The Lamb of God^(A)

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

^32 (E)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, ^(F)this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and testified that this is the ^(G)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, ^(H)“Behold the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they ^(I)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 ^(J)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the ^[b]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 ^[c]Jonah. ^(K)You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, ^[d]A Stone).

Philip and Nathanael

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

⁴⁶ And Nathanael said to him, ^(S)“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, ^(T)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, ^(U)You are the Son of God! You are ^(V)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, ^(W)hereafter^[e] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Light Bearers

¹² Therefore, my beloved, ^(A)as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, ^(B)work out your own salvation with ^(C)fear and trembling; ¹³ for ^(D)it is God who works in you both to will and to do ^(E)for His good pleasure.

¹⁴ Do all things ^(F)without ^[a]complaining and ^(G)disputing,^{[b] 15} that you may become blameless and ^[c]harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as ^(H)lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that ^(I)I may rejoice in the day of Christ that ^(J)I have not run in vain or labored in ^(K)vain.

¹⁷ Yes, and if ^(L)I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice ^(M)and service of your faith, ^(N)I am glad and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸ For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

Timothy Commended

¹⁹ But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send ^(O)Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your ^[d]state. ²⁰ For I have no one ^(P)like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state.