John 1:35–51

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

1:40–42pp—Mt 4:18–22; Mk 1:16–20; Lk 5:2–11

³⁵The next day John^y was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”^z

³⁷When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi”^a (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).^{b 42}And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called^c Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter^g).^d

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip,^e he said to him, “Follow me.”^f

⁴⁴Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.^{g 45}Philip found Nathanael^h and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,ⁱ and about whom the prophets also wrote^j—Jesus of Nazareth,^k the son of Joseph.”^l

⁴⁶“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”^m Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israeliteⁿ in whom there is no deceit.”^o

⁴⁸“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi,^p you are the Son of God;^q you are the king of Israel.”^r

⁵⁰Jesus said, “You believe^h because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹He then added, “Very truly I tell you,ⁱ you^j will see ‘heaven open,^s and the angels of God ascending and descending^t on’^k the Son of Man.”^u