John 1:19-28

Easy-to-Read Version

John Tells About the Messiah^(A)

¹⁹ The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John to ask him, “Who are you?” He told them the truth. ²⁰ Without any hesitation he said openly and plainly, “I am not the Messiah.”

²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He answered, “No, I am not Elijah.”

They asked, “Are you the Prophet^[a]?”

He answered, “No, I am not the Prophet.”

²² Then they said, “Who are you? Tell us about yourself. Give us an answer to tell the people who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John told them the words of the prophet Isaiah:

²⁴ These Jews were sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They said to John, “You say you are not the Messiah. You say you are not Elijah or the Prophet. Then why do you baptize people?”

²⁶ John answered, “I baptize people with water. But there is someone here with you that you don’t know. ²⁷ He is the one who is coming later. I am not good enough to be the slave who unties the strings on his sandals.”

²⁸ These things all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. This is where John was baptizing people.