John 3
Complete Jewish Bible
3 There was a man among the P’rushim, named Nakdimon, who was a ruler of the Judeans. 2 This man came to Yeshua by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know it is from God that you have come as a teacher; for no one can do these miracles you perform unless God is with him.” 3 “Yes, indeed,” Yeshua answered him, “I tell you that unless a person is born again from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 Nakdimon said to him, “How can a grown man be ‘born’? Can he go back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time?” 5 Yeshua answered, “Yes, indeed, I tell you that unless a person is born from water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. 6 What is born from the flesh is flesh, and what is born from the Spirit is spirit. 7 Stop being amazed at my telling you that you must be born again from above! 8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it’s going. That’s how it is with everyone who has been born from the Spirit.”
9 Nakdimon replied, “How can this happen?” 10 Yeshua answered him, “You hold the office of teacher in Isra’el, and you don’t know this? 11 Yes, indeed! I tell you that what we speak about, we know; and what we give evidence of, we have seen; but you people don’t accept our evidence! 12 If you people don’t believe me when I tell you about the things of the world, how will you believe me when I tell you about the things of heaven? 13 No one has gone up into heaven; there is only the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but rather so that through him, the world might be saved. 18 Those who trust in him are not judged; those who do not trust have been judged already, in that they have not trusted in the one who is God’s only and unique Son.
19 “Now this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their actions were wicked. 20 For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won’t be exposed. 21 But everyone who does what is true comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished through God.”
22 After this, Yeshua and his talmidim went out into the countryside of Y’hudah, where he stayed awhile with them and immersed people. 23 Yochanan too was immersing at Einayim, near Shalem, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to be immersed. 24 (This was before Yochanan’s imprisonment.)
25 A discussion arose between some of Yochanan’s talmidim and a Judean about ceremonial washing; 26 and they came to Yochanan and said to him, “Rabbi, you know the man who was with you on the other side of the Yarden, the one you spoke about? Well, here he is, immersing; and everyone is going to him!” 27 Yochanan answered, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from Heaven. 28 You yourselves can confirm that I did not say I was the Messiah, but that I have been sent ahead of him. 29 The bridegroom is the one who has the bride; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed at the sound of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must become more important, while I become less important.
31 “He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth is from the earth and talks from an earthly point of view; he who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies about what he has actually seen and heard, yet no one accepts what he says! 33 Whoever does accept what he says puts his seal on the fact that God is true, 34 because the one whom God sent speaks God’s words. For God does not give him the Spirit in limited degree — 35 the Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands. 36 Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life. But whoever disobeys the Son will not see that life but remains subject to God’s wrath.”
John 3
New American Standard Bible
The New Birth
3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named (A)Nicodemus, a (B)ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to [a]Jesus at night and said to Him, “(C)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these [b](D)signs that You do unless (E)God is with him.” 3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone (F)is born [c]again he cannot see (G)the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of (H)water and the Spirit, he cannot enter (I)the kingdom of God. 6 (J)That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born [d]again.’ 8 (K)The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “You are (L)the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, (M)we speak of what we know and (N)testify of what we have seen, and (O)you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 (P)No one has ascended into heaven, except (Q)He who descended from heaven: (R)the Son of Man. 14 And just as (S)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must (T)the Son of Man (U)be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who [e]believes will (V)have eternal life in Him.
16 “For God so (W)loved the world, that He (X)gave His (Y)only Son, so that everyone who (Z)believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God (AA)did not send the Son into the world (AB)to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. 18 (AC)The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of (AD)the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that (AE)the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for (AF)their deeds were evil. 20 (AG)For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. 21 But the one who (AH)practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed [f]as having been performed in God.”
John the Baptist’s Last Testimony
22 After these things Jesus and His (AI)disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He was spending time with them and (AJ)baptizing. 23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and being baptized— 24 for (AK)John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then a matter of dispute developed on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about [g](AL)purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “(AM)Rabbi, He who was with you (AN)beyond the Jordan, to whom you (AO)have testified—behold, He is baptizing and all the people are coming to Him.” 27 John replied, “(AP)A person can receive not even one thing unless it (AQ)has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves [h]are my witnesses that I said, ‘(AR)I am not the [i]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is (AS)the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this (AT)joy of mine has been made full. 30 He must [j]increase, but I must [k]decrease.
31 “(AU)He who comes from above is above all; (AV)the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. (AW)He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of this He (AX)testifies; and (AY)no one accepts His testimony. 33 The one who has accepted His testimony (AZ)has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God (BA)sent speaks the words of God; (BB)for He does not give the Spirit [l]sparingly. 35 (BC)The Father loves the Son and (BD)has entrusted all things to His hand. 36 The one who (BE)believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who (BF)does not [m]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Footnotes
- John 3:2 Lit Him
- John 3:2 I.e., confirming miracles
- John 3:3 Or from above
- John 3:7 Or from above
- John 3:15 Or believes in Him will have eternal life
- John 3:21 Lit that they have been
- John 3:25 I.e., ceremonial washing
- John 3:28 Lit testify for me
- John 3:28 I.e., Messiah
- John 3:30 Or become greater
- John 3:30 Or become less important
- John 3:34 Lit from measure
- John 3:36 I.e., in belief
John 3
New Living Translation
3 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[b] 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.[c] 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man[e] has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.[f]
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[g] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.[h]”
John the Baptist Exalts Jesus
22 Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.
23 At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism. 24 (This was before John was thrown into prison.) 25 A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew[i] over ceremonial cleansing. 26 So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”
27 John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. 28 You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ 29 It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. 30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
31 “He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else.[j] 32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them! 33 Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true. 34 For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands. 36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
Footnotes
- 3:3 Or born from above; also in 3:7.
- 3:5 Or and spirit. The Greek word for Spirit can also be translated wind; see 3:8.
- 3:6 Greek what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
- 3:7 The Greek word for you is plural; also in 3:12.
- 3:13 Some manuscripts add who lives in heaven. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
- 3:15 Or everyone who believes will have eternal life in him.
- 3:16 Or For God loved the world so much that he gave.
- 3:21 Or can see God at work in what he is doing.
- 3:25 Some manuscripts read some Jews.
- 3:31 Some manuscripts do not include and is greater than anyone else.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
