John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The one who expresses [MET] ([God’s character/what God is like]) has always existed (from the beginning [MTY] [of everything/before everything began]). He has always existed with God, and he has God’s nature.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
He always existed with God [before] he began [MTY] [to create anything].
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing that exists came into being.
He is the one by whom [God] caused everything to exist. He is the one who created absolutely everything [LIT].
4 In Him was Life, and that Life was the Light of men.
He is the one who [caused everything to] live. He, who caused us people to live, [revealed to us the truth about God as] a light [MET] [reveals what is in the darkness].
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.
People do not want him to reveal [that what they do is evil] [MET], just [like] darkness [is evil]. But [just like] darkness cannot put out light [MET], [evil people have never prevented the one who was like a light from revealing God’s truth] (OR, [evil people have never] understood the [one who was like] a light.)
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
A man whose name was John was sent by God {God sent a man whose name was John}.
7 He came as a witness, in order that he might give testimony concerning the Light--so that all might believe through him.
He came to tell people [about the one who was like] [MET] a light. He came to show that everything that the [one who was like a light] [MET] said was true, in order that he could enable all people to believe [in the one who was like a light].
8 He was not the Light, but he existed that he might give testimony concerning the Light.
John himself was not the [one who was like a] light [MET]. Instead, he came to tell others about that [one who was like a] light.
9 The true Light was that which illumines every man by its coming into the world.
[While John was doing that], the one who was truly [like] a light was about to show himself to the world. He was the one who enables all people [to know about God, as] a light [MET] enables [people to know what is in the darkness].
10 He was in the world, and the world came into existence through Him, and the world did not recognize Him.
Although the one [who was like a light] was [here] on the earth, and although he was the one whom [God] caused to create everything, [most] people [MTY, HYP] did not realize who he [was]. (OR, although he was the one whom [God] caused to create everything, [most] people did not accept him.)
11 He came to the things that were His own, and His own people gave Him no welcome.
Although he came to the land that belonged to him [because he created it, most of] his own people, [the Jews], rejected him (OR, did not accept him).
12 But all who have received Him, to them--that is, to those who trust in His name--He has given the privilege of becoming children of God;
But those [of us who welcomed him, God] authorized [that we would have a relationship with] him [MET] [like] children [have a relationship with their father]. We were people who believed [that what he said] about himself [MTY] [was true].
13 who were begotten as such not by human descent, nor through an impulse of their own nature, nor through the will of a human father, but from God.
We became [like God’s children], not because our ancestors [belonged to God], or because of someone’s sexual desires, nor because some man desired to have children like himself. Instead, we were caused by God {God caused us} to become [like] his children.
14 And the Word came in the flesh, and lived for a time in our midst, so that we saw His glory--the glory as of the Father's only Son, sent from His presence. He was full of grace and truth.
The one who expresses [MET] ([God’s character/what God is like]) became a human being, and he lived among us [for a while]. As a result, we saw how wonderful he is. He came from [God] his father, and there was no other person as wonderful as he. He was wonderful because he always acted (kindly toward us/in ways we did not deserve), and he always [spoke] truthfully to us [about God].
15 John gave testimony concerning Him and cried aloud, saying, "This is He of whom I said, 'He who is coming after me has been put before me,' for He was before me."
[One day] when John was telling people about him, [he saw Jesus]. Then he shouted to them, “I told you [previously] that someone will come later who is more important than I am, since he existed [long] before me. This [is the man I was talking about]!”
16 For He it is from whose fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
We have all benefited very much from what he has done. Again and again, he has acted in kind way toward us in ways we did not deserve.
17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Moses proclaimed [God’s] laws [to our ancestors]. But what Jesus Christ did for us [was much better]. He acted in kindness toward us in ways we did not deserve and told us the truth [about God].
18 No human eye has ever seen God: the only Son, who is in the Father's bosom--He has made Him known.
No one has ever seen God. But God’s only Son, [Jesus], who has always had a very close relationship with God, has told us about God.
19 This also is John's testimony, when the Jews sent to him a deputation of Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who he was.
