John 1
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the
beginning with God. 3All things came into being
through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into
being 4in him was life,a and the
life was the light of all people. 5The light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He
came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through
him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to
testify to the light. 9The true light, which
enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.b
10
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world
did not know him. 11He came to what was his own,c
and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all
who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of
God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of
the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the
Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as
of a father's only son,d full of grace and truth. 15(John
testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after
me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' ") 16From
his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The
law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No
one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,e who is close
to the Father's heart,f who has made him known.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 This is the testimony given by John when the
Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20He
confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah."g 21And
they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the
prophet?" He answered, "No." 22Then they said to
him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say
about yourself ?" 23He said,
"I am the voice
of one crying out in the wilderness,
'Make straight the way of the
Lord,' "
as the prophet Isaiah said.
24 Now they had
been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, "Why
then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah,h nor
Elijah, nor the prophet?" 26John answered them, "I
baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the
one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." 28This
took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
The Lamb of God
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." 32And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."i
The First Disciples of Jesus
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointedj). 42He brought Simonk to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peterl).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." 46Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" 48Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." 49Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." 51And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you,m you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."