John 1
Contemporary English Version
The Word of Life
1 In the beginning was the one
who is called the Word.
The Word was with God
and was truly God.
2 From the very beginning
the Word was with God.
3 And with this Word,
God created all things.
Nothing was made
without the Word.
Everything that was created
4 received its life from him,
and his life gave light
to everyone.
5 The light keeps shining
in the dark,
and darkness has never
put it out.[a]
6 (A) God sent a man named John,
7 who came to tell
about the light
and to lead all people
to have faith.
8 John wasn't this light.
He came only to tell
about the light.
9 The true light that shines
on everyone
was coming into the world.
10 The Word was in the world,
but no one knew him,
though God had made the world
with his Word.
11 He came into his own world,
but his own nation
did not welcome him.
12 Yet some people accepted him
and put their faith in him.
So he gave them the right
to be the children of God.
13 They were not God's children
by nature or because
of any human desires.
God himself was the one
who made them his children.
14 The Word became
a human being
and lived here with us.
We saw his true glory,
the glory of the only Son
of the Father.
From him the complete gifts
of undeserved grace and truth
have come down to us.
15 John spoke about him and shouted, “This is the one I told you would come! He is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.”
16 Because of all that the Son is, we have been given one blessing after another.[b] 17 The Law was given by Moses, but Jesus Christ brought us undeserved kindness and truth. 18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is truly God and is closest to the Father, has shown us what God is like.
John the Baptist Tells about Jesus
(Matthew 3.1-12; Mark 1.1-8; Luke 3.15-17)
19-20 The religious authorities in Jerusalem sent priests and temple helpers to ask John who he was. He told them plainly, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 (B) Then when they asked him if he were Elijah, he said, “No, I am not!” And when they asked if he were the Prophet,[c] he also said “No!”
22 Finally, they said, “Who are you then? We have to give an answer to the ones who sent us. Tell us who you are!”
23 (C) John answered in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I am only someone shouting in the desert, ‘Get the road ready for the Lord!’ ”
24 Some Pharisees had also been sent to John. 25 They asked him, “Why are you baptizing people, if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?”
26 John told them, “I use water to baptize people. But here with you is someone you don't know. 27 Even though I came first, I am not good enough to untie his sandals.” 28 John said this as he was baptizing east of the Jordan River in Bethany.[d]
The Lamb of God
29 The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said:
Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 He is the one I told you about when I said, “Someone else will come, who is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.” 31 I didn't know who he was. But I came to baptize you with water, so that everyone in Israel would see him.
32 I was there and saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven. And the Spirit stayed on him. 33 Before this I didn't know who he was. But the one who sent me to baptize with water had told me, “You will see the Spirit come down and stay on someone. Then you will know that he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” 34 I saw this happen, and I tell you that he is the Son of God.
The First Disciples of Jesus
35 The next day, John was there again, and two of his followers were with him. 36 When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Here is the Lamb of God!” 37 John's two followers heard him, and they went with Jesus.
38 When Jesus turned and saw them, he asked, “What do you want?”
They answered, “Rabbi, where do you live?” The Hebrew word “Rabbi” means “Teacher.”
39 Jesus replied, “Come and see!” It was already about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him and saw where he lived. So they stayed on for the rest of the day.
40 One of the two men who had heard John and had gone with Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, “We have found the Messiah!” The Hebrew word “Messiah” means the same as the Greek word “Christ.”
42 Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, “Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas.” This name can be translated as “Peter.”[e]
Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael
43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, “Follow me.”
45 Philip then found Nathanael and said, “We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets[f] wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
46 Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip answered, “Come and see.”
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is a true descendant of our ancestor Israel. And he isn't deceitful.”[g]
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
49 Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered, “Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. 51 (D) I tell you for certain you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”[h]
Footnotes
- 1.5 put it out: Or “understood it.”
- 1.16 one blessing after another: Or “one blessing in place of another.”
- 1.21 the Prophet: Many of the Jewish people expected God to send them a prophet who would be like Moses, but with even greater power (see Deuteronomy 18.15,18).
- 1.28 Bethany: An unknown village east of the Jordan with the same name as the village near Jerusalem.
- 1.42 Peter: The Aramaic name “Cephas” and the Greek name “Peter” each mean “rock.”
- 1.45 Moses and the Prophets: The Jewish Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament.
- 1.47 Israel … isn't deceitful: Israel (meaning “a man who wrestled with God” or “a prince of God”) was the name that the Lord gave to Jacob (meaning “cheater” or “deceiver”), the famous ancestor of the Jewish people.
- 1.51 going up and coming down on the Son of Man: When Jacob (see the note at 1.47) was running from his brother Esau, he had a dream in which he saw angels going up and down on a ladder from earth to heaven (see Genesis 28.10-22).
