John 1
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Prologue
1 In the beginning(A) was the Word,(B) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.(C) 2 He was with God in the beginning.(D) 3 All things were created(E) through him,(F) and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life,[a](G) and that life was the light(H) of men. 5 That light shines(I) in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome[b] it.(J)
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.(K) 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.[c] 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify(L) about the light. 9 The true light(M) that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.[d](N)
10 He was in the world, and the world was created(O) through him, and yet the world did not recognise him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive(P) him,(Q) he gave them the right(R) to be[e] children(S) of God,(T) to those who believe(U) in his name,(V) 13 who were born,(W) not of natural descent,[f] or of the will(X) of the flesh,(Y) or of the will of man,[g] but of God.(Z)
14 The Word(AA) became flesh(AB) and dwelt[h] among us. We observed his glory,(AC) the glory as the one and only(AD) Son[i] from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him and exclaimed, ‘This was the one of whom I said, “The one coming after me(AE) ranks ahead of me,(AF) because he existed before me.” ’)(AG) 16 Indeed, we have all received grace(AH) upon[j] grace from his fullness, 17 for the law was given through Moses;(AI) grace and truth(AJ) came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The one and only(AK) Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s(AL) side[k] – he has revealed him.(AM)
John the Baptist’s Testimony
19 This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem(AN) sent priests(AO) and Levites(AP) to ask him, ‘Who are you? ’
20 He didn’t deny it but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’(AQ)
21 ‘What then? ’ they asked him. ‘Are you Elijah? ’(AR)
‘I am not,’ he said.
‘Are you the Prophet? ’(AS)
‘No,’ he answered.
22 ‘Who are you, then? ’ they asked. ‘We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself? ’
23 He said, ‘I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord[l](AT) – just as Isaiah(AU) the prophet said.’
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.(AV) 25 So they asked him, ‘Why then do you baptise if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet? ’
26 ‘I baptise with[m] water,’(AW) John answered them. ‘Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. 27 He is the one coming after me,[n](AX) whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.’ 28 All this happened in Bethany[o] across the Jordan,(AY) where John was baptising.
The Lamb of God
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God,(AZ) who takes away the sin(BA) of the world! 30 This is the one I told you about: “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.” 31 I didn’t know him,(BB) but I came baptising with water so that he might be revealed(BC) to Israel.’ 32 And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit(BD) descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him.(BE) 33 I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptise with water told me, “The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on – he is the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit.”(BF) 34 I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.’[p](BG)
35 The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God! ’
37 The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, ‘What are you looking for? ’
They said to him, ‘Rabbi’(BH) (which means ‘Teacher’), ‘where are you staying? ’
39 ‘Come and you’ll see,’ he replied. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.[q]
40 Andrew,(BI) Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed him. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah’[r](BJ) (which is translated ‘the Christ’),(BK) 42 and he brought Simon to Jesus.
When Jesus saw him, he said, ‘You are Simon, son of John.[s] You will be called Cephas’(BL) (which is translated ‘Peter’[t]).
Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus[u] decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip(BM) and told him, ‘Follow me.’
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida,(BN) the home town of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael(BO) and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets(BP)): Jesus the son of Joseph,(BQ) from Nazareth.’(BR)
46 ‘Can anything good(BS) come out of Nazareth? ’ Nathanael asked him.
‘Come and see,’ Philip answered.
47 Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and said about him, ‘Here truly is an Israelite(BT) in whom there is no deceit.’
48 ‘How do you know me? ’ Nathanael asked.
‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,’ Jesus answered.
49 ‘Rabbi,’(BU) Nathanael replied, ‘You are the Son(BV) of God; you are the King of Israel! ’(BW)
50 Jesus responded to him, ‘Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.’ 51 Then he said, ‘Truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God(BX) ascending and descending(BY) on the Son of Man.’(BZ)
Footnotes
- 1:3–4 Other punctuation is possible: . . . not one thing was created. What was created in him was life
- 1:5 Or grasp, or comprehend, or overtake; Jn 12:35
- 1:7 Or it (the light)
- 1:9 Or The true light who comes into the world gives light to everyone, or The true light enlightens everyone coming into the world.
- 1:12 Or become
- 1:13 Lit blood
- 1:13 Or not of human lineage, or of human capacity, or of human volition
- 1:14 Or and dwelt in a tent; lit and tabernacled
- 1:14 Son is implied from the reference to the Father and from Gk usage.
