John 1:15–28

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, ¹⁷for the law was given through Moses;^ai grace and truth^aj came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No 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

¹⁹This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem^an sent priests^ao and Levites^ap to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰He 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?”

²³He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord^Lat—just as Isaiah^au the prophet said.”

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.^{av 25}So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”

²⁶“I baptize with water,”^aw John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. ²⁷He is the one coming after me,^Bax whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” ²⁸All this happened in Bethany^C across the Jordan,^ay where John was baptizing.