John 1
Darby Translation
1 In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 *He* was in the beginning with God.
3 All things received being through him, and without him not one [thing] received being which has received being.
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light appears in darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, his name John.
7 He came for witness, that he might witness concerning the light, that all might believe through him.
8 *He* was not the light, but that he might witness concerning the light.
9 The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man.
10 He was in the world, and the world had [its] being through him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came to his own, and his own received him not;
12 but as many as received him, to them gave he [the] right to be children of God, to those that believe on his name;
13 who have been born, not of blood, nor of flesh's will, nor of man's will, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth;
15 (John bears witness of him, and he has cried, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me;)
16 for of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses: grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, *he* hath declared [him].
19 And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites that they might ask him, Thou, who art thou?
20 And he acknowledged and denied not, and acknowledged, I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he says, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No.
22 They said therefore to him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I [am] [the] voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the path of [the] Lord, as said Esaias the prophet.
24 And they were sent from among the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him and said to him, Why baptisest thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?
26 John answered them saying, I baptise with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know,
27 he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptising.
29 On the morrow he sees Jesus coming to him, and says, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
30 He it is of whom I said, A man comes after me who takes a place before me, because he *was* before me;
31 and I knew him not; but that he might be manifested to Israel, therefore have I come baptising with water.
32 And John bore witness, saying, I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptise with water, *he* said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with [the] Holy Spirit.
34 And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.
35 Again, on the morrow, there stood John and two of his disciples.
36 And, looking at Jesus as he walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God.
37 And the two disciples heard him speaking, and followed Jesus.
38 But Jesus having turned, and seeing them following, says to them, What seek ye? And *they* said to him, Rabbi (which, being interpreted, signifies Teacher), where abidest thou?
39 He says to them, Come and see. They went therefore, and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard [this] from John and followed him.
41 He first finds his own brother Simon, and says to him, We have found the Messias (which being interpreted is Christ).
42 And he led him to Jesus. Jesus looking at him said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas (which interpreted is stone).
43 On the morrow he would go forth into Galilee, and Jesus finds Philip, and says to him, Follow me.
44 And Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip finds Nathanael, and says to him, We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, Jesus, the son of Joseph, who is from Nazareth.
46 And Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip says to him, Come and see.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Behold [one] truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile.
48 Nathanael says to him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.
49 Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.
50 Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.
51 And he says to him, Verily, verily, I say to you, Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man.
John 1
New Living Translation
Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word
1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,[a]
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.[b]
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist,[c] 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14 So the Word became human[d] and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.[e] And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”
16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.[f] 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God,[g] is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants[h] from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” 20 He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 “Well then, who are you?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”
“No,” he replied.
“Are you the Prophet we are expecting?”[i]
“No.”
22 “Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’”[j]
24 Then the Pharisees who had been sent 25 asked him, “If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?”
26 John told them, “I baptize with[k] water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. 27 Though his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.”
28 This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
Jesus, the Lamb of God
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ 31 I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33 I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.[l]”
The First Disciples
35 The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. 36 As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” 37 When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.
38 Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.
They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. 41 Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”[m]).
42 Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”[n]).
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.
45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses[o] and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”
48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”
49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.[p]”
Footnotes
- 1:3-4 Or and nothing that was created was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything.
- 1:5 Or and the darkness has not understood it.
- 1:6 Greek a man named John.
- 1:14a Greek became flesh.
- 1:14b Or grace and truth; also in 1:17.
- 1:16 Or received the grace of Christ rather than the grace of the law; Greek reads received grace upon grace.
- 1:18 Some manuscripts read But the one and only Son.
- 1:19 Greek and Levites.
- 1:21 Greek Are you the Prophet? See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
- 1:23 Isa 40:3.
- 1:26 Or in; also in 1:31, 33.
- 1:34 Some manuscripts read the Son of God.
- 1:41 Messiah (a Hebrew term) and Christ (a Greek term) both mean “anointed one.”
- 1:42 The names Cephas (from Aramaic) and Peter (from Greek) both mean “rock.”
- 1:45 Greek Moses in the law.
- 1:51 Greek going up and down on the Son of Man; see Gen 28:10-17. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