The Jewish [leaders] [SYN] in Jerusalem [city] sent some [Jewish] priests and (Levites/men who worked in the temple) to where John was, to ask him some questions. They said to him, “What do you [claim about] yourself?”
20 He avowed--he did not conceal the truth, but avowed, "I am not the Christ."
So John told them the truth, and he told them clearly [DOU]. He said, “[I] am not (the Messiah/God’s chosen king)!”
21 "What then?" they inquired; "are you Elijah?" "I am not," he said. "Are you the Prophet?" "No," he answered.
Then they asked him, “Then what [do you say about yourself]? Are you [the prophet] Elijah [that was prophesied to return] {([someone/another prophet]) [prophesied would return]} [before the Messiah]?” He replied, “No, [I] am not.” Then they asked him, “Are you the prophet [like Moses that] ([we are waiting for/God promised to send])?” He replied, “No.”
22 So they pressed the question. "Who are you?" they said--"that we may take an answer to those who sent us. What account do you give of yourself?"
So they asked him, “Then who do you [claim to be]? [Tell us] so that we can [go back and] report to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 "I am the voice," he replied, "of one crying aloud, 'Make straight the Lord's way in the Desert,' fulfilling the words of the Prophet Isaiah."
John replied, “[I] am the one [the prophet Isaiah said] would proclaim [this new message] loudly [to the people who would pass by] in this desolate area: ‘Prepare [yourselves to receive] the Lord when he comes [MET], [just like people prepare] a road [for an important official].
24 They were Pharisees who had been sent.
Some of those people [who were questioning] John were ones who had been sent by the Pharisee [religious group] {whom the Pharisee [religious group] had sent}.
25 Again they questioned him. "Why then do you baptize," they said, "if you are neither the Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet?"
They asked John, “Since [you say] you are not the Messiah, nor [the prophet] Elijah, nor the prophet [like Moses], [what authority] do you have? [Furthermore], why are you baptizing [Jews, treating them as though they were non-Jews who wanted to become Jews]?”
26 "I baptize in water only," John answered, "but in your midst stands One whom you do not know--
John replied, “I am [just] baptizing people with water [to prepare them to welcome the Messiah]. But [right now] someone is among you whom you people do not know.
27 He who is to come after me, and whose sandal-strap I am not worthy to unfasten."
He [will preach to you] after I [am gone]. [He is so important that] I am not worthy to [serve him as a slave] [MET] [by] untying his sandals.”
28 This conversation took place at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Those things happened at [a place called] Bethany, on the [east] side of the Jordan [River], where John was baptizing people.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and exclaimed, "Look, that is the Lamb of God who is to take away the sin of the world!
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. He said to the people, “Look! Here is the [man whom] God [has appointed to be a sacrifice] [MET], [like] the lambs [that the people of Israel sacrificed! By sacrificing himself] he will [make it possible for everyone in] the world to be no longer [guilty for having] sinned.
30 This is He about whom I said, 'After me is to come One who has been put before me, because He was before me.'
He is the one about whom I said [before], ‘Someone will come later who is more important than I am, since he existed [long] before me.’
31 I did not yet know Him; but that He may be openly shown to Israel is the reason why I have come baptizing in water."
I myself did not [previously] recognize that he [was the Messiah]. But [now I know who he is], and I have baptized people with water to enable [you people of] Israel to recognize who he is.”
32 John also gave testimony by stating: "I have seen the Spirit coming down like a dove out of Heaven; and it remained upon Him.
John spoke clearly [what God had shown him about Jesus]. He said, “I saw [God’s] Spirit as he was descending from heaven in the form of a dove. The Spirit remained on Jesus.
33 I did not yet know Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, "'The One on whom you see the Spirit coming down, and remaining, He it is who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.'
I myself did not know [previously] that he [was the Messiah]. However, [God] sent me to baptize people with water, [people who said they wanted to turn from their sinful ways. While I was doing that], God told me, ‘The man on whom you will see my Spirit descend and remain is the one who will put the Holy Spirit within you [(pl) to truly change your lives].’
