sent me. The Father who sent me, confirmed me. And you missed it. You never heard his voice, you never saw his appearance. There is nothing left in your memory of his Message because you do not take his Messenger seriously.

* * *

39-40 “You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.

41-44 “I’m not interested in crowd approval. And do you know why? Because I know you and your crowds. I know that love, especially God’s love, is not on your working agenda. I came with the authority of my Father, and you either dismiss me or avoid me. If another came, acting self-important, you would welcome him with open arms. How do you expect to get anywhere with God when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring God?

45-47 “But don’t think I’m going to accuse you before my Father. Moses, in whom you put so much stock, is your accuser. If you believed, really believed, what Moses said, you would believe me. He wrote of me. If you won’t take seriously what he wrote, how can I expect you to take seriously what I speak?”

Bread and Fish for All

6 1-4 After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.

5-6 When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.”

8-9 One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.”

10-11 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.

12-13 When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.

14-15 The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, “This is the Prophet for sure, God’s Prophet right here in Galilee!” Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.

16-21 In the evening his disciples went down to the sea, got in the boat, and headed back across the water to Capernaum. It had grown quite dark and Jesus had not yet returned. A huge wind blew up, churning the sea. They were maybe three or four miles out when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, quite near the boat. They were scared senseless, but he reassured them, “It’s me. It’s all right. Don’t be afraid.” So they took him on board. In no time they reached land—the exact spot they were headed to.

22-24 The next day the crowd that was left behind realized that there had been only one boat, and that Jesus had not gotten into it with his disciples. They had seen them go off without him. By now boats from Tiberias had pulled up near where they had eaten the bread blessed by the Master. So when the crowd realized he was gone and wasn’t coming back, they piled into the Tiberias boats and headed for Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

25 When they found him back across the sea, they said, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 Jesus answered, “You’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free.

The Bread of Life

27 “Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last.”

28 To that they said, “Well, what do we do then to get in on God’s works?”

29 Jesus said, “Sign on with the One that God has sent. That kind of a commitment gets you in on God’s works.”

30-31 They waffled: “Why don’t you give us a clue about who you are, just a hint of what’s going on? When we see what’s up, we’ll commit ourselves. Show us what you can do. Moses fed our ancestors with bread in the desert. It says so in the Scriptures: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

32-33 Jesus responded, “The real significance of that Scripture is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world.”

34 They jumped at that: “Master, give us this bread, now and forever!”

35-38 Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own agenda but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.

39-40 “This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed—not a single detail missed—and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole. This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time.”

41-42 At this, because he said, “I am the Bread that came down from heaven,” the Jews started arguing over him: “Isn’t this the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father? Don’t we know his mother? How can he now say, ‘I came down out of heaven’ and expect anyone to believe him?”

43-46 Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End. This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, ‘And then they will all be personally taught by God.’ Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally—to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father. No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father—and you can see me.

47-51 “I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.”

52 At this, the Jews started fighting among themselves: “How can this man serve up his flesh for a meal?”

53-58 But Jesus didn’t give an inch. “Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you. In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me. This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always.”

59 He said these things while teaching in the meeting place in Capernaum.

Too Tough to Swallow

60 Many among his disciples heard this and said, “This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow.”

61-65 Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, “Does this rattle you completely? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from? The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen. Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this.” (Jesus knew from the start that some weren’t going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”

66-67 After this, many of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”

68-69 Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.”

70-71 Jesus responded, “Haven’t I handpicked you, the Twelve? Still, one of you is a devil!” He was referring to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. This man—one from the Twelve!—was even then getting ready to betray him.

7 1-2 Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn’t want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him. It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews.

3-5 His brothers said, “Why don’t you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do? No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you’re serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world.” His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn’t believe in him either.

6-8 Jesus came back at them, “Don’t pressure me. This isn’t my time. It’s your time—it’s always your time; you have nothing to lose. The world has nothing against you, but it’s up in arms against me. It’s against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions. You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don’t wait for me. I’m not ready. It’s not the right time for me.”

