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John 1:19-28
English Standard Version Anglicised
John 1:19-28
English Standard Version Anglicised
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 And this is the (A)testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, (B)“Who are you?” 20 (C)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? (D)Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you (E)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am (F)the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight[a] the way of the Lord’, as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, (G)“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, (H)“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even (I)he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- John 1:23 Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight
John 1:19-28
New International Version
John 1:19-28
New International Version
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
19 Now this was John’s(A) testimony when the Jewish leaders[a](B) in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”(C)
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”(D)
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”(E)
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,(F) ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”[b](G)
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with[c] water,”(H) John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me,(I) the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”(J)
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan,(K) where John was baptizing.
Footnotes
- John 1:19 The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19.
- John 1:23 Isaiah 40:3
- John 1:26 Or in; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice)
English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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