John 1

¹In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and what God was, the Logos was. ²He was with God in the beginning. ³All things came into being through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into being. That which has come into being ⁴was life in him, and that life was the light of humanity. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not master it.

⁶There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness, to testify concerning the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He was not the light, but he came to testify concerning the light.

⁹The true light, which enlightens every person, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not recognize him. ¹¹He came to his own domain, and his own people did not receive him. ¹²But to all who did take hold of him, he gave authority to become children of God—to those who trust in his name, ¹³who were born not of blood-descents, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of a husband’s will, but of God.

¹⁴And the Logos became flesh and pitched his tent among us, and we gazed upon his glory, a glory like that of a unique son from a father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵(John testified concerning him and cried out, "This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me has moved ahead of me, because he existed before me.’" ) ¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace piling upon grace. ¹⁷For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came into being through Jesus, the Anointed. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God; the unique God, who is in the closest fellowship with the Father—he has made him known.

¹⁹This is the testimony John gave when the Judean leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" ²⁰He confessed and did not deny it; he confessed, "I am not the Anointed."

²¹They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."

²²So they said to him, "Who are you? Give us an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

²³He said, "I am 'the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' just as the prophet Isaiah said."

²⁴(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵They questioned him further, "Why then are you baptizing if you are not the Anointed, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

²⁶John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one you do not recognize, ²⁷the one coming after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." ²⁸This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is the one I meant when I said, ‘After me comes a man who has moved ahead of me because he existed before me.’ ³¹I myself did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel."

³²And John testified, "I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. ³³I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining—this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴I have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One of God."

³⁵The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶Watching Jesus walk by, he said, "Look! The Lamb of God!" ³⁷The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus.

³⁸Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?"

³⁹He said to them, "Come and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day; it was about the tenth hour.

⁴⁰Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, 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" (which is translated as "the Anointed"). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Looking at him, Jesus said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas" (which is translated as "Peter").

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." ⁴⁴Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and whom the prophets also wrote about—Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!"

⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Look, a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!"

⁴⁸Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

⁴⁹Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

⁵⁰Jesus answered him, "Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these." ⁵¹And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I tell you all: you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."