The Deity of Jesus Christ

1 aIn the beginning was bthe Word, and the Word was cwith God, and dthe Word was God.

2 1He was in the beginning with God.

3 aAll things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

4 aIn Him was life, and the life was bthe Light of men.

5 aThe Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not 1comprehend it.

The Witness John

6 There 1came a man sent from God, whose name was aJohn.

7 1He came 2aas a witness, to testify about the Light, bso that all might believe through him.

8 1aHe was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

9 There was athe true Light 1which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

10 He was in the world, and athe world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

11 He came to His 1own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become achildren of God, even bto those who believe in His name,

13 awho were 1born, not of 2blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Made Flesh

14 And athe Word bbecame flesh, and 1cdwelt among us, and dwe saw His glory, glory as of 2the only begotten from the Father, full of egrace and ftruth.

15 John * atestified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘bHe who comes after me 1has a higher rank than I, cfor He existed before me.’ ”

16 For of His afullness 1we have all received, and 2grace upon grace.

17 For athe Law was given through Moses; bgrace and ctruth 1were realized through Jesus Christ.

18 aNo one has seen God at any time; bthe only begotten God who is cin the bosom of the Father, dHe has explained Him.

The Testimony of John

19 This is athe testimony of John, when bthe Jews sent to him priests and Levites cfrom Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “aI am not 1the Christ.”

21 They asked him, “What then? Are you aElijah?” And he * said, “I am not.” “Are you bthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

23 He said, “I am aa voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

25 They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the 1Christ, nor Elijah, nor athe Prophet?”

26 John answered them saying, “aI baptize 1in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.

27 “It is aHe who comes after me, the bthong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

28 These things took place in Bethany abeyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day he * saw Jesus coming to him and * said, “Behold, athe Lamb of God who btakes away the sin of the world!

30 “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘aAfter me comes a Man who 1has a higher rank than I, bfor He existed before me.’

31 “I did not recognize 1Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing 2in water.”

32 John atestified saying, “bI have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.

33 “I did not recognize 1Him, but He who sent me to baptize 2in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, athis is the One who baptizes 2in the Holy Spirit.’

34 “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is athe Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts

35 Again athe next day John was standing 1with two of his disciples,

36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and * said, “Behold, athe Lamb of God!”

37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and * said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “aRabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”

39 He * said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the 1tenth hour.

40 aOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

41 He * found first his own brother Simon and * said to him, “We have found the aMessiah” (which translated means 1Christ).

42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of 1aJohn; you shall be called bCephas” (which is translated 2cPeter).

43 aThe next day He purposed to go into bGalilee, and He * found cPhilip. And Jesus * said to him, “dFollow Me.”

44 Now aPhilip was from bBethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.

45 aPhilip * found bNathanael and * said to him, “We have found Him of whom cMoses in the Law and also cthe Prophets wrote—Jesus of dNazareth, ethe son of Joseph.”

46 Nathanael said to him, “aCan any good thing come out of Nazareth?” bPhilip * said to him, “Come and see.”

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and * said of him, “Behold, an aIsraelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

48 Nathanael * said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before aPhilip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

49 Nathanael answered Him, “aRabbi, You are bthe Son of God; You are the cKing of Israel.”

50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

51 And He * said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see athe heavens opened and bthe angels of God ascending and descending on cthe Son of Man.”

Chapter 2

Miracle at Cana

1 On athe third day there was a wedding in bCana of Galilee, and the cmother of Jesus was there;

2 and both Jesus and His adisciples were invited to the wedding.

3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus * said to Him, “They have no wine.”

4 And Jesus * said to her, “aWoman, 1bwhat does that have to do with us? cMy hour has not yet come.”

5 His amother * said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

6 Now there were six stone waterpots set there afor the Jewish custom of purification, containing 1twenty or thirty gallons each.

7 Jesus * said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.

8 And He * said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the 1headwaiter.” So they took it to him.

9 When the headwaiter tasted the water awhich had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter * called the bridegroom,

10 and * said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people ahave 1drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

11 This beginning of His 1asigns Jesus did in Cana of bGalilee, and manifested His cglory, and His disciples believed in Him.

12 After this He went down to aCapernaum, He and His bmother and His bbrothers and His cdisciples; and they stayed there a few days.

First Passover—Cleansing the Temple

13 aThe Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus bwent up to Jerusalem.

14 aAnd He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;

16 and to those who were selling athe doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making bMy Father’s house a 1place of business.”

17 His adisciples remembered that it was written, “bZeal for Your house will consume me.”

18 aThe Jews then said to Him, “bWhat sign do You show us 1as your authority for doing these things?”

19 Jesus answered them, “aDestroy this 1temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

20 aThe Jews then said, “It took bforty-six years to build this 1temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

21 But He was speaking of athe 1temple of His body.

22 So when He was raised from the dead, His adisciples bremembered that He said this; and they believed cthe Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at athe Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, bobserving His signs which He was doing.

24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for aHe knew all men,

25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, afor He Himself knew what was in man.

Chapter 3

The New Birth

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named aNicodemus, a bruler of the Jews;

2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “aRabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these 1bsigns that You do unless cGod is with him.”

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one ais born 1again he cannot see bthe kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus * said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of awater and the Spirit he cannot enter into bthe kingdom of God.

6 “aThat which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born 1again.’

8 “aThe wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you athe teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?

11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, awe speak of what we know and btestify of what we have seen, and byou do not accept our testimony.

12 “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

13 “aNo one has ascended into heaven, but bHe who descended from heaven: cthe Son of Man.

14 “As aMoses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must bthe Son of Man cbe lifted up;

15 so that whoever 1believes will ain Him have eternal life.

16 “For God so aloved the world