Add parallel Print Page Options

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.'

And the third day a marriage happened in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there,

and also Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage;

and wine having failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, `Wine they have not;'

Jesus saith to her, `What -- to me and to thee, woman? not yet is mine hour come.'

His mother saith to the ministrants, `Whatever he may say to you -- do.'

And there were there six water-jugs of stone, placed according to the purifying of the Jews, holding each two or three measures.

Jesus saith to them, `Fill the water-jugs with water;' and they filled them -- unto the brim;

and he saith to them, `Draw out, now, and bear to the director of the apartment;' and they bare.

And as the director of the apartment tasted the water become wine, and knew not whence it is, (but the ministrants knew, who have drawn the water,) the director of the feast doth call the bridegroom,

10 and saith to him, `Every man, at first, the good wine doth set forth; and when they may have drunk freely, then the inferior; thou didst keep the good wine till now.'

11 This beginning of the signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him;

12 after this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples; and there they remained not many days.

13 And the passover of the Jews was nigh, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

14 and he found in the temple those selling oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the money-changers sitting,

15 and having made a whip of small cords, he put all forth out of the temple, also the sheep, and the oxen; and of the money-changers he poured out the coins, and the tables he overthrew,

16 and to those selling the doves he said, `Take these things hence; make not the house of my Father a house of merchandise.'

17 And his disciples remembered that it is written, `The zeal of Thy house did eat me up;'

18 the Jews then answered and said to him, `What sign dost thou shew to us -- that thou dost these things?'

19 Jesus answered and said to them, `Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.'

20 The Jews, therefore, said, `Forty and six years was this sanctuary building, and wilt thou in three days raise it up?'

21 but he spake concerning the sanctuary of his body;

22 when, then, he was raised out of the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this to them, and they believed the Writing, and the word that Jesus said.

23 And as he was in Jerusalem, in the passover, in the feast, many believed in his name, beholding his signs that he was doing;

24 and Jesus himself was not trusting himself to them, because of his knowing all [men],

25 and because he had no need that any should testify concerning man, for he himself was knowing what was in man.

And there was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus his name, a ruler of the Jews,

this one came unto him by night, and said to him, `Rabbi, we have known that from God thou hast come -- a teacher, for no one these signs is able to do that thou dost, if God may not be with him.'

Jesus answered and said to him, `Verily, verily, I say to thee, If any one may not be born from above, he is not able to see the reign of God;'

Nicodemus saith unto him, `How is a man able to be born, being old? is he able into the womb of his mother a second time to enter, and to be born?'

Jesus answered, `Verily, verily, I say to thee, If any one may not be born of water, and the Spirit, he is not able to enter into the reign of God;

that which hath been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which hath been born of the Spirit is spirit.

`Thou mayest not wonder that I said to thee, It behoveth you to be born from above;

the Spirit where he willeth doth blow, and his voice thou dost hear, but thou hast not known whence he cometh, and whither he goeth; thus is every one who hath been born of the Spirit.'

Nicodemus answered and said to him, `How are these things able to happen?'

10 Jesus answered and said to him, `Thou art the teacher of Israel -- and these things thou dost not know!

11 `Verily, verily, I say to thee -- What we have known we speak, and what we have seen we testify, and our testimony ye do not receive;

12 if the earthly things I said to you, and ye do not believe, how, if I shall say to you the heavenly things, will ye believe?

13 and no one hath gone up to the heaven, except he who out of the heaven came down -- the Son of Man who is in the heaven.

14 `And as Moses did lift up the serpent in the wilderness, so it behoveth the Son of Man to be lifted up,

15 that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during,

16 for God did so love the world, that His Son -- the only begotten -- He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during.

17 For God did not send His Son to the world that he may judge the world, but that the world may be saved through him;

18 he who is believing in him is not judged, but he who is not believing hath been judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 `And this is the judgment, that the light hath come to the world, and men did love the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil;

20 for every one who is doing wicked things hateth the light, and doth not come unto the light, that his works may not be detected;

21 but he who is doing the truth doth come to the light, that his works may be manifested, that in God they are having been wrought.'

22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples to the land of Judea, and there he did tarry with them, and was baptizing;

23 and John was also baptizing in Aenon, nigh to Salem, because there were many waters there, and they were coming and were being baptized --

24 for John was not yet cast into the prison --

25 there arose then a question from the disciples of John with [some] Jews about purifying,

26 and they came unto John, and said to him, `Rabbi, he who was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou didst testify, lo, this one is baptizing, and all are coming unto him.'

27 John answered and said, `A man is not able to receive anything, if it may not have been given him from the heaven;

28 ye yourselves do testify to me that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am having been sent before him;

29 he who is having the bride is bridegroom, and the friend of the bridegroom, who is standing and hearing him, with joy doth rejoice because of the voice of the bridegroom; this, then, my joy hath been fulfilled.

