John 1:15–28

¹⁵(John testified^y concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”)^{z 16}Out of his fullness^a we have all received grace^b in place of grace already given. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses;^c grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.^{d 18}No one has ever seen God,^e but the one and only Son, who is himself God and^bf is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

¹⁹Now this was John’s^g testimony when the Jewish leaders^ch in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”ⁱ

²¹They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”^j

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”^k

He answered, “No.”

²²Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,^l ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”^dm

²⁴Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶“I baptize with^e water,”ⁿ John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷He is the one who comes after me,^o the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”^p

²⁸This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan,^q where John was baptizing.