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.”
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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
The Word Becomes Human
1In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was already with God in the beginning.
3Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.
4He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.
5The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.
6God sent a man named John to be his messenger. 7John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message. 8John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.
9The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn’t recognize him. 11He went to his own people, and his own people didn’t accept him. 12However, he gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in him. 13These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way—from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire ⌞to have a child⌟. They were born from God.
14The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness #1:14 Or “grace.” and truth.
15(John declared the truth about him when he said loudly, “This is the person about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.’ ”)
16Each of us has received one gift after another because of all that the Word is. 17Laws were given through Moses, but kindness and truth came into existence through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. God’s only Son, the one who is closest to the Father’s heart, has made him known.
John Prepares the Way
(Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:1–18)
19This was John’s answer when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20John didn’t refuse to answer. He told them clearly, “I’m not the Messiah.”
21They asked him, “Well, are you Elijah?”
John answered, “No, I’m not.”
Then they asked, “Are you the prophet?”
John replied, “No.”
22So they asked him, “Who are you? Tell us so that we can take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23John said, “I’m a voice crying out in the desert, ‘Make the way for the Lord straight,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24Some of those who had been sent were Pharisees. 25They asked John, “Why do you baptize if you’re not the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet?”
26John answered them, “I baptize with water. Someone you don’t know is standing among you. 27He’s the one who comes after me. I am not worthy to untie his sandal strap.”
28This happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
John Identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God
29John saw Jesus coming toward him the next day and said, “Look! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 30He is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘A man who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.’ 31I didn’t know who he was. However, I came to baptize with water to show him to the people of Israel.”
32John said, “I saw the Spirit come down as a dove from heaven and stay on him. 33I didn’t know who he was. But God, who sent me to baptize with water, had told me, ‘When you see the Spirit come down and stay on someone, you’ll know that person is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34I have seen this and have declared that this is the Son of God.”
Calling of the First Disciples
35The next day John was standing with two of his disciples. 36John saw Jesus walk by. John said, “Look! This is the Lamb of God.” 37When the two disciples heard John say this, they followed Jesus.
38Jesus turned around and saw them following him. He asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39Jesus told them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went to see where he was staying and spent the rest of that day with him. It was about ten o’clock in the morning.
40Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two disciples who heard John and followed Jesus. 41Andrew at once found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). 42Andrew brought Simon to Jesus.
Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon, son of John. Your name will be Cephas” (which means “Peter”).
43The next day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me!” 44(Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.)
45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the man whom Moses wrote about in his teachings and whom the prophets wrote about. He is Jesus, son of Joseph, from the city of Nazareth.”
46Nathanael said to Philip, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip told him, “Come and see!”
47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and remarked, “Here is a true Israelite who is sincere.”
48Nathanael asked Jesus, “How do you know anything about me?”
Jesus answered him, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49Nathanael said to Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!”
50Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51Jesus said to Nathanael, “I can guarantee this truth: You will see the sky open and God’s angels going up and coming down to the Son of Man.”
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