John

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was with God in the beginning.

³Everything was made through him, and nothing that exists was made without him.

⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of all people.

⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never overcome it.

⁶There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

⁷He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that everyone might believe through him.

⁸He was not the Light himself, but he came to testify about the Light.

⁹The true Light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him.

¹¹He came to his own people, and his own people did not receive him.

¹²But to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

¹³They were born not from human descent, nor from human desire or decision, but from God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We saw his glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John testified about him and cried out, saying, "This is the one I was speaking about when I said, 'The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.'"

¹⁶From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

¹⁷For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

¹⁹This is the testimony John gave when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"

²⁰He confessed openly and did not deny it. He declared, "I am not the Christ."

²¹They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."

²²So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

²³He said, "I am the voice of someone crying out in the wilderness, 'Make the way of the Lord straight,' as the prophet Isaiah said."

²⁴Now those who had been sent were from the Pharisees.

²⁵They questioned him further: "Then why are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

²⁶John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands someone you do not know—

²⁷the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."

²⁸All this happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

³⁰This is the one I was talking about when I said, 'A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.'

³¹I myself did not know who he was, but the reason I came baptizing with water was so that he might be revealed to Israel."

³²Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest on him.

³³I did not know him myself, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'

³⁴I have seen this and I testify that this is God's Chosen One."

³⁵The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples.

³⁶When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"

³⁷When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

³⁸Jesus turned around and saw them following and asked, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"

³⁹He said to them, "Come and see." So they came 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 said and followed Jesus.

⁴¹He first found his own brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).

⁴²Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which means Peter).

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."

⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.

⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets also wrote about—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false!"

⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree, before Philip called you."

⁴⁹Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

⁵⁰Jesus answered, "Do you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that."

⁵¹Then he said to him, "Truly, truly, I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."