John 1–16

The Deity of Christ

1In the beginning ^awas the Word, and the ^bWord was ^cwith God, and the Word was ^dGod. ^2eHe was in the beginning with God.

The Preincarnate Work of Christ

^3fAll things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ^4gIn Him was life, and ^hthe life was the light of men. ⁵And ⁱthe light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not ¹comprehend it.

The Forerunner of Christ

⁶There was a ^jman sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷This man came for a ^kwitness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might ^lbelieve. ⁸He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that ^mLight.

The Rejection of Christ

⁹ⁿThat ²was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and ^othe world did not know Him. ^11pHe came to His ³own, and His ⁴own did not receive Him.

The Acceptance of Christ

¹²But ^qas many as received Him, to them He gave the ⁵right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ^13rwho were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Incarnation of Christ

^14sAnd the Word ^tbecame ^uflesh and dwelt among us, and ^vwe beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, ^wfull of grace and truth.

^15xJohn bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ^y‘He who comes after me ⁶is preferred before me, ^zfor He was before me.’ ”

¹⁶⁷And of His ^afullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷For ^bthe law was given through Moses, but ^cgrace and ^dtruth came through Jesus Christ. ^18eNo one has seen God at any time. ^fThe only begotten ⁸Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

John’s Witness to the Priests and Levites

Matt. 3:1–12; Mark 1:2–8; Luke 3:3–16

¹⁹Now this is ^gthe testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

^20hHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you ⁱthe Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

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

²³He said: ^j“I am

^k‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’

as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶John answered them, saying, ^l“I baptize with water, ^mbut there stands One among you whom you do not know. ²⁷ⁿIt is He who, coming after me, ⁹is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

²⁸These things were done ^oin ¹Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John’s Witness at Christ’s Baptism

Matt. 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21, 22

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! ^pThe Lamb of God ^qwho takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ²is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ³¹I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, ^rtherefore I came baptizing with water.”

^32sAnd John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, ^tthis is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I have seen and testified that this is the ^uSon of God.”

Andrew and Peter Follow Christ

³⁵Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. ³⁶And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, ^v“Behold the Lamb of God!”

³⁷The two disciples heard him speak, and they ^wfollowed Jesus. ³⁸Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”

They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”

³⁹He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

⁴⁰One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was ^xAndrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the ³Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). ⁴²And he brought him to Jesus.

Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of ⁴Jonah. ^yYou shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, ⁵A Stone).

Philip and Nathanael Follow Christ

⁴³The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found ^zPhilip and said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴Now ^aPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found ^bNathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^cMoses in the law, and also the ^dprophets, wrote—Jesus ^eof Nazareth, the ^fson of Joseph.”

⁴⁶And Nathanael said to him, ^g“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, ^han Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”

⁴⁸Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

⁴⁹Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, ⁱYou are the Son of God! You are ^jthe King of Israel!”

⁵⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^khereafter ⁶you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Christ Changes Water to Wine

2On the third day there was a ^awedding in ^bCana of Galilee, and the ^cmother of Jesus was there. ²Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. ³And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

⁴Jesus said to her, ^d“Woman, ^ewhat does your concern have to do with Me? ^fMy hour has not yet come.”

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

⁶Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, ^gaccording to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. ⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. ⁹When the master of the feast had tasted ^hthe water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. ¹⁰And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

The Disciples Believe

¹¹This ⁱbeginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, ^jand ¹manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

¹²After this He went down to ^kCapernaum, He, His mother, ^lHis brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

Christ Cleanses the Temple

^13mNow the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ⁿAnd He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers ²doing business. ¹⁵When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. ¹⁶And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make ^oMy Father’s house a house of merchandise!” ¹⁷Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ^p“Zeal for Your house ³has eaten Me up.”

¹⁸So the Jews answered and said to Him, ^q“What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

¹⁹Jesus answered and said to them, ^r“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

²⁰Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

²¹But He was speaking ^sof the temple of His body. ²²Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, ^tHis disciples remembered that He had said this ⁴to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

²³Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the ^usigns which He did. ²⁴But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He ^vknew all men, ²⁵and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for ^wHe knew what was in man.

Christ Witnesses to Nicodemus

3There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ^2aThis man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for ^bno one can do these signs that You do unless ^cGod is with him.”

³Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^dunless one is born ¹again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^eunless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is ^fflesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ^8gThe wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus answered and said to Him, ^h“How can these things be?”

¹⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? ¹¹ⁱMost assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and ^jyou do not receive Our witness. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ^13kNo one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of…