John 1
1
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John the Baptist's Testimony
15John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
19And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
24And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? 26John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 28These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Behold the Lamb of God
29The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
His First Disciples
35Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! 37And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? 39He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. 40One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
43The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
50Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
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John 1: KJV
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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Learn More About King James VersionJohn 1
1
Christ Comes to the World
1Before the world began, there was the Word.# The Greek word is “logos,” meaning any kind of communication. It could be translated “message.” Here, it means Christ. Christ was the way God told people about himself. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3All things were made through him. Nothing was made without him. 4In him there was life. That life was light for the people of the world. 5The Light shines in the darkness. And the darkness has not overpowered# This can also be translated, “understood.” the Light.
6There was a man named John# John the Baptist, who preached to people about Christ’s coming (Matthew 3; Luke 3). who was sent by God. 7He came to tell people about the Light. Through him all people could hear about the Light and believe. 8John was not the Light, but he came to tell people about the Light. 9The true Light was coming into the world. The true Light gives light to all.
10The Word was in the world. The world was made through him, but the world did not know him. 11He came to the world that was his own. But his own people did not accept him. 12But some people did accept him. They believed in him. To them he gave the right to become children of God. 13They did not become his children in the human way. They were not born because of the desire or wish of some man. They were born of God.
14The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth. 15John told about him. He said, “This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘The One who comes after me is greater than I am. He was living before me.’”
16The Word was full of grace and truth. From him we all received more and more blessings. 17The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No man has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father.# This could be translated, “But the only God is very close to the Father.” Also, some Greek copies read “But the only Son is very close to the Father.” And the Son has shown us what God is like.
John Tells People About Jesus
19The Jews in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John.# John the Baptist, who preached to people about Christ’s coming (Matthew 3; Luke 3). The Jews sent them to ask, “Who are you?”
20John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said clearly, “I am not the Christ.”
21So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”# A man who spoke for God. He lived hundreds of years before Christ.
He answered, “No, I am not Elijah.”
Then they asked, “Are you the Prophet?”# They probably meant the prophet that God told Moses he would send (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
He answered, “No, I am not the Prophet.”
22Then they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to tell those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23John told them in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am the voice of a man
calling out in the desert:
‘Make the road straight for the Lord.’” Isaiah 40:3
24In the group of Jews who were sent, there were some Pharisees. 25They said to John: “You say you are not the Christ. You say you are not Elijah or the Prophet. Then why do you baptize people?”
26John answered, “I baptize people with water. But there is one here with you that you don’t know. 27He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals.”
28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. This is where John was baptizing people.
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God.# Name for Jesus. Jesus is like the lambs that were offered for a sacrifice to God. He takes away the sins of the world! 30This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘A man will come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’ 31Even I did not know who he was. But I came baptizing with water so that the people of Israel could know who he is.”
32-33Then John said, “I did not know who the Christ was. But God sent me to baptize with water. And God told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man. That man is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven. The Spirit looked like a dove and rested on him. 34I have seen this happen. So I tell people: ‘He is the Son of God.’”# Some Greek copies read “God’s Chosen One.”
The First Followers of Jesus
35The next day John# John the Baptist, who preached to people about Christ’s coming (Matthew 3; Luke 3). was there again with two of his followers. 36He saw Jesus walking by and said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”# Name for Jesus. Jesus is like the lambs that were offered for a sacrifice to God.
37The two followers heard John say this. So they followed Jesus. 38Jesus turned and saw them following him. He asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (“Rabbi” means “Teacher.”)
39Jesus answered, “Come with me and you will see.” So the two men went with Jesus. They saw the place where Jesus was staying and stayed there with him that day. It was then about four o’clock.
40These two men followed Jesus after they heard about him from John. One of the men was Andrew. He was Simon Peter’s brother. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon. He said to Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”)
42Then Andrew took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas.” (“Cephas” means “Peter.”# The Greek name “Peter,” like the Aramaic name “Cephas,” means “rock.”)
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, where Andrew and Peter lived. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “Remember that Moses wrote in the law about a man who was coming, and the prophets also wrote about him. We have found him. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph. He is from Nazareth.”
46But Nathanael said to Philip, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip answered, “Come and see.”
47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him. He said, “Here is truly a person of Israel. There is nothing false in him.”
48Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree. That was before Philip told you about me.”
49Then Nathanael said to Jesus, “Teacher, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.”
50Jesus said to Nathanael, “You believe in me because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. But you will see greater things than that!” 51And Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. You will all see heaven open. You will see ‘angels of God going up and coming down’# These words are from Genesis 28:12. on the Son of Man.”
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