^22 (A)beginning from the baptism of John until the day when ^(B)he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us ^(C)a witness to his resurrection.”

² until the day when ^(A)he was taken up, after he ^(B)had given commands ^(C)through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

³³ And with great ^(A)power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and ^(B)great grace was upon them all.

⁸ But you will receive ^(A)power ^(B)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ^(C)you will be ^(D)my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and ^(E)Samaria, and ^(F)to the end of the earth.” ⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, ^(G)he was lifted up, and ^(H)a cloud took him out of their sight.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Son of God.^[a]

^2 (B)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,^[b]

^4 (F)John appeared, baptizing in ^(G)the wilderness and proclaiming ^(H)a baptism of ^(I)repentance ^(J)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^(K)confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was ^(L)clothed with camel's hair and ^(M)wore a leather belt around his waist and ate ^(N)locusts and ^(O)wild honey. ⁷ And he preached, saying, ^(P)“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ^8 (Q)I have baptized you with water, but ^(R)he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

^3 (A)how shall we escape if we ^(B)neglect such a great salvation? It was ^(C)declared at first by the Lord, and it was ^(D)attested to us ^(E)by those who heard,

²⁴ Before his coming, ^(A)John had proclaimed ^(B)a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, ^(C)he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁷ And ^(A)you also will bear witness, ^(B)because you have been with me ^(C)from the beginning.

²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

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

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ^(M)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ^(N)“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, ^(O)“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.^{[b] 40 (P)}One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus^[c] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^(Q)the Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^(R)John. You shall be called ^(S)Cephas” (which means ^(T)Peter^[d]).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

^43 (U)The next day Jesus decided ^(V)to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(W)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(X)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom ^(Y)Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus ^(Z)of Nazareth, ^(AA)the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, ^(AB)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^(AC)an Israelite indeed, ^(AD)in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How ^(AE)do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, ^(AF)“Rabbi, ^(AG)you are the Son of God! You are the ^(AH)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,^[e] you will see ^(AI)heaven opened, and ^(AJ)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(AK)the Son of Man.”