30 `Him it behoveth to increase, and me to become less;

31 he who from above is coming is above all; he who is from the earth, from the earth he is, and from the earth he speaketh; he who from the heaven is coming is above all.

32 `And what he hath seen and heard this he doth testify, and his testimony none receiveth;

33 he who is receiving his testimony did seal that God is true;

34 for he whom God sent, the sayings of God he speaketh; for not by measure doth God give the Spirit;

35 the Father doth love the Son, and all things hath given into his hand;

36 he who is believing in the Son, hath life age-during; and he who is not believing the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God doth remain upon him.'

When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees heard that Jesus more disciples doth make and baptize than John,

(though indeed Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples,)

he left Judea and went away again to Galilee,

and it was behoving him to go through Samaria.

He cometh, therefore, to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the place that Jacob gave to Joseph his son;

and there was there a well of Jacob. Jesus therefore having been weary from the journeying, was sitting thus on the well; it was as it were the sixth hour;

there cometh a woman out of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith to her, `Give me to drink;'

for his disciples were gone away to the city, that they may buy victuals;

the Samaritan woman therefore saith to him, `How dost thou, being a Jew, ask drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?' for Jews have no dealing with Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said to her, `If thou hadst known the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked him, and he would have given thee living water.'

11 The woman saith to him, `Sir, thou hast not even a vessel to draw with, and the well is deep; whence, then, hast thou the living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who did give us the well, and himself out of it did drink, and his sons, and his cattle?'

13 Jesus answered and said to her, `Every one who is drinking of this water shall thirst again;

14 but whoever may drink of the water that I will give him, may not thirst -- to the age; and the water that I will give him shall become in him a well of water, springing up to life age-during.'

15 The woman saith unto him, `Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw.'

16 Jesus saith to her, `Go, call thy husband, and come hither;'

17 the woman answered and said, `I have not a husband.' Jesus saith to her, `Well didst thou say -- A husband I have not;

18 for five husbands thou hast had, and, now, he whom thou hast is not thy husband; this hast thou said truly.'

19 The woman saith to him, `Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet;

20 our fathers in this mountain did worship, and ye -- ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where it behoveth to worship.'

21 Jesus saith to her, `Woman, believe me, that there doth come an hour, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father;

22 ye worship what ye have not known; we worship what we have known, because the salvation is of the Jews;

23 but, there cometh an hour, and it now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also doth seek such to worship him;

24 God [is] a Spirit, and those worshipping Him, in spirit and truth it doth behove to worship.'

25 The woman saith to him, `I have known that Messiah doth come, who is called Christ, when that one may come, he will tell us all things;'

26 Jesus saith to her, `I am [he], who am speaking to thee.'

27 And upon this came his disciples, and were wondering that with a woman he was speaking, no one, however, said, `What seekest thou?' or `Why speakest thou with her?'

28 The woman then left her water-jug, and went away to the city, and saith to the men,

29 `Come, see a man, who told me all things -- as many as I did; is this the Christ?'

30 They went forth therefore out of the city, and were coming unto him.

31 And in the meanwhile his disciples were asking him, saying, `Rabbi, eat;'

32 and he said to them, `I have food to eat that ye have not known.'

33 The disciples then said one to another, `Did any one bring him anything to eat?'

34 Jesus saith to them, `My food is, that I may do the will of Him who sent me, and may finish His work;

35 do not say that it is yet four months, and the harvest cometh; lo, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and see the fields, that they are white unto harvest already.

36 `And he who is reaping doth receive a reward, and doth gather fruit to life age-during, that both he who is sowing and he who is reaping may rejoice together;

37 for in this the saying is the true one, that one is the sower and another the reaper.

38 I sent you to reap that on which ye have not laboured; others laboured, and ye into their labour have entered.

39 And from that city many believed in him, of the Samaritans, because of the word of the woman testifying, -- `He told me all things -- as many as I did.'

40 When, then, the Samaritans came unto him, they were asking him to remain with them, and he remained there two days;

41 and many more did believe because of his word,

42 and said to the woman -- `No more because of thy speaking do we believe; for we ourselves have heard and known that this is truly the Saviour of the world -- the Christ.'

43 And after the two days he went forth thence, and went away to Galilee,

44 for Jesus himself testified that a prophet in his own country shall not have honour;

45 when then, he came to Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all things that he did in Jerusalem in the feast -- for they also went to the feast.

46 Jesus came, therefore, again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine, and there was a certain courtier, whose son was ailing in Capernaum,

47 he, having heard that Jesus is come out of Judea to Galilee, went away unto him, and was asking him that he may come down and may heal his son, for he was about to die.

