John 1:19–34

John the Baptist Testifies to Jesus

¹⁹And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent^g priests and Levites from Jerusalem so that they could ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰And he confessed—and he did not deny, and confessed—“I am not the Christ!” ²¹And they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not!” “Are you the Prophet?”^h And he answered, “No!” ²²Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

²³He said,

“I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ⁱ

just as Isaiah the prophet said.” ²⁴(And they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵And they asked him and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water. In your midst stands one whom you do not know—²⁷the one who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy to untie^j the strap of his sandal!” ²⁸These things took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹On the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This one is the one about whom I said, ‘After me is coming a man who is ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ³¹And I did not know him, but in order that he could be revealed to Israel, because of this I came baptizing with water.”

³²And John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and remaining upon him. ³³And I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water, that one said to me, ‘The one upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him—this one is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I have seen and testify that this one is the Chosen One^k of God.