John 1
1
The Word of Life
1In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2From the very beginning the Word was with God. 3Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. 4The Word was the source of life,#1.4 The Word was the source of life; or What was made had life in union with the Word. and this life brought light to humanity. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.
6 #
Mt 3.1; Mk 1.4; Lk 3.1–2 God sent his messenger, a man named John, 7who came to tell people about the light, so that all should hear the message and believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came to tell about the light. 9This was the real light — the light that comes into the world and shines on everyone.
10The Word was in the world, and though God made the world through him, yet the world did not recognize him. 11He came to his own country, but his own people did not receive him. 12Some, however, did receive him and believed in him; so he gave them the right to become God's children. 13They did not become God's children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father.
14The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son.
15John spoke about him. He cried out, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘He comes after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.’ ”
16Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another. 17God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is the same as God and is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
John the Baptist's Message
(Mt 3.1–12; Mk 1.1–8; Lk 3.1–18)
19The Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John, to ask him, “Who are you?”
20John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out openly and clearly, saying: “I am not the Messiah.”
21 #
Deut 18.15, 18; Mal 4.5 “Who are you, then?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”
“No, I am not,” John answered.
“Are you the Prophet?”#1.21 the Prophet: The one who was expected to appear and announce the coming of the Messiah. they asked.
“No,” he replied.
22“Then tell us who you are,” they said. “We have to take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 #
Is 40.3 (LXX) John answered by quoting the prophet Isaiah:
“I am ‘the voice of someone shouting in the desert:
Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!’ ”
24The messengers, who had been sent by the Pharisees, 25then#1.24–25 The messengers, who had been sent by the Pharisees, 25 then; or Those who had been sent were Pharisees; they. asked John, “If you are not the Messiah nor Elijah nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?”
26John answered, “I baptize with water, but among you stands the one you do not know. 27He is coming after me, but I am not good enough even to untie his sandals.”
28All this happened in Bethany on the east side of the River Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The Lamb of God
29The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.’ 31I did not know who he would be, but I came baptizing with water in order to make him known to the people of Israel.”
32And John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him. 33I still did not know that he was the one, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34I have seen it,” said John, “and I tell you that he is the Son of God.”
The First Disciples of Jesus
35The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples, 36when he saw Jesus walking by. “There is the Lamb of God!” he said.
37The two disciples heard him say this and went with Jesus. 38Jesus turned, saw them following him, and asked, “What are you looking for?”
They answered, “Where do you live, Rabbi?” (This word means “Teacher”.)
39 “Come and see,” he answered. (It was then about four o'clock in the afternoon.) So they went with him and saw where he lived, and spent the rest of that day with him.
40One of them was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41At once he found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah.” (This word means “Christ”.) 42Then he took Simon to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “Your name is Simon son of John, but you will be called Cephas.” (This is the same as Peter and means “a rock”.)
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come with me!” 44(Philip was from Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Peter lived.) 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the book of the Law and whom the prophets also wrote about. He is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
46“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” answered Philip.
47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, he said about him, “Here is a real Israelite; there is nothing false in him!”
48Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49“Teacher,” answered Nathanael, “you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50Jesus said, “Do you believe just because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree? You will see much greater things than this!” 51#Gen 28.12And he said to them, “I am telling you the truth: you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”
Currently Selected:
John 1: GNBUK
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
John 1
1
Prologue
1In the beginning#Gn 1:1; Col 1:18 was the Word,#Jn 1:14; 1Jn 1:1; Rv 19:13 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.#Jn 20:28; Php 2:6 2He was with God in the beginning.#Jn 8:38; 17:5; Ac 26:4 3All things were created#Col 1:16; Heb 1:2 through him,#Rm 11:36 and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4In him was life,#1:3–4 Other punctuation is possible:... not one thing was created. What was created in him was life#1Jn 2:5 and that life was the light#Ps 36:9; Jn 12:46 of men. 5That light shines#1Jn 2:8 in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome#1:5 Or grasp, or comprehend, or overtake; Jn 12:35 it.#Php 3:12
