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The First Disciples

35 The next day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. 36 When John saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

38 When Jesus turned around and saw them following him, he asked, “What are you looking for?”

They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39 He told them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying. They stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.[a]

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his own brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is translated “the Christ”).[b] 42 He brought him to Jesus.

Looking at him, Jesus said, “You are Simon, son of Jonah.[c] You will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”).[d]

43 The next day, Jesus wanted to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 Nathanael said to him, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

“Come and see!” Philip told him.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Truly, here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that!” 51 Then he added, “Amen, Amen,[e] I tell you:[f] You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

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Footnotes

  1. John 1:39 10 am (Roman civil time) or 4 pm (Jewish time). John seems to use Roman civil time in 19:14 (compare Mark 15:25). John also seems to use Roman civil time in 20:19, because the evening is considered part of the first day of the week. Roman civil time began a new day at midnight. Jewish time regarded sunset as the beginning of a new day.
  2. John 1:41 Messiah is the Hebrew/Aramaic word for Anointed One. Christ is the Greek word for Anointed One.
  3. John 1:42 Some witnesses to the text have John.
  4. John 1:42 Both the Aramaic word Cephas and the Greek word Peter (Petros) are masculine nouns that mean rock.
  5. John 1:51 Usually people say Amen at the end of a prayer, but Jesus used this Hebrew word at the beginning of a statement, which was unique. The inspired writer simply transliterated the Hebrew word that Jesus spoke, instead of using a Greek term. This translation does the same in English. The basic meaning is I solemnly tell you the truth. Here it is emphasized by being used twice.
  6. John 1:51 Both uses of you in verse 51 are plural.