The Word Becomes Human

1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was already with God in the beginning.

³ Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.

⁴ He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.

⁵ The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.^[a]

⁶ God sent a man named John to be his messenger. ⁷ John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message. ⁸ John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.

⁹ The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He went to his own people, and his own people didn’t accept him. ¹² However, he gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in him. ¹³ These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way—from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire to have a child. They were born from God.

¹⁴ The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness^[b] and truth.

²¹ He is far above all rulers, authorities, powers, lords, and all other names that can be named, not only in this present world but also in the world to come.

God Has Spoken to Us Through His Son

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors at many different times and in many different ways through the prophets. ² In these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. God made his Son responsible for everything. His Son is the one through whom God made the universe. ³ His Son is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of God’s being. He holds everything together through his powerful words. After he had cleansed people from their sins, he received the highest position, the one next to the Father in heaven.

¹³ I am the A and the Z,^[a] the first and the last, the beginning and the end.