John 3:1–21

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus. He was one of the Jewish rulers. ²He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. We know that God is with you. If he weren’t, you couldn’t do the miraculous signs you are doing.”

³Jesus replied, “What I’m about to tell you is true. No one can see God’s kingdom without being born again.”

⁴“How can I be born when I am old?” Nicodemus asked. “I can’t go back inside my mother! I can’t be born a second time!”

⁵Jesus answered, “What I’m about to tell you is true. No one can enter God’s kingdom without being born through water and the Holy Spirit. ⁶People give birth to people. But the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised when I say, ‘You must all be born again.’

⁸“The wind blows where it wants to. You hear the sound it makes. But you can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going. It is the same with everyone who is born through the Spirit.”

⁹“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. ¹²I 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. ¹⁴Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. The Son of Man must be lifted up also. ¹⁵Then everyone who believes in him can live with God forever.

¹⁶“God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.

¹⁷“God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world. He sent his Son to save the world through him. ¹⁸Anyone who believes in him is not judged. But anyone who does not believe is judged already. He has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

¹⁹“Here is the judgment. Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light. They loved darkness because what they did was evil.

²⁰“Everyone who does evil things hates the light. They will not come into the light. They are afraid that what they do will be seen. ²¹But anyone who lives by the truth comes into the light. He does this so that it will be easy to see that what he has done is with God’s help.”