34 "This I have seen, and I have become a witness that He is the Son of God."
I saw [the Spirit descend on him], and I tell you that he is (the Son of God/the person who is both God and man).”
35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,
The next day John was at the same place again (with two of us/with two of his disciples).
36 when he saw Jesus passing by, and said, "Look! that is the Lamb of God!"
When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! There is the man God [has appointed to be a sacrifice, like] the lambs [MET] [the people of Israel have sacrificed!]”
37 The two disciples heard his exclamation, and they followed Jesus.
(When we/those two disciples) heard John say this, we/they went with Jesus.
38 Then Jesus turned round, and seeing them following He asked them, "What is your wish?" "Rabbi," they replied--'Rabbi' means 'Teacher' --"where are you staying?"
Jesus turned around and saw us/them coming behind him. So he asked us/them, “What do you want?” We/They replied, “Teacher, [tell us] where you are staying, [because we want to talk with you].”
39 "Come and you shall see," He said. So they went and saw where He was staying, and they remained and spent that day with Him. It was then about ten o'clock in the morning.
He replied, “Come [with me], and you will see [where I am staying]!” So we/they went with him and saw where he was staying. We/They stayed with him until about 4 o’clock (OR, from about 4 PM until the next day).
40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard John's exclamation and followed Jesus.
(One of us/One of the two men) who heard what John had said and who went with Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s [younger] brother.
41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah!" --that is to say, the Anointed One.
[After Andrew left Jesus], the first thing he did was to find his own [older] brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah!”
42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon, son of John: you shall be called Cephas" --that is to say, Peter (or 'Rock').
Then he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked intently at him, and then said, “You are Simon. Your father’s name is John. You will be given {[I] will give you} the name Cephas.” [Cephas is an Aramaic name that means ‘solid rock’. It] means [the same in Greek as the name] Peter.
43 The next day, having decided to leave Bethany and go into Galilee, Jesus found Philip, and invited him to follow Him.
The next day [Jesus] decided to leave [the Jordan River valley]. He went to Galilee [district] and (OR, on the way there he) found a man named Philip. Jesus said to him, “Come with me!”
44 (Now Philip came from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter.)
Philip and Andrew and Peter were all from Bethsaida [town].
45 Then Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the Law wrote, as well as the Prophets--Jesus, the son of Joseph, a man of Nazareth."
Then Philip [searched for] Nathaniel and found him, and said to him, “We have met [the Messiah], the one Moses [wrote about]! The prophets also [prophesied that he would come]. He is Jesus, from Nazareth [town]. His father’s name is Joseph.”
46 "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" replied Nathanael. "Come and see," said Philip.
Nathaniel replied, “Nazareth? (Nothing good can come from [such an unimportant place]!/Can anything good come from [such an unimportant place]?) [RHQ]” Philip replied, “Come and see!”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, and said of him, "Look! here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceitfulness!"
When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said about Nathaniel, “Here is an example of a good Israelite! He never deceives anyone!”
48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. "Before Philip called you," said Jesus, "when you were under the fig-tree I saw you."
Nathaniel asked him, “How do you know what I [am like]?” Jesus replied, “I saw you before Philip called you, when you were [by yourself] under the fig tree.”
49 "Rabbi," cried Nathanael, "you are the Son of God, you are Israel's King!"
Then Nathaniel declared, “Teacher, you [must be] (the Son of God/the person who is both God and man)! You are the King of Israel [we have been waiting for]!”
50 "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig-tree,'" replied Jesus, "do you believe? You shall see greater things than that."
Jesus replied to him, “You [RHQ] believe [those things about me] because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree. [I was able to see you supernaturally even though I was far away from you]. But you will see [me do] things that are more surprising than that!”
51 "I tell you all in most solemn truth," He added, "that you shall see Heaven opened wide, and God's angels going up, and coming down to the Son of Man."
Then Jesus said to him, “This is the absolute truth: [Just like what your ancestor Jacob saw long ago in a vision], some day you [(pl)] will see heaven opened up, and you will see God’s angels ascending from me and descending on me, the one who came from heaven.”
