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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;

this one was in the beginning with God;

all things through him did happen, and without him happened not even one thing that hath happened.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men,

and the light in the darkness did shine, and the darkness did not perceive it.

There came a man -- having been sent from God -- whose name [is] John,

this one came for testimony, that he might testify about the Light, that all might believe through him;

that one was not the Light, but -- that he might testify about the Light.

He was the true Light, which doth enlighten every man, coming to the world;

10 in the world he was, and the world through him was made, and the world did not know him:

11 to his own things he came, and his own people did not receive him;

12 but as many as did receive him to them he gave authority to become sons of God -- to those believing in his name,

13 who -- not of blood nor of a will of flesh, nor of a will of man but -- of God were begotten.

14 And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth.

15 John doth testify concerning him, and hath cried, saying, `This was he of whom I said, He who after me is coming, hath come before me, for he was before me;'

16 and out of his fulness did we all receive, and grace over-against grace;

17 for the law through Moses was given, the grace and the truth through Jesus Christ did come;

18 God no one hath ever seen; the only begotten Son, who is on the bosom of the Father -- he did declare.

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent out of Jerusalem priests and Levites, that they might question him, `Who art thou?'

20 and he confessed and did not deny, and confessed -- `I am not the Christ.'

21 And they questioned him, `What then? Elijah art thou?' and he saith, `I am not.' -- `The prophet art thou?' and he answered, `No.'

22 They said then to him, `Who art thou, that we may give an answer to those sending us? what dost thou say concerning thyself?'

23 He said, `I [am] a voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.'

24 And those sent were of the Pharisees,

25 and they questioned him and said to him, `Why, then, dost thou baptize, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?'

26 John answered them, saying, `I baptize with water, but in midst of you he hath stood whom ye have not known, this one it is who is coming after me, who hath been before me,

27 of whom I am not worthy that I may loose the cord of his sandal.'

28 These things came to pass in Bethabara, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing,

29 on the morrow John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, `Lo, the Lamb of God, who is taking away the sin of the world;

30 this is he concerning whom I said, After me doth come a man, who hath come before me, because he was before me:

31 and I knew him not, but, that he might be manifested to Israel, because of this I came with the water baptizing.

32 And John testified, saying -- `I have seen the Spirit coming down, as a dove, out of heaven, and it remained on him;

33 and I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, He said to me, On whomsoever thou mayst see the Spirit coming down, and remaining on him, this is he who is baptizing with the Holy Spirit;

34 and I have seen, and have testified, that this is the Son of God.'

35 On the morrow, again, John was standing, and two of his disciples,

36 and having looked on Jesus walking, he saith, `Lo, the Lamb of God;'

37 and the two disciples heard him speaking, and they followed Jesus.

38 And Jesus having turned, and having beheld them following, saith to them, `What seek ye?' and they said to them, `Rabbi, (which is, being interpreted, Teacher,) where remainest thou?'

39 He saith to them, `Come and see;' they came, and saw where he doth remain, and with him they remained that day and the hour was about the tenth.

40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard from John, and followed him;

41 this one doth first find his own brother Simon, and saith to him, `We have found the Messiah,' (which is, being interpreted, The Anointed,)

42 and he brought him unto Jesus: and having looked upon him, Jesus saith, `Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas, thou shalt be called Cephas,' (which is interpreted, A rock.)

43 On the morrow, he willed to go forth to Galilee, and he findeth Philip, and saith to him, `Be following me.'

44 And Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter;

45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him, `Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets, we have found, Jesus the son of Joseph, who [is] from Nazareth;'

46 and Nathanael said to him, `Out of Nazareth is any good thing able to be?' Philip said to him, `Come and see.'

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming unto him, and he saith concerning him, `Lo, truly an Israelite, in whom guile is not;'

48 Nathanael saith to him, `Whence me dost thou know?' Jesus answered and said to him, `Before Philip's calling thee -- thou being under the fig-tree -- I saw thee.'

49 Nathanael answered and saith to him, `Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel.'

50 Jesus answered and said to him, `Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, thou dost believe; greater things than these thou shalt see;'

51 and he saith to him, `Verily, verily, I say to you, henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the messengers of God going up and coming down upon the Son of Man.'

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word,(A) and the Word was with God,(B) and the Word was God.(C) He was with God in the beginning.(D) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.(E) In him was life,(F) and that life was the light(G) of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness,(H) and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.(I)

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.(J) He came as a witness to testify(K) concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.(L) He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light(M) that gives light to everyone(N) was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,(O) the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.(P) 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed(Q) in his name,(R) he gave the right to become children of God(S) 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.(T)

14 The Word became flesh(U) and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,(V) the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace(W) and truth.(X)

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(AA) we have all received grace(AB) in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses;(AC) grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.(AD) 18 No one has ever seen God,(AE) but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b](AF) is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

19 Now this was John’s(AG) testimony when the Jewish leaders[c](AH) in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”(AI)

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”(AJ)

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”(AK)

He answered, “No.”

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

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,(AL) ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”[d](AM)

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

26 “I baptize with[e] water,”(AN) John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me,(AO) the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”(AP)

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan,(AQ) where John was baptizing.

John Testifies About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God,(AR) who takes away the sin of the world!(AS) 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’(AT) 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.(AU) 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water(AV) told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’(AW) 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”[f](AX)

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus(AY)

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

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

They said, “Rabbi”(BB) (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.

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

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

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip,(BF) he said to him, “Follow me.”(BG)

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.(BH) 45 Philip found Nathanael(BI) and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,(BJ) and about whom the prophets also wrote(BK)—Jesus of Nazareth,(BL) the son of Joseph.”(BM)

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”(BN) Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite(BO) in whom there is no deceit.”(BP)

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.”

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi,(BQ) you are the Son of God;(BR) you are the king of Israel.”(BS)

50 Jesus said, “You believe[h] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,[i] you[j] will see ‘heaven open,(BT) and the angels of God ascending and descending(BU) on’[k] the Son of Man.”(BV)

Footnotes

  1. John 1:5 Or understood
  2. John 1:18 Some manuscripts but the only Son, who
  3. John 1:19 The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19.
  4. John 1:23 Isaiah 40:3
  5. John 1:26 Or in; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice)
  6. John 1:34 See Isaiah 42:1; many manuscripts is the Son of God.
  7. John 1:42 Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) both mean rock.
  8. John 1:50 Or Do you believe … ?
  9. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
  10. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
  11. John 1:51 Gen. 28:12