John 1
1 In the beginning the Word was; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God.
From the first he was the Word, and the Word was in relation with God and was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God;
This Word was from the first in relation with God.
3 through him all things came into being, and nothing came into being apart from him.
All things came into existence through him, and without him nothing was.
4 That which came into being in him was life; and the life was the light of humanity;
What came into existence in him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness never overpowered it.
And the light goes on shining in the dark; it is not overcome by the dark.
6 There appeared a man sent from God, whose name was John;
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 he came as a witness – to bear witness to the light so that through him everyone might believe.
He came for witness, to give witness about the light, so that all men might have faith through him.
8 He was not the light, but he came to bear witness to the light.
He himself was not the light: he was sent to give witness about the light.
9 That was the true light which enlightens everyone coming into the world.
The true light, which gives light to every man, was then coming into the world.
10 He was in the world; and through him the world came into being – yet the world did not know him.
He was in the world, the world which came into being through him, but the world had no knowledge of him.
11 He came to his own – yet his own did not receive him.
He came to the things which were his and his people did not take him to their hearts.
12 But to all who did receive him he gave power to become children of God – to those who believe in his name.
To all those who did so take him, however, he gave the right of becoming children of God — that is, to those who had faith in his name:
13 For not to natural conception, nor to human instincts, nor to human will did they owe the new life, but to God.
Whose birth was from God and not from blood, or from an impulse of the flesh and man's desire.
14 And the Word became human, and lived among us, (We saw his glory – the glory of the Only Son sent from the Father), full of love and truth.
And so the Word became flesh and took a place among us for a time; and we saw his glory — such glory as is given to an only son by his father — saw it to be true and full of grace.
15 (John bears witness to him; he cried aloud – for it was he who spoke – “He who is coming after me is now before me, for he was ever first”);
John gave witness about him, crying, This is he of whom I said, He who is coming after me is put over me because he was in existence before me.
16 out of his fullness we have all received gift after gift of love;
From his full measure we have all been given grace on grace.
17 for the Law was given through Moses, love and truth came through Jesus Christ.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and the true way of life are ours through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever yet seen God; God the only Son, who is ever with the Father – he has revealed him.
No man has seen God at any time; the only Son, who is on the breast of the Father, he has made clear what God is.
19 When the religious authorities in Jerusalem sent some Priests and Levites to ask John – “Who are you?”,
And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you?
20 he told them clearly and simply, “I am not the Christ.”
He said quite openly and straightforwardly, I am not the Christ.
21 “What then?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?” “No,” he said, “I am not.” “Are you ‘the prophet’?” He answered, “No.”
And they said to him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And his answer was, I am not.
22 “Who then are you?” they continued. “Tell us so that we have an answer to give to those who have sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
So they said to him, Who are you then? We have to give some answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?
23 “I,” he answered, “am – ‘The voice of one crying aloud in the wilderness: make a straight road for the Lord’, as the prophet Isaiah said.”
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the waste land, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.
24 These men had been sent from the Pharisees;
Those who had been sent came from the Pharisees.
25 and their next question was, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ or Elijah or ‘the prophet’?”
And they put this question to him, saying, Why then are you giving baptism if you are not the Christ, or Elijah, or the prophet?
26 John’s answer was – “I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know;
John's answer was: I give baptism with water; but there is one among you of whom you have no knowledge;
27 he is coming after me, yet I am not worthy even to unfasten his sandal.”
It is he who is coming after me; I am not good enough to undo his shoes.
28 This happened at Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
These things took place at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was giving baptism.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and exclaimed, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
The day after, John sees Jesus coming to him and says, See, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
30 I was talking about him when I said ‘After me there is coming a man who ranks ahead of me, because before I was born he already was.’
This is he of whom I said, One is coming after me who is put over me because he was in existence before me.
31 I did not know who he was, but I have come baptizing with water to make him known to Israel.”
I myself had no knowledge of him, but I came giving baptism with water so that he might be seen openly by Israel.
32 John also said: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest on him.
And John gave this witness, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting on him.
33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him – he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
I had no knowledge who he was, but he who sent me to give baptism with water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting, it is he who gives baptism with the Holy Spirit.
34 This I have seen myself, and I have declared my belief that he is the Son of God.”
This I saw myself and my witness is that he is the Son of God.
35 The next day, when John was standing with two of his disciples,
The day after, John was there again with two of his disciples;
36 he looked at Jesus as he passed and exclaimed, “There is the Lamb of God!”
And looking at Jesus while he was walking he said, See, there is the Lamb of God!
37 The two disciples heard him say this, and followed Jesus.
Hearing what he said, the two disciples went after Jesus.
38 But Jesus turned around, and saw them following. “What are you looking for?” he asked. “Rabbi,” they answered (or, as we should say, ‘Teacher’), “where are you staying?”
And Jesus, turning round, saw them coming after him and said to them, What are you looking for? They said to him, Rabbi (which is to say, Master), where are you living?
39 “Come, and you will see,” he replied. So they went, and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was then about four in the afternoon.
He said to them, Come and see. They went with him then and saw where he was living; and they were with him all that day: it was then about the tenth hour of the day.
40 One of the two, who heard what John said and followed Jesus, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two men who, hearing what John said, went after Jesus.
41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (a word which means ‘Christ,’ or ‘Consecrated’.)
Early in the morning he came across his brother and said to him, We have made discovery! It is the Messiah! (which is to say, the Christ).
42 Then he brought him to Jesus. Looking straight at him, Jesus said, “You are Simon, the son of John; you will be called Cephas” (which means ‘Peter,’ or ‘Rock’).
And he took him to Jesus. Looking at him fixedly Jesus said, You are Simon, the son of John; your name will be Cephas (which is to say, Peter).
43 The following day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip, and said to him, “Follow me.”
The day after this, Jesus had a desire to go into Galilee. He came across Philip and said to him, Come and be my disciple.
44 Philip was from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter.
Now Philip's town was Beth-saida, where Andrew and Peter came from.
45 He found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and of whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph’s son!”
Philip came across Nathanael and said to him, We have made a discovery! It is he of whom Moses, in the law, and the prophets were writing, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” asked Nathanael. “Come and see,” replied Philip.
Nazareth! said Nathanael, Is it possible for any good to come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!”
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, See, here is a true son of Israel in whom there is nothing false.
48 “How do you know me?” asked Nathanael. “Even before Philip called you,” replied Jesus, “when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Nathanael said to him, Where did you get knowledge of me? In answer Jesus said, Before Philip was talking with you, while you were still under the fig-tree, I saw you.
49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael exclaimed, “you are the Son of God, you are king of Israel!”
Nathanael said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel!
50 “Do you believe in me,” asked Jesus, “because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than those!
In answer Jesus said to him, You have faith because I said to you, I saw you under the fig-tree. You will see greater things than these.
51 In truth I tell you,” he added, “you will all see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
And he said to him, Truly I say to you all, You will see heaven opening and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of man.
