John 1
1
The Word Became Flesh
1 #
Gen. 1:1; [Col. 1:17; 1 John 1:1; Rev. 1:4, 8, 17; 3:14; 21:6; 22:13] In the beginning was #Rev. 19:13; [Heb. 4:12; 1 John 1:1] the Word, and #1 John 1:2; [ch. 17:5] the Word was with God, and #Phil. 2:6the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3#ver. 10; Ps. 33:6; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4#ch. 5:26; 11:25; 1 John 1:2; 5:11 In him was life,#1:4 Or was not any thing made. That which has been made was life in him and #ch. 8:12; 9:5; 12:46the life was the light of men. 5#[ch. 3:19]The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6There was a man #ver. 33; ch. 3:28; Mal. 3:1 sent from God, whose name was #Matt. 3:1; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:2John. 7He came as a #ch. 3:26; 5:33 witness, to bear witness about the light, #Acts 19:4that all might believe through him. 8#ver. 20He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 #
Isa. 49:6; 1 John 2:8 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet #[ch. 16:3; 1 John 3:1]the world did not know him. 11He came to #Matt. 21:38 his own,#1:11 Greek to his own things; that is, to his own domain, or to his own people and #ch. 13:1 his own people#1:11 People is implied in Greek #ch. 5:43; [ch. 3:11, 32]did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, #See 1 John 5:13 who believed in his name, #1 John 5:1 he gave the right #1 John 3:1; [Matt. 5:45] to become #[Gal. 3:26]; See ch. 11:52children of God, 13who #James 1:18; [ch. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:3] were born, #1 Pet. 1:23 not of blood #ch. 3:6nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14And #ver. 1 the Word #Rom. 1:3; 8:3; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:7, 8; Col. 1:22; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 4:2; 2 John 7; [ch. 6:51] became flesh and #Rev. 7:15; 21:3 dwelt among us, #ch. 2:11; Luke 9:32; 2 Pet. 1:16, 17; 1 John 1:1; 4:14 and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son#1:14 Or only One, or unique One from the Father, full of #See ver. 7 grace and #[ch. 14:6]truth. 15(#See ver. 7 John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, #ver. 27, 30; See Matt. 3:11‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16For from #Eph. 1:23; 3:19; 4:13; Col. 1:19; 2:9 his fullness we have all received, #[Matt. 25:29]grace upon grace.#1:16 Or grace in place of grace 17For #ch. 7:19; Ex. 20:1 the law was given through Moses; #ver. 14; [Rom. 5:21]grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18#ch. 5:37; 6:46; Ex. 33:20; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 6:16; 1 John 4:12, 20; [ch. 12:45] No one has ever seen God; #ver. 14; See ch. 3:16 the only God,#1:18 Or the only One, who is God; some manuscripts the only Son who is at the Father’s side,#1:18 Greek in the bosom of the Father #[Matt. 11:27]; See ch. 3:32he has made him known.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19And this is the #ch. 3:26 testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, #[ch. 8:25]“Who are you?” 20#ver. 8; ch. 3:28; Acts 13:25; [Luke 3:15]He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21And they asked him, “What then? #[Matt. 11:14; 16:14] Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you #See Deut. 18:15, 18the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said, “I am #Cited from Isa. 40:3; See Matt. 3:3the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight#1:23 Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25They asked him, #Matt. 3:6; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3, 7“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26John answered them, #Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:7, 8; Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5; 13:25“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27even #ver. 15, 30he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Behold, the Lamb of God
29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, #ver. 36; Ex. 12:3; Isa. 53:7; Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 1:19; [Gen. 22:8; Rev. 5:6] the Lamb of God, who #1 John 3:5; [Heb. 10:4, 11] takes away the sin #[ch. 3:16, 17; 4:42; 12:47; 1 John 2:2; 4:14]of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, #ver. 15, 27‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him, but #Luke 1:17, 76, 77for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32And John #See ver. 7 bore witness: #Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22 “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and #[Isa. 11:2; Acts 10:38]it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but #ver. 6; Luke 3:2 he who sent me to baptize #[ch. 3:5] with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, #Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5this is he who baptizes #[ch. 3:5] with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son#1:34 Some manuscripts the Chosen One of God.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
35The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, #See ver. 29the Lamb of God!” 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, #ch. 18:4, 7; 20:15 “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, #ver. 49; ch. 3:2, 26; 6:25; [ch. 20:16; Mark 10:51]“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.#1:39 That is, about 4 p.m. 40#For ver. 40-42, [Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:2-11]One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus#1:40 Greek him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found #ch. 4:25the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of #ch. 21:15-17 John. You shall be called #1 Cor. 1:12; 3:22 Cephas” (which means #Matt. 16:18Peter#1:42 Cephas and Peter are from the word for rock in Aramaic and Greek, respectively).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 # [ver. 35; ch. 2:1] The next day Jesus decided #[ver. 28]to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now #ch. 12:21Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found #ch. 21:2 Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom #See Luke 16:16; 24:27 Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus #See Matt. 2:23 of Nazareth, #ch. 6:42; Luke 3:23the son of Joseph.” 46Nathanael said to him, #[ch. 7:41, 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. 73:1; Rom. 9:4, 6 an Israelite indeed, #Ps. 32:2; [Zeph. 3:13; Rev. 14:5]in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael said to him, “How #ch. 2:24, 25do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49Nathanael answered him, #See ver. 38 “Rabbi, #[ch. 6:69; 11:27; 20:28] you are the Son of God! You are the #ch. 12:13; Zeph. 3:15; Matt. 27:11, 42; [Zech. 9:9]King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered 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, “Truly, truly, I say to you,#1:51 The Greek for you is plural; twice in this verse you will see #Ezek. 1:1; Matt. 3:16; Luke 3:21 heaven opened, and #[Gen. 28:12] the angels of God ascending and descending on #See Dan. 7:13the Son of Man.”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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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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