John 2–4

The Wedding at Cana

2On ^hthe third day there was a wedding at ⁱCana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus also was invited to the wedding with ^jhis disciples. ³When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus said to her, ^k“Woman, ^lwhat does this have to do with me? ^mMy hour has not yet come.” ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶Now there were six stone water jars there ⁿfor the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty ^ogallons.^{1 7}Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. ⁹When the master of the feast tasted ^pthe water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested ^qhis glory. And ^rhis disciples believed in him.

¹²After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and ^shis brothers² and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^13tThe Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus ^uwent up to Jerusalem. ^14vIn the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. ¹⁵And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make ^wmy Father’s house a house of trade.” ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, ^x“Zeal for your house will consume me.”

¹⁸So the Jews said to him, ^y“What sign do you show us for doing these things?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, ^z“Destroy this temple, and in three days ^aI will raise it up.” ²⁰The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,³ and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹But he was speaking about ^bthe temple of his body. ²²When therefore he was raised from the dead, ^chis disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed ^dthe Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus Knows What Is in Man

²³Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name ^ewhen they saw the signs that he was doing. ²⁴But Jesus ^fon his part did not entrust himself to them, because ^ghe knew all people ²⁵and needed no one to bear witness about man, for ^ghe himself knew what was in man.

You Must Be Born Again

3Now there was a man of the Pharisees named ^hNicodemus, ⁱa ruler of the Jews. ²This man came to Jesus^{1 j}by night and said to him, ^k“Rabbi, ^lwe know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do ^munless God is with him.” ³Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is ⁿborn ^oagain² he cannot ^psee the kingdom of God.” ⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born ^qof water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ^6rThat which is born of the flesh is ^sflesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^{3 7t}Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You⁴ must be born ^uagain.’ ^8vThe wind⁵ blows ^wwhere it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus said to him, ^x“How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel ^yand yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you, ^zwe speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but ^zyou⁶ do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ^13aNo one has ^bascended into heaven except ^che who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.^{7 14}And ^das Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man ^ebe lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes ^fin him ^gmay have eternal life.⁸

For God So Loved the World

¹⁶“For ^hGod so loved ⁱthe world,^{9 j}that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not ^kperish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For ^lGod did not send his Son into the world ^mto condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ⁿWhoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not ^obelieved in the name of the only Son of God. ^19pAnd this is the judgment: ^qthe light has come into the world, and ^rpeople loved the darkness rather than the light because ^stheir works were evil. ^20tFor everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, ^ulest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever ^vdoes what is true ^wcomes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

²²After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and ^xwas baptizing. ²³John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized ²⁴(for ^yJohn had not yet been put in prison).

²⁵Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over ^zpurification. ²⁶And they came to John and said to him, ^a“Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, ^bto whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and ^call are going to him.” ²⁷John answered, ^d“A person cannot receive even one thing ^eunless it is given him ^ffrom heaven. ²⁸You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ^g‘I am not the Christ, but ^hI have been sent before him.’ ²⁹ⁱThe one who has the bride is the bridegroom. ^jThe friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, ^krejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. ^30lHe must increase, but I must decrease.”¹⁰

^31mHe who comes from above ⁿis above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and ^ospeaks in an earthly way. ^pHe who comes from heaven ⁿis above all. ^32qHe bears witness to what he has seen and heard, ^ryet no one receives his testimony. ³³Whoever receives his testimony ^ssets his seal to this, ^tthat God is true. ³⁴For he whom ^uGod has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit ^vwithout measure. ^35wThe Father loves the Son and ^xhas given all things into his hand. ^36yWhoever believes in the Son has eternal life; ^zwhoever does not obey the Son shall not ^asee life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria

4Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and ^bbaptizing more disciples than John ²(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), ³he left Judea and departed ^cagain for Galilee. ^4dAnd he had to pass through Samaria. ⁵So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field ^ethat Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, ^fwearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.¹

⁷A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ^f“Give me a drink.” ⁸(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (^gFor Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you ^hliving water.” ¹¹The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹²ⁱAre you greater than our father Jacob? ^jHe gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but ^kwhoever drinks of the water that I will give him ^lwill never be thirsty again.² The water that I will give him will become ^min him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, ⁿgive me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Go, ^ocall your husband, and come here.” ¹⁷The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” ¹⁹The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that ^pyou are ^qa prophet. ^20rOur fathers worshiped on ^sthis mountain, but you say that ^tin Jerusalem is ^uthe place where people ought to worship.” ²¹Jesus said to her, ^v“Woman, believe me, ^wthe hour is coming when ^xneither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ^22yYou worship what you do not know; ^zwe worship what we know, for ^zsalvation is ^afrom the Jews. ²³But ^bthe hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^cin spirit and ^dtruth, for the Father ^eis seeking such people to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵The woman said to him, “I know that ^fMessiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, ^ghe will tell us all things.” ²⁶Jesus said to her, ^h“I who speak to you am he.”

²⁷Just then ⁱhis disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” ²⁸So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ²⁹“Come, see a man ^jwho told me all that I…