9-11 He said this and stayed on in Galilee. But later, after his family had gone up to the Feast, he also went. But he kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself. The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, “Where is that man?”

12-13 There was a lot of contentious talk about him circulating through the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good man.” But others said, “Not so. He’s selling snake oil.” This kind of talk went on in guarded whispers because of the intimidating Jewish leaders.

Could It Be the Messiah?

14-15 With the Feast already half over, Jesus showed up in the Temple, teaching. The Jews were impressed, but puzzled: “How does he know so much without being schooled?”

16-19 Jesus said, “I didn’t make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn’t tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn’t it, who gave you God’s Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?”

20 The crowd said, “You’re crazy! Who’s trying to kill you? You’re demon-possessed.”

21-24 Jesus said, “I did one miraculous thing a few months ago, and you’re still standing around getting all upset, wondering what I’m up to. Moses prescribed circumcision—originally it came not from Moses but from his ancestors—and so you circumcise a man, dealing with one part of his body, even if it’s the Sabbath. You do this in order to preserve one item in the Law of Moses. So why are you upset with me because I made a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath? Don’t be hypercritical; use your head—and heart!—to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right.”

25-27 That’s when some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this the one they were out to kill? And here he is out in the open, saying whatever he pleases, and no one is stopping him. Could it be that the rulers know that he is, in fact, the Messiah? And yet we know where this man came from. The Messiah is going to come out of nowhere. Nobody is going to know where he comes from.”

28-29 That provoked Jesus, who was teaching in the Temple, to cry out, “Yes, you think you know me and where I’m from, but that’s not where I’m from. I didn’t set myself up in business. My true origin is in the One who sent me, and you don’t know him at all. I come from him—that’s how I know him. He sent me here.”

30-31 They were looking for a way to arrest him, but not a hand was laid on him because it wasn’t yet God’s time. Many from the crowd committed themselves in faith to him, saying, “Will the Messiah, when he comes, provide better or more convincing evidence than this?”

32-34 The Pharisees, alarmed at this seditious undertow going through the crowd, teamed up with the high priests and sent their police to arrest him. Jesus rebuffed them: “I am with you only a short time. Then I go on to the One who sent me. You will look for me, but you won’t find me. Where I am, you can’t come.”

35-36 The Jews put their heads together. “Where do you think he is going that we won’t be able to find him? Do you think he is about to travel to the Greek world to teach the Jews? What is he talking about, anyway: ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you can’t come’?”

37-39 On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)

40-44 Those in the crowd who heard these words were saying, “This has to be the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah!” But others were saying, “The Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? Don’t the Scriptures tell us that the Messiah comes from David’s line and from Bethlehem, David’s village?” So there was a split in the crowd over him. Some went so far as wanting to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.

45 That’s when the Temple police reported back to the high priests and Pharisees, who demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him with you?”

46 The police answered, “Have you heard the way he talks? We’ve never heard anyone speak like this man.”

47-49 The Pharisees said, “Are you carried away like the rest of the rabble? You don’t see any of the leaders believing in him, do you? Or any from the Pharisees? It’s only this crowd, ignorant of God’s Law, that is taken in by him—and damned.”

50-51 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus earlier and was both a ruler and a Pharisee, spoke up. “Does our Law decide about a man’s guilt without first listening to him and finding out what he is doing?”

52-53 But they cut him off. “Are you also campaigning for the Galilean? Examine the evidence. See if any prophet ever comes from Galilee.”

[Then they all went home.

To Throw the Stone

8 1-2 Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.

3-6 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.

6-8 Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.

9-10 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”

11 “No one, Master.”

“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”]

Note: John 7:53–8:11 [the portion in brackets] is not found in the earliest handwritten copies.

You’re Missing God in All This

12 Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.”

13 The Pharisees objected, “All we have is your word on this. We need more than this to go on.”

14-18 Jesus replied, “You’re right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I’ve come from and where I go next. You don’t know where I’m from or where I’m headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don’t make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father. That fulfills the conditions set down in God’s Law: that you can count on the testimony of two witnesses. And that is what you have: You have my word and you have the word of the Father who sent me.”

