John 3:1–21

JESUS AND NICODEMUS

3There was a man from the Pharisees^l named Nicodemus,^m a rulerⁿ of the Jews. ²This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi,^o we know that you are a teacher^p who has come from God,^q for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”^r

³Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,^s he cannot see the kingdom of God.”^t

⁴“How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born^u of water and the Spirit,^v he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶Whatever is born of the flesh^w is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit^x is spirit. ⁷Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born^y again. ⁸The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.^z So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^aa

⁹“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

¹⁰“Are you a teacher^B of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. ¹¹“Truly I tell you,^ab we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended^ac into heaven^ad except the one who descended from heaven^ae—the Son of Man.^Caf

¹⁴“Just as Moses^ag lifted up the snake in the wilderness,^ah so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵so that everyone who believes in him may^D have eternal life.^{ai 16}For God loved^aj the world in this way:^E He gave^F his one and only^ak Son,^al so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.^{am 17}For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn^an the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned,^ao because he has not believed in the name^ap of the one and only Son^aq of God. ¹⁹This is the judgment: The light^ar has come into the world,^as and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does evil hates^at the light and avoids it,^G so that his deeds^au may not be exposed. ²¹But anyone who lives by^H the truth comes to the light, so that his works^av may be shown to be accomplished by God.”