John 3
3
Jesus and Nicodemus
1There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees. He was an important Jewish leader. 2One night Nicodemus came to Jesus. He said, “Teacher, we know that you are a teacher sent from God. No one can do the miracles you do, unless God is with him.”
3Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth. Unless you are born again, you cannot be in God’s kingdom.”
4Nicodemus said, “But if a man is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother’s body again. So how can he be born a second time?”
5But Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth. Unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God’s kingdom. 6A person’s body is born from his human parents. But a person’s spiritual life is born from the Spirit. 7Don’t be surprised when I tell you, ‘You must all be born again.’ 8The wind blows where it wants to go. You hear the wind blow. But you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit.”
9Nicodemus asked, “How can all this be possible?”
10Jesus said, “You are an important teacher in Israel. But you still don’t understand these things? 11I tell you the truth. We talk about what we know. We tell about what we have seen. But you don’t accept what we tell you. 12I have told you about things here on earth, but you do not believe me. So surely you will not believe me if I tell you about the things of heaven! 13The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.# Some Greek copies continue, “who is in heaven.”
14“Moses lifted up the snake in the desert.# The people of Israel were dying from snake bites. God told Moses to put a bronze snake on a pole. The people who looked at the snake were healed (Numbers 21:4–9). It is the same with the Son of Man. The Son of Man must be lifted up too. 15Then everyone who believes in him can have eternal life.
16“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. 18He who believes in God’s Son is not judged guilty. He who does not believe has already been judged guilty, because he has not believed in God’s only Son. 19People are judged by this fact: I am the Light from God that has come into the world. But men did not want light. They wanted darkness because they were doing evil things. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light. He will not come to the light because it will show all the evil things he has done. 21But he who follows the true way comes to the light. Then the light will show that the things he has done were done through God.”
Jesus and John the Baptist
22After this, Jesus and his followers went into the area of Judea. There Jesus stayed with his followers and baptized people. 23John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were going there to be baptized. 24(This was before John was put into prison.)
25Some of John’s followers had an argument with a Jew about religious washing.# The Jews washed themselves in special ways before eating, before worshiping in the Temple, and at other special times. 26So they came to John and said, “Teacher, remember the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you spoke about? He is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27John answered, “A man can get only what God gives him. 28You yourselves heard me say, ‘I am not the Christ. I am only the one God sent to prepare the way for him.’ 29The bride belongs only to the bridegroom. The friend who helps the bridegroom waits and listens for him. He is glad when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That is the same pleasure I have. And my time of joy is now here. 30He must become greater. And I must become less important.
The One Who Comes from Heaven
31“The One who comes from above is greater than all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth and talks about things on the earth. But the One who comes from heaven is greater than all. 32He tells what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts what he says. 33The person who accepts what he says has proven that God is true. 34God sent him, and he tells the things that God says. God gives him the Spirit fully. 35The Father loves the Son and has given him power over everything. 36He who believes in the Son has eternal life. But he who does not obey the Son will never have that life. God’s anger stays with him.”
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John 3: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
John 3
3
1 Now there was a man among the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
2 He went to Jesus at night, and he said to him: "Rabbi, we know that you have arrived as a teacher from God. For no one would be able to accomplish these signs, which you accomplish, unless God were with him."
3 Jesus responded and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one has been reborn anew, he is not able to see the kingdom of God."
4 Nicodemus said to him: "How could a man be born when he is old? Surely, he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be reborn?"
5 Jesus responded: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one has been reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God.
6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 You should not be amazed that I said to you: You must be born anew.
8 The Spirit inspires where he wills. And you hear his voice, but you do not know where he comes from, or where he is going. So it is with all who are born of the Spirit."
9 Nicodemus responded and said to him, "How are these things able to be accomplished?"
10 Jesus responded and said to him: "You are a teacher in Israel, and you are ignorant of these things?
11 Amen, amen, I say to you, that we speak about what we know, and we testify about what we have seen. But you do not accept our testimony.
12 If I have spoken to you about earthly things, and you have not believed, then how will you believe, if I will speak to you about heavenly things?
13 And no one has ascended to heaven, except the one who descended from heaven: the Son of man who is in heaven.
14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so also must the Son of man be lifted up,
15 so that whoever believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world, in order to judge the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not judged. But whoever does not believe is already judged, because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the judgment: that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness more than light. For their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not go toward the Light, so that his works may not be corrected.
21 But whoever acts in truth goes toward the Light, so that his works may be manifested, because they have been accomplished in God."
22 After these things, Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea. And he was living there with them and baptizing.
23 Now John was also baptizing, at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water in that place. And they were arriving and being baptized.
24 For John had not yet been cast into prison.
25 Then a dispute occurred between the disciples of John and the Jews, about purification.
26 And they went to John and said to him: "Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, about whom you offered testimony: behold, he is baptizing and everyone is going to him."
27 John responded and said: "A man is not able to receive anything, unless it has been given to him from heaven.
28 You yourselves offer testimony for me that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but that I have been sent before him.
29 He who holds the bride is the groom. But the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to Him, rejoices joyfully at the voice of the groom. And so, this, my joy, has been fulfilled.
30 He must increase, while I must decrease.
31 He who comes from above, is above everything. He who is from below, is of the earth, and he speaks about the earth. He who comes from heaven is above everything.
32 And what he has seen and heard, about this he testifies. And no one accepts his testimony.
33 Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified that God is truthful.
34 For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For God does not give the Spirit by measure.
35 The Father loves the Son, and he has given everything into his hand.
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever is unbelieving toward the Son shall not see life; instead the wrath of God remains upon him."
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