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John 3:9–15

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.

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John 3:9–15 — The New International Version (NIV)

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaventhe Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

John 3:9–15 — English Standard Version (ESV)

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

John 3:9–15 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:9–15 — New Living Translation (NLT)

“How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

10 Jesus replied, You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

John 3:9–15 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

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

10 Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:9–15 — New Century Version (NCV)

Nicodemus asked, “How can this happen?”

10 Jesus said, “You are an important teacher in Israel, and you don’t understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we talk about what we know, and we tell about what we have seen, but you don’t accept what we tell you. 12 I have told you about things here on earth, and you do not believe me. So you will not believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. 13 The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.

14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. 15 So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him.

John 3:9–15 — American Standard Version (ASV)

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 And no one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; 15 that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.

John 3:9–15 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said to him, Thou art the teacher of Israel and knowest not these things! 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and we bear witness of that which we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have said the earthly things to you, and ye believe not, how, if I say the heavenly things to you, will ye believe? 13 And no one has gone up into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up, 15 that every one who believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal.

John 3:9–15 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Nicodemus replied, “How can that be?” 

10 Jesus told Nicodemus, “You’re a well-known teacher of Israel. Can’t you understand this? 11 I can guarantee this truth: We know what we’re talking about, and we confirm what we’ve seen. Yet, you don’t accept our message. 12 If you don’t believe me when I tell you about things on earth, how will you believe me when I tell you about things in heaven? 13 No one has gone to heaven except the Son of Man, who came from heaven. 

14 “As Moses lifted up the snake ⸤on a pole⸥ in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. 15 Then everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.” 

John 3:9–15 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

10 Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. 12 If 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? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.

John 3:9–15 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

11 Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

John 3:9–15 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Nicodemus answered and said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly I say to you, we speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony! 12 If I tell you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 And no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, thus it is necessary that the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.”

John 3:9–15 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus. “Don’t you understand these things?

11 “What I’m about to tell you is true. We speak about what we know. We give witness to what we have seen. But still you people do not accept our witness. 12 I have spoken to you about earthly things, and you do not believe. So how will you believe if I speak about heavenly things?

13 “No one has ever gone into heaven except the One who came from heaven. He is the Son of Man. 14 Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. The Son of Man must be lifted up also. 15 Then everyone who believes in him can live with God forever.


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