John 1:20–21:25

²⁰He did not refuse to answer, but he declared: “I am not the Messiah.” ^g

²¹“What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” ^h

“I am not,” he said.

“Are you the Prophet?” ^ij

“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 ^kl—just as Isaiah ^mthe prophet said.”

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ⁿ²⁵So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”

²⁶“I baptize with ^owater,” ^pJohn answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know Him. ²⁷He is the One coming after me, ^qrwhose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.”

²⁸All this happened in Bethany ^sacross the Jordan, ^tuwhere John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, ^vwho takes away the sin ^wof the world! ³⁰This is the One I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’ ³¹I didn’t know Him, ^xbut I came baptizing with ^ywater so He might be revealed ^zto Israel.”

³²And John testified, “I watched the Spirit ^adescending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him. ^b33I didn’t know Him, but He ^cwho sent me to baptize with ^dwater told me, ‘The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on—He is the One who baptizes with ^ethe Holy Spirit.’ ^f34I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!” ^gh

³⁵Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. ³⁶When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”

³⁷The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. ³⁸When Jesus turned and noticed them following Him, He asked them, “What are you looking for?”

They said to Him, “Rabbi” ⁱ(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 10 in the morning. ^j

⁴⁰Andrew, ^kSimon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Him. ⁴¹He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” ^lm(which means “Anointed ⁿOne”), ⁴²and he brought Simon to Jesus.

When Jesus saw him, He said, “You are Simon, son of John. ^oYou will be called ^•Cephas” ^p(which means “Rock”).

Philip and Nathanael

⁴³The next day He ^qdecided to leave for Galilee. Jesus found Philip ^rand told him, “Follow Me!”

⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, ^sthe hometown of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael ^tuand told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law (and so did the prophets ^v): Jesus the son of Joseph, ^wfrom Nazareth!” ^x

⁴⁶“Can anything good ^ycome out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him.

“Come and see,” Philip answered.

⁴⁷Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said about him, “Here is a true Israelite; ^zno deceit is in him.”

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,” ^aNathanael replied, “You are the Son ^bof God! You are the King of Israel!” ^c

⁵⁰Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe only because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You ^dwill see greater things than this.” ⁵¹Then He said, “^•I assure you: You ^ewill see heaven opened and the angels of God ^fascending and descending ^gon the ^•Son of Man.” ^h

The First Sign: Turning Water into Wine

2On the third day a wedding took place in Cana ⁱof Galilee. ^jJesus’ mother ^kwas there, and ²Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding as well. ³When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother told Him, “They don’t have any wine.”

⁴“What has this concern of yours to do with Me, ^lm•woman?” ⁿJesus asked. “My hour ^ohas not yet come.”

⁵“Do whatever He tells you,” His mother told the servants.

⁶Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. ^pEach contained 20 or 30 gallons. ^q

⁷“Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. ⁸Then He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the chief servant.” ^rAnd they did.

⁹When the chief servant tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom ¹⁰and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people have drunk freely, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.”

¹¹Jesus performed this first sign ^sin Cana ^tof Galilee. ^uHe displayed ^vHis glory, ^wand His disciples believed in Him.

¹²After this, He went down to Capernaum, ^xtogether with His mother, His brothers, ^yand His disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.

Cleansing the Temple Complex

¹³The Jewish Passover ^zwas near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ^a14In the temple complex ^bHe found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and He also found the money changers sitting there. ¹⁵After making a whip out of cords, ^cHe drove everyone out of the temple complex with their sheep ^dand oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. ¹⁶He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning My Father’s ^ehouse ^finto a marketplace!” ^gh

¹⁷And His disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal ⁱfor Your house will consume ^jMe. ^kl

¹⁸So the Jews replied to Him, “What sign of authority will You show us for doing these things?”

¹⁹Jesus answered, “Destroy this sanctuary, ^mand I will raise it up in three days.” ⁿ

²⁰Therefore the Jews said, “This sanctuary took 46 years to build, and will You raise it up in three days?” ^o

²¹But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body. ^p22So when He was raised from the dead, ^qHis disciples remembered that He had said this. ^rAnd they believed the Scripture ^sand the statement Jesus had made.

²³While He was in Jerusalem ^tat the Passover Festival, ^umany trusted in His name ^vwhen they saw the signs He was doing. ²⁴Jesus, however, would not entrust Himself to them, since He knew them all ²⁵and because He did not need anyone to testify about man; for He Himself knew what was in man. ^w

Jesus and Nicodemus

3There was a man from the Pharisees ^xnamed Nicodemus, ^ya ruler ^zof the Jews. ²This man came to Him at night and said, “Rabbi, ^awe know that You have come from God ^bas a teacher, ^cfor no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him.” ^d

³Jesus replied, “^•I assure you: Unless someone is born again, ^efhe cannot see the kingdom of God.” ^g

⁴“But 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, “I assure you: Unless someone is born ^hof water and the Spirit, ^ijhe cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶Whatever is born of the flesh ^kis flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit ^lis spirit. ⁷Do not be amazed that I told you that you ^mmust be born ⁿagain. ⁸The wind ^oblows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. ^pSo it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” ^q

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

¹⁰“Are you a teacher ^rof Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. ¹¹“I assure you: ^sWe speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you ^tdo not accept Our testimony. ^u12If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven? ¹³No one has ascended ^vinto heaven ^wexcept the One who descended from heaven ^x—the ^•Son of Man. ^yz14Just as Moses ^alifted up the snake in the wilderness, ^bso the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵so that everyone who believes in Him will ^chave eternal life. ^d

¹⁶“For God loved ^ethe world ^•in this way: ^fHe gave His ^•One and Only ^gSon, ^hso that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. ⁱ¹⁷For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn ^jthe world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, ^kbecause he has not believed in the name ^lof the One and Only Son ^mof God.

¹⁹“This, then, is the judgment: The light ⁿhas come into the world, ^oand people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For everyone who practices wicked things hates ^pthe light and avoids it, ^qso that his deeds ^rmay not be exposed. ²¹But anyone who lives by ^sthe truth comes to the light, so that his works ^tmay be shown to be accomplished by God.” ^u

Jesus and John the Baptist

²²After this, Jesus and His disciples went to the Judean countryside, where He spent time with them and baptized. ²³John ^valso was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized, ²⁴since John had not yet been thrown into prison. ^w

²⁵Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples ^xand a Jew ^yabout purification. ^z26So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi, ^athe One you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, ^bis baptizing—and everyone is flocking to Him.” ^c

²⁷John responded, “No one can receive a single thing unless it’s given to him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, ^dbut I’ve been sent ahead of Him.’ ^e29He who has the bride ^fis the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly ^gat the groom’s voice. So this joy ^hof mine is complete. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.”

The One from Heaven

³¹The One who comes from above ⁱis above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms. ^jThe One who comes from heaven is above all. ^k32He testifies ^lto what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony. ³³The one who has accepted His testimony has affirmed that God is true. ^m34For God sent Him, and He speaks…