48 Jesus then said unto him, `If signs and wonders ye may not see, ye will not believe.'

49 The courtier saith unto him, `Sir, come down before my child die;'

50 Jesus saith to him, `Be going on; thy son doth live.' And the man believed the word that Jesus said to him, and was going on,

51 and he now going down, his servants met him, and told, saying -- `Thy child doth live;'

52 he inquired then of them the hour in which he became better, and they said to him -- `Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him;'

53 then the father knew that [it was] in that hour in which Jesus said to him -- `Thy son doth live,' and he himself believed, and his whole house;

54 this again a second sign did Jesus, having come out of Judea to Galilee.

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)

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.(BW) Jesus’ mother(BX) was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman,[l](BY) why do you involve me?”(BZ) Jesus replied. “My hour(CA) has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”(CB)

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,(CC) each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[m]

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.(CD) He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs(CE) through which he revealed his glory;(CF) and his disciples believed in him.(CG)

12 After this he went down to Capernaum(CH) with his mother(CI) and brothers(CJ) and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts(CK)

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,(CL) Jesus went up to Jerusalem.(CM) 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves,(CN) and others sitting at tables exchanging money.(CO) 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house(CP) into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”[n](CQ)

18 The Jews(CR) then responded to him, “What sign(CS) can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”(CT)

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”(CU)

20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.(CV) 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.(CW) Then they believed the scripture(CX) and the words that Jesus had spoken.

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,(CY) many people saw the signs(CZ) he was performing and believed(DA) in his name.[o] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind,(DB) for he knew what was in each person.(DC)

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus(DD) who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.(DE) He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi,(DF) we know(DG) that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs(DH) you are doing if God were not with him.”(DI)

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[p](DJ)

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.(DK) Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[q] gives birth to spirit.(DL) You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[r] must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[s](DM)

“How can this be?”(DN) Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,”(DO) said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know,(DP) and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.(DQ) 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven(DR) except the one who came from heaven(DS)—the Son of Man.[t](DT) 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,(DU) so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[u](DV) 15 that everyone who believes(DW) may have eternal life in him.”[v](DX)

16 For God so loved(DY) the world that he gave(DZ) his one and only Son,(EA) that whoever believes(EB) in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(EC) 17 For God did not send his Son into the world(ED) to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.(EE) 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned,(EF) but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.(EG) 19 This is the verdict: Light(EH) has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.(EI) 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.(EJ) 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

John Testifies Again About Jesus

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.(EK) 23 Now John(EL) also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.)(EM) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.(EN) 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi,(EO) that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified(EP) about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’(EQ) 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom.(ER) The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.(ES) 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”[w]

31 The one who comes from above(ET) is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth.(EU) The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard,(EV) but no one accepts his testimony.(EW) 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent(EX) speaks the words of God, for God[x] gives the Spirit(EY) without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.(EZ) 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,(FA) but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John(FB) although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea(FC) and went back once more to Galilee.

Now he had to go through Samaria.(FD) So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.(FE) Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”(FF) (His disciples had gone into the town(FG) to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan(FH) woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[y])

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”(FI)

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well(FJ) and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.(FK) Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water(FL) welling up to eternal life.”(FM)

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty(FN) and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.(FO) 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,(FP) but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”(FQ)

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming(FR) when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.(FS) 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;(FT) we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.(FU) 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come(FV) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit(FW) and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit,(FX) and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)(FY) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”(FZ)

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned(GA) and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.(GB) Could this be the Messiah?”(GC) 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi,(GD) eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat(GE) that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will(GF) of him who sent me and to finish his work.(GG) 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.(GH) 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests(GI) a crop for eternal life,(GJ) so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’(GK) is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town(GL) believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”(GM) 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”(GN)

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

43 After the two days(GO) he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)(GP) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,(GQ) for they also had been there.

46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.(GR) And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,(GS) he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,”(GT) Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household(GU) believed.

54 This was the second sign(GV) Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

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
  12. John 2:4 The Greek for Woman does not denote any disrespect.
  13. John 2:6 Or from about 75 to about 115 liters
  14. John 2:17 Psalm 69:9
  15. John 2:23 Or in him
  16. John 3:3 The Greek for again also means from above; also in verse 7.
  17. John 3:6 Or but spirit
  18. John 3:7 The Greek is plural.
  19. John 3:8 The Greek for Spirit is the same as that for wind.
  20. John 3:13 Some manuscripts Man, who is in heaven
  21. John 3:14 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted.
  22. John 3:15 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 21.
  23. John 3:30 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 36.
  24. John 3:34 Greek he
  25. John 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used