约翰福音 1
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified)
施洗约翰为真光作见证
1 太初有道，道与神同在，道就是神。 2 这道太初与神同在。 3 万物是借着他造的；凡被造的，没有一样不是借着他造的。 4 生命在他里头，这生命就是人的光。 5 光照在黑暗里，黑暗却不接受光。 6 有一个人，是从神那里差来的，名叫约翰。 7 这人来，为要作见证，就是为光作见证，叫众人因他可以信。 8 他不是那光，乃是要为光作见证。 9 那光是真光，照亮一切生在世上的人。 10 他在世界，世界也是借着他造的，世界却不认识他。 11 他到自己的地方来，自己的人倒不接待他。 12 凡接待他的，就是信他名的人，他就赐他们权柄做神的儿女。 13 这等人不是从血气生的，不是从情欲生的，也不是从人意生的，乃是从神生的。 14 道成了肉身，住在我们中间，充充满满地有恩典有真理。我们也见过他的荣光，正是父独生子的荣光。
恩典真理是由耶稣基督来的
15 约翰为他作见证，喊着说：“这就是我曾说，‘那在我以后来的，反成了在我以前的，因他本来在我以前。’” 16 从他丰满的恩典里，我们都领受了，而且恩上加恩。 17 律法本是借着摩西传的，恩典和真理都是由耶稣基督来的。 18 从来没有人看见神，只有在父怀里的独生子将他表明出来。
约翰证明自己不是基督
19 约翰所作的见证记在下面。犹太人从耶路撒冷差祭司和利未人到约翰那里，问他说：“你是谁？” 20 他就明说，并不隐瞒，明说：“我不是基督。” 21 他们又问他说：“这样，你是谁呢？是以利亚吗？”他说：“我不是。”“是那先知吗？”他回答说：“不是。” 22 于是他们说：“你到底是谁？叫我们好回复差我们来的人。你自己说你是谁？” 23 他说：“我就是那在旷野有人声喊着说：‘修直主的道路’，正如先知以赛亚所说的。” 24 那些人是法利赛人差来的。[a] 25 他们就问他说：“你既不是基督，不是以利亚，也不是那先知，为什么施洗呢？” 26 约翰回答说：“我是用水施洗，但有一位站在你们中间，是你们不认识的， 27 就是那在我以后来的，我给他解鞋带也不配。” 28 这是在约旦河外伯大尼[b]，约翰施洗的地方作的见证。
神的羔羊
29 次日，约翰看见耶稣来到他那里，就说：“看哪，神的羔羊，除去[c]世人罪孽的！ 30 这就是我曾说：‘有一位在我以后来、反成了在我以前的，因他本来在我以前。’ 31 我先前不认识他，如今我来用水施洗，为要叫他显明给以色列人。” 32 约翰又作见证说：“我曾看见圣灵仿佛鸽子从天降下，住在他的身上。 33 我先前不认识他，只是那差我来用水施洗的对我说：‘你看见圣灵降下来，住在谁的身上，谁就是用圣灵施洗的。’ 34 我看见了，就证明这是神的儿子。”
约翰的两个门徒跟从耶稣
35 再次日，约翰同两个门徒站在那里。 36 他见耶稣行走，就说：“看哪，这是神的羔羊！” 37 两个门徒听见他的话，就跟从了耶稣。 38 耶稣转过身来，看见他们跟着，就问他们说：“你们要什么？”他们说：“拉比，在哪里住？”（“拉比”翻出来就是“夫子”。） 39 耶稣说：“你们来看。”他们就去看他在哪里住，这一天便与他同住。那时约有申正了。 40 听见约翰的话跟从耶稣的那两个人，一个是西门彼得的兄弟安得烈。 41 他先找着自己的哥哥西门，对他说：“我们遇见弥赛亚了！”（“弥赛亚”翻出来就是“基督”。） 42 于是领他去见耶稣。耶稣看着他说：“你是约翰[d]的儿子西门，你要称为矶法。”（“矶法”翻出来就是“彼得”。）
召腓力拿但业为门徒
43 又次日，耶稣想要往加利利去，遇见腓力，就对他说：“来跟从我吧！” 44 这腓力是伯赛大人，和安得烈、彼得同城。 45 腓力找着拿但业，对他说：“摩西在律法上所写的和众先知所记的那一位，我们遇见了，就是约瑟的儿子拿撒勒人耶稣。” 46 拿但业对他说：“拿撒勒还能出什么好的吗？”腓力说：“你来看！” 47 耶稣看见拿但业来，就指着他说：“看哪，这是个真以色列人，他心里是没有诡诈的！” 48 拿但业对耶稣说：“你从哪里知道我呢？”耶稣回答说：“腓力还没有招呼你，你在无花果树底下，我就看见你了。”
拿但业认耶稣为神之子
49 拿但业说：“拉比，你是神的儿子，你是以色列的王！” 50 耶稣对他说：“因为我说在无花果树底下看见你，你就信吗？你将要看见比这更大的事！” 51 又说：“我实实在在地告诉你们：你们将要看见天开了，神的使者上去下来在人子身上。”
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