6There was a man sent from God whose name was John.#Mk 1:4 7He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.#1:7 Or it (the light) 8He was not the light, but he came to testify#Jn 15:26 about the light. 9The true light#Jn 12:46 that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.#1:9 Or The true light who comes into the world gives light to everyone, or The true light enlightens everyone coming into the world.#Jn 18:37; 1Jn 2:8
10He was in the world, and the world was created#Jn 1:3 through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive#2Jn 10 him,#Jn 5:43 he gave them the right#Mk 1:22; Ac 9:14 to be#1:12 Or become children#Lk 1:7 of God,#Mt 5:9; Jn 11:52; Rm 8:16; 1Jn 3:1 to those who believe#Jn 3:16 in his name,#Jn 10:25; 1Jn 3:23 13who were born,#1Pt 1:3 not of natural descent,#1:13 Lit blood or of the will#1Co 7:37; 16:12; Eph 2:3; 2Tm 2:26; 2Pt 1:21 of the flesh,#Php 3:3 or of the will of man,#1:13 Or not of human lineage, or of human capacity, or of human volition but of God.#1Pt 1:3; 1Jn 2:29
14The Word#Jn 1:1 became flesh#Php 2:7; 1Jn 4:2; 5:20 and dwelt#1:14 Or and dwelt in a tent; lit and tabernacled among us. We observed his glory,#Mk 10:37; Jn 17:24 the glory as the one and only#Heb 11:17; 1Jn 4:9 Son#1:14 Son is implied from the reference to the Father and from Gk usage. from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15(John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me#Mt 3:11; Mk 1:7; Jn 1:27,30 ranks ahead of me,#Col 1:19 because he existed before me.’”)#Jn 3:13; 8:58; 10:30; 14:7–9,23; Php 2:6 16Indeed, we have all received grace#Ac 15:11; 2Pt 3:18 upon#1:16 Or in place of grace from his fullness, 17for the law was given through Moses;#Ps 77:20; Mt 8:4; Heb 3:2 grace and truth#Ps 119:142; Jn 14:6; 2Th 2:10 came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. The one and only#1Jn 4:9 Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s#Mt 5:16; 11:27; Jn 8:42 side#1:18 Other mss read The one and only Son, who is at the Father’s side — he has revealed him.#Mt 11:27; Lk 10:22; 1Jn 2:24
John the Baptist’s Testimony
19This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem#Mt 23:37 sent priests#Ac 4:1 and Levites#Ex 6:19; Lk 10:32 to ask him, “Who are you?”
20He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”#Mt 1:17; Eph 5:2
21“What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” #Mal 4:5; Mt 11:14; 17:10–13; Mk 8:28; Lk 1:17
“I am not,” he said.
“Are you the Prophet?” #Dt 18:15; Mt 2:23
“No,” he answered.
22“Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?”
23He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord#1:23Is 40:3#Is 40:3 — just as Isaiah#Mt 3:3; 4:14; 12:17 the prophet said.”
24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.#Mk 7:3 25So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
26“I baptize with#1:26 Or in, also in vv. 31,33 water,”#Mk 1:8 John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. 27He is the one coming after me,#1:27 Other mss add who came before me#Jn 1:15 whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” 28All this happened in Bethany#1:28 Other mss read in Bethabara across the Jordan,#Mk 10:1; Lk 3:3 where John was baptizing.
The Lamb of God
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God,#Is 53:7; Ac 8:32; 1Pt 1:19; Rv 5:6 who takes away the sin#Jn 15:22; 1Jn 3:5 of the world! 30This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ 31I didn’t know him,#Jn 7:28 but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed#2Co 4:11; 1Jn 1:2 to Israel.” 32And John testified, “I saw the Spirit#Ps 51:11; Jn 1:33; Ac 2:4; Rm 8:9; Gl 5:25; Ti 3:5; 1Jn 5:8; Rv 3:22 descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him.#Jms 4:5 33I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on — he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’#Mt 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16; Ac 11:16 34I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”#1:34 Other mss read is the Chosen One of God#Mt 3:17; 4:3; Jn 1:49; 5:19; Heb 1:2
35The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi”#Jn 11:8 (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come and you’ll see,” he replied. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.#1:39 Lit about the tenth hour
40Andrew,#Mt 4:18–22; Mk 1:16–20; Lk 5:2–11 Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed him. 41He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah”#1:41 Both Hb Messiah and Gk Christos mean “anointed one”#Mt 1:17 (which is translated “the Christ”),#Ex 29:29 42and he brought Simon to Jesus.
When Jesus saw him, he said, “You are Simon, son of John.#1:42 Other mss read “Simon, son of Jonah You will be called Cephas”#1Co 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5; Gl 1:18; 2:9,11,14 (which is translated “Peter”#1:42 Both Aramaic Cephas and Gk Petros mean “rock”).
Philip and Nathanael
43The next day Jesus#1:43 Lit he decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip#Mk 3:18 and told him, “Follow me.”
44Now Philip was from Bethsaida,#Jn 12:21 the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael#Jn 1:46–49; 21:2 and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets#Mt 2:23; Ac 7:52; Rm 3:21): Jesus the son of Joseph,#Mt 1:16; Lk 1:27; 2:4,16,33; 3:23; Jn 6:42 from Nazareth.”#Mk 1:9
46“Can anything good#Gn 1:31 come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him.
“Come and see,” Philip answered.
47Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite#2Co 11:22 in whom there is no deceit.”
48“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered.
49“Rabbi,”#Jn 11:8 Nathanael replied, “You are the Son#Jn 5:19 of God; you are the King of Israel!” #Mt 27:42; Mk 15:32; Jn 12:13
50Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51Then he said, “Truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God#Lk 12:8–9; 15:10; Ac 10:3 ascending and descending#Gn 28:12 on the Son of Man.”#Mk 2:10
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers