John 1
1
The Eternal Word
1In the beginning #Gen. 1:1; (Col. 1:17); 1 John 1:1was the Word, and the #(John 1:14); Rev. 19:13Word was #(John 17:5; 1 John 1:2)with God, and the Word was #(1 John 5:20)God. 2#Gen. 1:1He was in the beginning with God. 3#Ps. 33:6; (Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16, 17; Heb. 1:2)All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4#(1 John 5:11)In Him was life, and #John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46the life was the light of men. 5And #(John 3:19)the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John’s Witness: The True Light
6There was a #Mal. 3:1; Matt. 3:1–17; Mark 1:1–11; Luke 3:1–22man sent from God, whose name was John. 7This man came for a #John 3:25–36; 5:33–35witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might #(John 3:16)believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that #Is. 9:2; 49:6Light. 9#Is. 49:6That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and #Acts 13:27; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2the world did not know Him. 11#Is. 53:3; (Luke 19:14)He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12But #(John 11:52); Gal. 3:26as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13#(John 3:5); James 1:18; (1 Pet. 1:23; 1 John 2:29; 3:9)who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word Becomes Flesh
14#Matt. 1:16; Rev. 19:13And the Word #Rom. 1:3; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:7; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 1:1; 4:2; 2 John 7became #Heb. 2:11flesh and dwelt among us, and #Is. 40:5; 2 Pet. 1:16–18we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, #(John 8:32; 14:6; 18:37); Col. 1:19full of grace and truth.
15#Mal. 3:1; John 3:32John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, #(Matt. 3:11)‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, #(Col. 1:17)for He was before me.’ ”
16And of His #(Eph. 1:23; 3:19; 4:13; Col. 1:19; 2:9)fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17For #(Ex. 20:1)the law was given through Moses, but #John 1:14; (Rom. 5:21; 6:14)grace and #(John 8:32; 14:6; 18:37)truth came through Jesus Christ. 18#Ex. 33:20; Matt. 11:27; 1 Tim. 6:16No one has seen God at any time. #Ps. 2:7; John 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
A Voice in the Wilderness
19Now this is #John 5:33the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20#Luke 3:15; John 3:28; Acts 13:25He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you #Deut. 18:15, 18; Matt. 21:11; John 6:14; 7:40the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
22Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23He said: #Matt. 3:3“I am
#Is. 40:3; Mal. 3:1‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’
as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26John answered them, saying, #Matt. 3:11; (Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5)“I baptize with water, #Mal. 3:1; John 4:10; 8:19; 9:30; Acts 13:27but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27#(John 3:31); Acts 19:4; (Col. 1:17)It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28These things were done #Judg. 7:24in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The Lamb of God
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! #(Ex. 12:3); Acts 8:32; (1 Pet. 1:19); Rev. 5:6–14The Lamb of God #(Is. 53:11; 1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:4; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 2:2; Rev. 1:5)who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, #Mal. 3:1; Matt. 3:6therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32#Is. 42:1; 61:1; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, #Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I have seen and testified that this is the #Ps. 2:7; Luke 1:35; John 11:27Son of God.”
The First Disciples
35Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, #John 1:29“Behold the Lamb of God!”
37The two disciples heard him speak, and they #Matt. 4:20, 22followed Jesus. 38Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was #Matt. 4:18; Mark 1:29; 13:3; John 6:8; 12:22Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. #Matt. 16:18You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
Philip and Nathanael
43The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found #Matt. 10:3; John 6:5; 12:21, 22; 14:8, 9Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” 44Now #John 12:21Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found #John 21:2Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom #(Gen. 3:15; Deut. 18:18); Luke 24:27Moses in the law, and also the #(Is. 4:2; 7:14; 9:6; Mic. 5:2; Zech. 6:12); Luke 24:27prophets, wrote—Jesus #(Matt. 2:23); Luke 2:4of Nazareth, the #Luke 3:23son of Joseph.”
46And Nathanael said to him, #John 7:41, 42, 52“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, #Ps. 32:2; 73:1an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
48Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, #Ps. 2:7; Matt. 14:33; Luke 1:35You are the Son of God! You are #Matt. 21:5the King of Israel!”
50Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, #Gen. 28:12; (Luke 2:9, 13); Acts 1:10; 7:55, 56hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
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John 1: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
John 1
1
The Word Became a Human Being
1In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him. 4Life was in him, and that life was the light for all people. 5The light shines in the darkness. But the darkness has not overcome the light.
6There was a man sent from God. His name was John. 7He came to be a witness about that light. He was a witness so that all people might believe. 8John himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light.
9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10The Word was in the world. And the world was made through him. But the world did not recognize him. 11He came to what was his own. But his own people did not accept him. 12Some people did accept him and did believe in his name. He gave them the right to become children of God. 13To be a child of God has nothing to do with human parents. Children of God are not born because of human choice or because a husband wants them to be born. They are born because of what God does.
14The Word became a human being. He made his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. And the Word was full of grace and truth.
15John was a witness about the Word. John cried out and said, “This was the one I was talking about. I said, ‘He who comes after me is more important than I am. He is more important because he existed before I was born.’ ” 16God is full of grace. From him we have all received grace in place of the grace already given. 17In the past, God gave us grace through the law of Moses. Now, grace and truth come to us through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. But the One and Only is God and is at the Father’s side. The one at the Father’s side has shown us what God is like.
John the Baptist Says That He Is Not the Messiah
19The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was. John spoke the truth to them. 20He did not try to hide the truth. He spoke to them openly. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”
21They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet we’ve been expecting?” they asked.
“No,” he answered.
22They asked one last time, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23John replied, using the words of Isaiah the prophet. John said, “I’m the messenger who is calling out in the desert, ‘Make the way for the Lord straight.’ ” (Isaiah 40:3)
24The Pharisees who had been sent 25asked him, “If you are not the Messiah, why are you baptizing people? Why are you doing that if you aren’t Elijah or the Prophet we’ve been expecting?”
26“I baptize people with water,” John replied. “But someone is standing among you whom you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie his sandals.”
28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. That was where John was baptizing.
What John Says About Jesus
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God! He takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I was talking about. I said, ‘A man who comes after me is more important than I am. That’s because he existed before I was born.’ 31I did not know him. But God wants to make it clear to Israel who this person is. That’s the reason I came baptizing with water.”
32Then John told them, “I saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven like a dove. The Spirit remained on Jesus. 33I myself did not know him. But the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and remain on someone. He is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34I have seen it happen. I am a witness that this is God’s Chosen One.”
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36He saw Jesus walking by. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”
37The two disciples heard him say this. So they followed Jesus. 38Then Jesus turned around and saw them following. He asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Rabbi means Teacher.
39“Come,” he replied. “You will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying. They spent the rest of the day with him. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
40Andrew was Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew was one of the two disciples who heard what John had said. He had also followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon. He told him, “We have found the Messiah.” Messiah means Christ. 42And he brought Simon to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas.” Cephas means Peter, or Rock.
Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael
43The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
44Philip was from the town of Bethsaida. So were Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the Law. The prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47Jesus saw Nathanael approaching. Here is what Jesus said about him. “He is a true Israelite. Nothing about him is false.”
48“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree. I saw you there before Philip called you.”
49Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel.”
50Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51Then he said to the disciples, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You will see heaven open. You will see the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”
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