The Eternal Word^(A)

1 In the beginning ^(B)was the Word, and the ^(C)Word was ^(D)with God, and the Word was ^(E)God. ^2 (F)He was in the beginning with God. ^3 (G)All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ^4 (H)In Him was life, and ^(I)the life was the light of men. ⁵ And ^(J)the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[a]comprehend it.

John’s Witness: The True Light

⁶ There was a ^(K)man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a ^(L)witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might ^(M)believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that ^(N)Light. ^9 (O)That^[b] was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and ^(P)the world did not know Him. ^11 (Q)He came to His ^[c]own, and His ^[d]own did not receive Him. ¹² But ^(R)as many as received Him, to them He gave the ^[e]right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ^13 (S)who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Becomes Flesh

^14 (T)And the Word ^(U)became ^(V)flesh and dwelt among us, and ^(W)we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, ^(X)full of grace and truth.

^15 (Y)John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ^(Z)‘He who comes after me ^[f]is preferred before me, ^(AA)for He was before me.’ ”

^16 [g]And of His ^(AB)fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For ^(AC)the law was given through Moses, but ^(AD)grace and ^(AE)truth came through Jesus Christ. ^18 (AF)No one has seen God at any time. ^(AG)The only begotten ^[h]Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

A Voice in the Wilderness^(AH)

¹⁹ Now this is ^(AI)the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

^20 (AJ)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you ^(AK)the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

²² Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

²³ He said: ^(AL)“I am

as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵ And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ John answered them, saying, ^(AN)“I baptize with water, ^(AO)but there stands One among you whom you do not know. ^27 (AP)It is He who, coming after me, ^[i]is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

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

Miraculous Signs for Pharaoh

4 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

² So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A rod.”

³ And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), ⁵ “that they may ^(A)believe that the ^(B)Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

⁶ Furthermore the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, ^(C)like snow. ⁷ And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, ^(D)it was restored like his other flesh. ⁸ “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the ^(E)first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. ⁹ And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from ^[a]the river and pour it on the dry land. ^(F)The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”

¹⁰ Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but ^(G)I am slow of speech and ^[b]slow of tongue.”

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, ^(H)“Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore, go, and I will be ^(I)with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

¹³ But he said, “O my Lord, ^(J)please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

¹⁴ So ^(K)the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your ^(L)brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, ^(M)he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵ Now ^(N)you shall speak to him and ^(O)put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and ^(P)I will teach you what you shall do. ¹⁶ So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and ^(Q)you shall be to him as God. ¹⁷ And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”

Moses Goes to Egypt

¹⁸ So Moses went and returned to ^(R)Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”

And Jethro said to Moses, ^(S)“Go in peace.”

¹⁹ Now the Lord said to Moses in ^(T)Midian, “Go, return to ^(U)Egypt; for all the men who ^(V)sought your life are dead.” ²⁰ Then Moses ^(W)took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took ^(X)the rod of God in his hand.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those ^(Y)wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But ^(Z)I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall ^(AA)say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(AB)“Israel is My son, ^(AC)My firstborn. ²³ So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed ^(AD)I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”

⁸ Beware lest anyone ^[a]cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to ^(A)the tradition of men, according to the ^(B)basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For ^(C)in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead ^[b]bodily; ¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the ^(D)head of all ^[c]principality and power.

Not Legalism but Christ

¹¹ In Him you were also ^(E)circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by ^(F)putting off the body ^[d]of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ^12 (G)buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through ^(H)faith in the working of God, ^(I)who raised Him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, ^14 (J)having wiped out the ^[e]handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ^15 (K)Having disarmed ^(L)principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

¹⁶ So let no one ^(M)judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a ^[f]festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ^17 (N)which are a shadow of things to come, but the ^[g]substance is of Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has ^[h]not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to ^(O)the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, ^(P)grows with the increase that is from God.

^20 [i]Therefore, if you ^(Q)died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, ^(R)why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— ^21 (S)“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” ²² which all concern things which perish with the using—^(T)according to the commandments and doctrines of men? ^23 (U)These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and ^[j]neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Not Carnality but Christ

3 If then you were ^(V)raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, ^(W)where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the ^(X)earth. ^3 (Y)For you died, ^(Z)and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ^4 (AA)When Christ who is ^(AB)our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in ^(AC)glory.

^5 (AD)Therefore put to death ^(AE)your members which are on the earth: ^(AF)fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, ^(AG)which is idolatry. ^6 (AH)Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon ^(AI)the sons of disobedience, ^7 (AJ)in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

^8 (AK)But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, ¹⁰ and have put on the new man who ^(AL)is renewed in knowledge ^(AM)according to the image of Him who ^(AN)created him, ¹¹ where there is neither ^(AO)Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, ^(AP)but Christ is all and in all.