John 1

Prologue

1In the beginning ^awas the Word, ^bc

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God. ^d

²He was with God in the beginning. ^e

³All things were created ^fthrough Him, ^g

and apart from Him not one thing was created

that has been created.

⁴Life was in Him, ^hi

and that life was the light ^jof men.

⁵That light shines ^kin the darkness,

yet the darkness did not overcome ^lit. ^m

⁶There was a man named John ⁿ

who was sent from God.

⁷He came as a witness

to testify about the light,

so that all might believe through him. ^o

⁸He was not the light,

but he came to testify ^pabout the light.

⁹The true light, ^qwho gives light to everyone,

was coming into the world. ^rs

¹⁰He was in the world,

and the world was created ^tthrough Him,

yet the world did not recognize Him.

¹¹He came to His own, ^u

and His own people ^vdid not receive Him.

¹²But to all who did receive ^wHim, ^x

He gave them the right ^yto be ^zchildren ^aof God, ^b

to those who believe ^cin His name, ^d

¹³who were born, ^e

not of blood, ^f

or of the will ^gof the flesh, ^h

or of the will of man, ⁱ

but of God. ^j

¹⁴The Word ^kbecame flesh ^lm

and took up residence ⁿamong us.

We observed His glory, ^o

the glory as the One and Only ^pSon ^qfrom the Father,

full of grace and truth.

¹⁵(John testified concerning Him and exclaimed,

“This was the One of whom I said,

‘The One coming after me ^rhas surpassed me, ^s

because He existed before me.’ ”) ^t

¹⁶Indeed, we have all received grace ^uafter grace

from His fullness,

¹⁷for the law was given through Moses, ^v

grace and truth ^wcame through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸No one has ever seen God. ^x

The One and Only ^ySon ^z—

the One who is at the Father’s ^aside ^b—

He has revealed Him. ^c

John the Baptist’s Testimony

¹⁹This is John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem ^dsent priests ^eand Levites ^fto ask him, “Who are you?”

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