²² beginning from the baptism of John to that day when ^(A)He was taken up from us, one of these must ^(B)become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

^2 (A)until the day in which ^[a]He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit ^(B)had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,

³³ And with ^(A)great power the apostles gave ^(B)witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And ^(C)great grace was upon them all.

^8 (A)But you shall receive power ^(B)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and ^(C)you shall be ^[a]witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and ^(D)Samaria, and to the ^(E)end of the earth.”

Jesus Ascends to Heaven^(F)

^9 (G)Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, ^(H)He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

1 The ^(B)beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(C)the Son of God. ² As it is written in ^[a]the Prophets:

^4 (F)John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance ^[b]for the remission of sins. ^5 (G)Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

⁶ Now John was ^(H)clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he preached, saying, ^(I)“There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. ^8 (J)I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you ^(K)with the Holy Spirit.”

^3 (A)how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, ^(B)which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was ^(C)confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

^24 (A)after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, he said, ^(B)‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, ^(C)there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’

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

²⁸ These things were done ^(A)in ^[a]Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God^(B)

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! ^(C)The Lamb of God ^(D)who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ^[b]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ³¹ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, ^(E)therefore I came baptizing with water.”

^32 (F)And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, ^(G)this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and testified that this is the ^(H)Son of God.”

The First Disciples

³⁵ Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. ³⁶ And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, ^(I)“Behold the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they ^(J)followed Jesus. ³⁸ Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”

They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”

³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was ^(K)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the ^[c]Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.

Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of ^[d]Jonah. ^(L)You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, ^[e]A Stone).

Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found ^(M)Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(N)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(O)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(P)Moses in the law, and also the ^(Q)prophets, wrote—Jesus ^(R)of Nazareth, the ^(S)son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶ And Nathanael said to him, ^(T)“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, ^(U)an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”

⁴⁸ Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, ^(V)You are the Son of God! You are ^(W)the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(X)hereafter^[f] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”