- 1:16 Or in place of
- 1:18 Other mss read The one and only Son, who is at the Father’s side
- 1:23 Is 40:3
- 1:26 Or in, also in vv. 31,33
- 1:27 Other mss add who came before me
- 1:28 Other mss read in Bethabara
- 1:34 Other mss read is the Chosen One of God
- 1:39 Lit about the tenth hour
- 1:41 Both Messiah and Gk Christos mean ‘anointed one’
- 1:42 Other mss read ‘Simon, son of Jonah
- 1:42 Both Aramaic Cephas and Gk Petros mean ‘rock’
- 1:43 Lit he
John 1
International Children’s Bible
Christ Comes to the World
1 Before the world began, there was the Word.[a] The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made through him. Nothing was made without him. 4 In him there was life. That life was light for the people of the world. 5 The Light shines in the darkness. And the darkness has not overpowered[b] the Light.
6 There was a man named John[c] who was sent by God. 7 He came to tell people about the Light. Through him all people could hear about the Light and believe. 8 John was not the Light, but he came to tell people about the Light. 9 The true Light was coming into the world. The true Light gives light to all.
10 The Word was in the world. The world was made through him, but the world did not know him. 11 He came to the world that was his own. But his own people did not accept him. 12 But some people did accept him. They believed in him. To them he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They did not become his children in the human way. They were not born because of the desire or wish of some man. They were born of God.
14 The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth. 15 John told about him. He said, “This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘The One who comes after me is greater than I am. He was living before me.’”
16 The Word was full of grace and truth. From him we all received more and more blessings. 17 The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No man has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father.[d] And the Son has shown us what God is like.
John Tells People About Jesus
19 The Jews in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John.[e] The Jews sent them to ask, “Who are you?”
20 John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said clearly, “I am not the Christ.”
21 So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”[f]
He answered, “No, I am not Elijah.”
Then they asked, “Are you the Prophet?”[g]
He answered, “No, I am not the Prophet.”
22 Then they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to tell those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John told them in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am the voice of a man
calling out in the desert:
‘Make the road straight for the Lord.’” Isaiah 40:3
24 In the group of Jews who were sent, there were some Pharisees. 25 They said to John: “You say you are not the Christ. 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 one here with you that you don’t know. 27 He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. This is where John was baptizing people.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God.[h] He takes away the sins of the world! 30 This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘A man will come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’ 31 Even I did not know who he was. But I came baptizing with water so that the people of Israel could know who he is.”
32-33 Then John said, “I did not know who the Christ was. But God sent me to baptize with water. And God told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man. That man is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven. The Spirit looked like a dove and rested on him. 34 I have seen this happen. So I tell people: ‘He is the Son of God.’”[i]
The First Followers of Jesus
35 The next day John[j] was there again with two of his followers. 36 He saw Jesus walking by and said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”[k]
37 The two followers heard John say this. So they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following him. He asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (“Rabbi” means “Teacher.”)
39 Jesus answered, “Come with me and you will see.” So the two men went with Jesus. They saw the place where Jesus was staying and stayed there with him that day. It was then about four o’clock.
40 These two men followed Jesus after they heard about him from John. One of the men was Andrew. He was Simon Peter’s brother. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon. He said to Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”)
42 Then Andrew took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas.” (“Cephas” means “Peter.”[l])
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, where Andrew and Peter lived. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “Remember that Moses wrote in the law about a man who was coming, and the prophets also wrote about him. We have found him. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph. He is from Nazareth.”
46 But Nathanael said to Philip, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip answered, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him. He said, “Here is truly a person of Israel. There is nothing false in him.”
48 Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree. That was before Philip told you about me.”
49 Then Nathanael said to Jesus, “Teacher, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.”
50 Jesus said to Nathanael, “You believe in me because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. But you will see greater things than that!” 51 And Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. You will all see heaven open. You will see ‘angels of God going up and coming down’[m] on the Son of Man.”
Footnotes
- 1:1 Word The Greek word is “logos,” meaning any kind of communication. It could be translated “message.” Here, it means Christ. Christ was the way God told people about himself.
- 1:5 overpowered This can also be translated, “understood.”
- 1:6 John John the Baptist, who preached to people about Christ’s coming (Matthew 3; Luke 3).
- 1:18 But . . . Father. This could be translated, “But the only God is very close to the Father.” Also, some Greek copies read “But the only Son is very close to the Father.”
- 1:19 John John the Baptist, who preached to people about Christ’s coming (Matthew 3; Luke 3).
- 1:21 Elijah A man who spoke for God. He lived hundreds of years before Christ.
- 1:21 Prophet They probably meant the prophet that God told Moses he would send (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
- 1:29, 36 Lamb of God Name for Jesus. Jesus is like the lambs that were offered for a sacrifice to God.
- 1:34 the Son of God Some Greek copies read “God’s Chosen One.”
- 1:35 John John the Baptist, who preached to people about Christ’s coming (Matthew 3; Luke 3).
- 1:29, 36 Lamb of God Name for Jesus. Jesus is like the lambs that were offered for a sacrifice to God.
- 1:42 Peter The Greek name “Peter,” like the Aramaic name “Cephas,” means “rock.”
- 1:51 ‘angels . . . down’ These words are from Genesis 28:12.
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The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
