John 1
New Living Translation
Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word
1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,[a]
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.[b]
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist,[c] 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14 So the Word became human[d] and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.[e] And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”
16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.[f] 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God,[g] is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants[h] from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” 20 He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 “Well then, who are you?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”
“No,” he replied.
“Are you the Prophet we are expecting?”[i]
“No.”
22 “Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’”[j]
24 Then the Pharisees who had been sent 25 asked him, “If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?”
26 John told them, “I baptize with[k] water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. 27 Though his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.”
28 This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
Jesus, the Lamb of God
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ 31 I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33 I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.[l]”
The First Disciples
35 The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. 36 As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” 37 When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.
38 Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.
They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. 41 Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”[m]).
42 Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”[n]).
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.
45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses[o] and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”
48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”
49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.[p]”
Footnotes
- 1:3-4 Or and nothing that was created was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything.
- 1:5 Or and the darkness has not understood it.
- 1:6 Greek a man named John.
- 1:14a Greek became flesh.
- 1:14b Or grace and truth; also in 1:17.
- 1:16 Or received the grace of Christ rather than the grace of the law; Greek reads received grace upon grace.
- 1:18 Some manuscripts read But the one and only Son.
- 1:19 Greek and Levites.
- 1:21 Greek Are you the Prophet? See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
- 1:23 Isa 40:3.
- 1:26 Or in; also in 1:31, 33.
- 1:34 Some manuscripts read the Son of God.
- 1:41 Messiah (a Hebrew term) and Christ (a Greek term) both mean “anointed one.”
- 1:42 The names Cephas (from Aramaic) and Peter (from Greek) both mean “rock.”
- 1:45 Greek Moses in the law.
- 1:51 Greek going up and down on the Son of Man; see Gen 28:10-17. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
John 1
International Standard Version
The Word and Creation
1 In the beginning, the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 Through him all things were made, and apart from him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life brought light to humanity.[a] 5 And the light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.[b]
John’s Witness to the Word
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe because of him. 8 John[c] was not the light, but he came[d] to testify about the light. 9 This[e] was the true light that enlightens every person by his coming into the world.[f] 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not recognize him.
Responses to the Word
11 He came to his own creation,[g] yet his own people did not receive him. 12 However, to all who received him, those believing in his name, he gave authority to become God’s children, 13 who were born, not merely in a genetic sense,[h] nor from lust,[i] nor from man’s desire, but from the will of[j] God.
The Word Becomes Human
14 The Word became flesh and lived[k] among us. We gazed on his glory, the kind of glory that belongs to the Father’s uniquely existing Son,[l] who is full of grace and truth. 15 John told the truth about him when he cried out, “This is the person about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me ranks higher than me, because he existed before me.’” 16 We have all received one gracious gift after another from his abundance,[m] 17 because while the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus the Messiah.[n] 18 No one has ever seen God. The uniquely existing God,[o] who is close to the Father’s side, has revealed him.
The Testimony of John the Baptist(A)
19 This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders[p] sent priests and descendants of Levi to him from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He spoke openly and, remaining true to himself,[q] admitted, “I am not the Messiah.”[r]
21 So they asked him, “Well then, are you Elijah?”
John[s] said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 “Who are you?” they asked him. “We must give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 He replied, “I am
as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Now those men[v] had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, “Why, then, are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah,[w] or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, “I am baptizing with[x] water, but among you stands a man whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me, whose sandal straps I am not worthy to untie.” 28 This happened in Bethany[y] on the other side[z] of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day, John[aa] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks above me, because he existed before me.’ 31 I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with[ab] water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 John also testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I didn’t recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with[ac] water told me, ‘The person on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining is the one who baptizes with[ad] the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen this and have testified that this is the Son[ae] of God.”
The First Disciples
35 The next day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. 36 As he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
38 But when Jesus turned around and saw them following, he asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They asked him, “Rabbi,” (which is translated “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 He told them, “Come and see!” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.[af]
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.[ag] 41 The first thing Andrew[ah] did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Anointed One!”[ai] (which is translated “Messiah”).[aj]
42 He led Simon[ak] to Jesus. Jesus looked at him intently and said, “You are Simon, John’s son.[al] You will be called Cephas!”[am] (which is translated “Peter”).[an]
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathaniel
43 The next day, Jesus decided to go away to Galilee, where he found Philip and told him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathaniel and told him, “We have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote—Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
46 Nathaniel asked him, “From Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?”
Philip told him, “Come and see!”
47 Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said about him, “Look, a genuine Israeli, in whom there is no deceit!”
48 Nathaniel asked him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathaniel replied to him, “Rabbi,[ao] you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus told him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that.” 51 Then he told him, “Truly, I tell all of you[ap] emphatically, you will see heaven standing open and the angels of God going up and coming down to the Son of Man.”
Footnotes
- John 1:4 Lit. was the light of people
- John 1:5 Or understood it
- John 1:8 Lit. He
- John 1:8 The Gk. lacks he came
- John 1:9 Lit. He
- John 1:9 Or every person who is coming into the world
- John 1:11 Or possessions
- John 1:13 Lit. not of bloods
- John 1:13 Lit. from desire of the flesh
- John 1:13 The Gk. lacks the will of
- John 1:14 Lit. pitched his tent
- John 1:14 The Gk. lacks Son
- John 1:16 Lit. received grace for grace
- John 1:17 Or Christ
- John 1:18 Other mss. read Son
- John 1:19 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
- John 1:20 Lit. and did not deny
- John 1:20 Or Christ
- John 1:21 Lit. He
- John 1:23 MT source citation reads Lord’s
- John 1:23 Cf. Isa 40:3
- John 1:24 Lit. Now they
- John 1:25 Or Christ
- John 1:26 Or in
- John 1:28 Other mss. read Bethabara
- John 1:28 I.e. the east side
- John 1:29 Lit. he
- John 1:31 Or in
- John 1:33 Or in
- John 1:33 Or in
- John 1:34 Other mss. read Chosen One
- John 1:39 Lit. the tenth hour
- John 1:40 Lit. him
- John 1:41 Lit. He
- John 1:41 The Gk. word messias is a transliteration of the Heb. word for Messiah
- John 1:41 Or Christ
- John 1:42 Lit. him
- John 1:42 Cf. Matthew 16:17
- John 1:42 Cephas means rock in Aram.
- John 1:42 Peter means rock in Gk.
- John 1:49 Rabbi is Heb. for Master and/or Teacher
- John 1:51 The Gk. pronoun you is pl.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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