John 1
1
The Word of Life
1In the beginning was the one
who is called the Word.
The Word was with God
and was truly God.
2From the very beginning
the Word was with God.
3And with this Word,
God created all things.
Nothing was made
without the Word.
Everything that was created
4received its life from him,
and his life gave light
to everyone.
5The light keeps shining
in the dark,
and darkness has never
put it out.#1.5 put it out: Or “understood it.”
6 #
Mt 3.1; Mk 1.4; Lk 3.1,2. God sent a man named John,
7who came to tell
about the light
and to lead all people
to have faith.
8John wasn't this light.
He came only to tell
about the light.
9The true light that shines
on everyone
was coming into the world.
10The Word was in the world,
but no one knew him,
though God had made the world
with his Word.
11He came into his own world,
but his own nation
did not welcome him.
12Yet some people accepted him
and put their faith in him.
So he gave them the right
to be the children of God.
13They were not God's children
by nature or because
of any human desires.
God himself was the one
who made them his children.
14The Word became
a human being
and lived here with us.
We saw his true glory,
the glory of the only Son
of the Father.
From him the complete gifts
of undeserved grace and truth
have come down to us.
15John spoke about him and shouted, “This is the one I told you would come! He is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.”
16Because of all that the Son is, we have been given one blessing after another.#1.16 one blessing after another: Or “one blessing in place of another.” 17The Law was given by Moses, but Jesus Christ brought us undeserved kindness and truth. 18No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is truly God and is closest to the Father, has shown us what God is like.
John the Baptist Tells about Jesus
(Matthew 3.1-12; Mark 1.1-8; Luke 3.15-17)
19-20The religious authorities in Jerusalem sent priests and temple helpers to ask John who he was. He told them plainly, “I am not the Messiah.” 21#Ml 4.5; Dt 18.15,18; Si 48.10,11. Then when they asked him if he were Elijah, he said, “No, I am not!” And when they asked if he were the Prophet,#1.21 the Prophet: Many of the Jewish people expected God to send them a prophet who would be like Moses, but with even greater power (see Deuteronomy 18.15,18). he also said “No!”
22Finally, they said, “Who are you then? We have to give an answer to the ones who sent us. Tell us who you are!”
23 # Is 40.3 (LXX). John answered in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I am only someone shouting in the desert, ‘Get the road ready for the Lord!’ ”
24Some Pharisees had also been sent to John. 25They asked him, “Why are you baptizing people, if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?”
26John told them, “I use water to baptize people. But here with you is someone you don't know. 27Even though I came first, I am not good enough to untie his sandals.” 28John said this as he was baptizing east of the Jordan River in Bethany.#1.28 Bethany: An unknown village east of the Jordan with the same name as the village near Jerusalem.
The Lamb of God
29The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said:
Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30He is the one I told you about when I said, “Someone else will come, who is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.” 31I didn't know who he was. But I came to baptize you with water, so that everyone in Israel would see him.
32I was there and saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven. And the Spirit stayed on him. 33Before this I didn't know who he was. But the one who sent me to baptize with water had told me, “You will see the Spirit come down and stay on someone. Then you will know that he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” 34I saw this happen, and I tell you that he is the Son of God.
The First Disciples of Jesus
35The next day, John was there again, and two of his followers were with him. 36When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Here is the Lamb of God!” 37John's two followers heard him, and they went with Jesus.
38When Jesus turned and saw them, he asked, “What do you want?”
They answered, “Rabbi, where do you live?” The Hebrew word “Rabbi” means “Teacher.”
39Jesus replied, “Come and see!” It was already about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him and saw where he lived. So they stayed on for the rest of the day.
40One of the two men who had heard John and had gone with Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, “We have found the Messiah!” The Hebrew word “Messiah” means the same as the Greek word “Christ.”
42Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, “Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas.” This name can be translated as “Peter.”#1.42 Peter: The Aramaic name “Cephas” and the Greek name “Peter” each mean “rock.”
Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael
43-44The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, “Follow me.”
45Philip then found Nathanael and said, “We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets#1.45 Moses and the Prophets: The Jewish Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament. wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
46Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip answered, “Come and see.”
47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is a true descendant of our ancestor Israel. And he isn't deceitful.”#1.47 Israel … isn't deceitful: Israel (meaning “a man who wrestled with God” or “a prince of God”) was the name that the Lord gave to Jacob (meaning “cheater” or “deceiver”), the famous ancestor of the Jewish people.
48“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
49Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!”
50Jesus answered, “Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. 51#Gn 28.12. I tell you for certain you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”#1.51 going up and coming down on the Son of Man: When Jacob (see the note at 1.47) was running from his brother Esau, he had a dream in which he saw angels going up and down on a ladder from earth to heaven (see Genesis 28.10-22).
Currently Selected:
John 1: CEVDCI
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
John 1
1
Christ Comes to the World
1In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. 4In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.
6There was a man named John who was sent by God. 7He came to tell people the truth about the Light so that through him all people could hear about the Light and believe. 8John was not the Light, but he came to tell people the truth about the Light. 9The true Light that gives light to all was coming into the world!
10The Word was in the world, and the world was made by 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 to all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God. 13They did not become his children in any human way—by any human parents or human desire. They were born of God.
14The Word became a human and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father—and he was full of grace and truth. 15John tells the truth about him and cries out, saying, “This is the One I told you about: ‘The One who comes after me is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’ ”
16Because he was full of grace and truth, from him we all received one gift after another. 17The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father, and he has shown us what God is like.
John Tells People About Jesus
19Here is the truth John told when the leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”
20John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said, “I am not the Christ.”
21So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He answered, “No, I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?” they asked.
He answered, “No.”
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 one
calling out in the desert:
‘Make the road straight for the Lord.’ ”#Isaiah 40:3
24Some Pharisees who had been sent asked John: 25“If you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet, why do you baptize people?”
26John answered, “I baptize with water, but there is one here with you that you don’t know about. 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, where John was baptizing people.
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, 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 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, although I came baptizing with water so that the people of Israel would know who he is.”
32-33Then John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven in the form of a dove and rest on him. Until then I did not know who the Christ was. But the God who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man; he is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34I have seen this happen, and I tell you the truth: This man is the Son of God.”
The First Followers of Jesus
35The next day John was there again with two of his followers. 36When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37The two followers heard John say this, so they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following him, he asked, “What are you looking for?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (“Rabbi” means “Teacher.”)
39He answered, “Come and see.” So the two men went with Jesus and saw where he was staying and stayed there with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
40One of the two men who followed Jesus after they heard John speak about him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”)
42Then Andrew took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas.” (“Cephas” means “Peter.”)
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, “We have found the man that Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
46But Nathanael said to Philip, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip answered, “Come and see.”
47As Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is truly an Israelite. 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, 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, “Do you believe simply because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that.” 51And Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and ‘angels of God going up and coming down’ on the Son of Man.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.