19 They said, “Where is this so-called Father of yours?”

Jesus said, “You’re looking right at me and you don’t see me. How do you expect to see the Father? If you knew me, you would at the same time know the Father.”

20 He gave this speech in the Treasury while teaching in the Temple. No one arrested him because his time wasn’t yet up.

21 Then he went over the same ground again. “I’m leaving and you are going to look for me, but you’re missing God in this and are headed for a dead end. There is no way you can come with me.”

22 The Jews said, “So, is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by ‘You can’t come with me’?”

23-24 Jesus said, “You’re tied down to the mundane; I’m in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I’m living on other terms. I told you that you were missing God in all this. You’re at a dead end. If you won’t believe I am who I say I am, you’re at the dead end of sins. You’re missing God in your lives.”

25-26 They said to him, “Just who are you anyway?”

Jesus said, “What I’ve said from the start. I have so many things to say that concern you, judgments to make that affect you, but if you don’t accept the trustworthiness of the One who commanded my words and acts, none of it matters. That is who you are questioning—not me but the One who sent me.”

27-29 They still didn’t get it, didn’t realize that he was referring to the Father. So Jesus tried again. “When you raise up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am—that I’m not making this up, but speaking only what the Father taught me. The One who sent me stays with me. He doesn’t abandon me. He sees how much joy I take in pleasing him.”

30 When he put it in these terms, many people decided to believe.

If the Son Sets You Free

31-32 Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.”

33 Surprised, they said, “But we’re descendants of Abraham. We’ve never been slaves to anyone. How can you say, ‘The truth will free you’?”

34-38 Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave can’t come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through. I know you are Abraham’s descendants. But I also know that you are trying to kill me because my message hasn’t yet penetrated your thick skulls. I’m talking about things I have seen while keeping company with the Father, and you just go on doing what you have heard from your father.”

39-41 They were indignant. “Our father is Abraham!”

Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would have been doing the things Abraham did. And yet here you are trying to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth he got straight from God! Abraham never did that sort of thing. You persist in repeating the works of your father.”

They said, “We’re not bastards. We have a legitimate father: the one and only God.”

42-47 “If God were your father,” said Jesus, “you would love me, for I came from God and arrived here. I didn’t come on my own. He sent me. Why can’t you understand one word I say? Here’s why: You can’t handle it. You’re from your father, the Devil, and all you want to do is please him. He was a killer from the very start. He couldn’t stand the truth because there wasn’t a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies. I arrive on the scene, tell you the plain truth, and you refuse to have a thing to do with me. Can any one of you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act? But if I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone on God’s side listens to God’s words. This is why you’re not listening—because you’re not on God’s side.”

I Am Who I Am

48 The Jews then said, “That settles it. We were right all along when we called you a Samaritan and said you were crazy—demon-possessed!”

49-51 Jesus said, “I’m not crazy. I simply honor my Father, while you dishonor me. I am not trying to get anything for myself. God intends something gloriously grand here and is making the decisions that will bring it about. I say this with absolute confidence. If you practice what I’m telling you, you’ll never have to look death in the face.”

52-53 At this point the Jews said, “Now we know you’re crazy. Abraham died. The prophets died. And you show up saying, ‘If you practice what I’m telling you, you’ll never have to face death, not even a taste.’ Are you greater than Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you think you are!”

54-56 Jesus said, “If I were striving to get all the attention, it wouldn’t amount to anything. But my Father, the same One you say is your Father, put me here at this time and place of splendor. You haven’t recognized him in this. But I have. If I, in false modesty, said I didn’t know what was going on, I would be as much of a liar as you are. But I do know, and I am doing what he says. Abraham—your ‘father’—with elated faith looked down the corridors of history and saw my day coming. He saw it and cheered.”

57 The Jews said, “You’re not even fifty years old—and Abraham saw you?”

58 “Believe me,” said Jesus, “I am who I am long before Abraham was anything.”

59 That did it—pushed them over the edge. They picked up rocks to throw at him. But Jesus slipped away, getting out of the Temple.

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