Κατα Ιωαννην 3
1 Ἦν δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων, Νικόδημος ὄνομα αὐτῷ, ἄρχων τῶν Ἰουδαίων·
There was a man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2 οὗτος ἦλθεν πρὸς αὐτὸν νυκτὸς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ῥαββεί, οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἐλήλυθας διδάσκαλος· οὐδεὶς γὰρ δύναται ταῦτα τὰ σημεῖα ποιεῖν ἃ σὺ ποιεῖς, ἐὰν μὴ ᾖ ὁ Θεὸς μετ’ αὐτοῦ.
He came at night to where Jesus was and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God, for nobody could do the miraculous signs you're doing unless God was with him.”
3 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν, οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ.
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “Unless you are reborn, you can't experience God's kingdom.”
4 λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Νικόδημος Πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος γεννηθῆναι γέρων ὤν; μὴ δύναται εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ δεύτερον εἰσελθεῖν καὶ γεννηθῆναι;
“How can you be reborn when you're old?” Nicodemus asked. “You can't go back into your mother's womb and be born a second time!”
5 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ.
“I tell you the truth, you can't enter God's kingdom unless you are born of water and the Spirit,” Jesus told him.
6 τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος πνεῦμά ἐστιν.
“What's born of the flesh is flesh, and what's born of the Spirit is Spirit.
7 μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι Δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.
Don't be surprised at my telling you, ‘You must be reborn.’
8 τὸ πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ, καὶ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκούεις, ἀλλ’ οὐκ οἶδας πόθεν ἔρχεται καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγει· οὕτως ἐστὶν πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος.
The wind blows wherever it wants, and just as you hear the sound it makes, but don't know where it's coming from or where it's going, that's how it is for everyone who is born of the spirit.”
9 ἀπεκρίθη Νικόδημος καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Πῶς δύναται ταῦτα γενέσθαι;
“How is this possible?” Nicodemus asked.
10 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Σὺ εἶ ὁ διδάσκαλος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ταῦτα οὐ γινώσκεις;
“You're a famous teacher in Israel, and yet you don't understand such things?” Jesus replied.
11 ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι ὅτι ὃ οἴδαμεν λαλοῦμεν καὶ ὃ ἑωράκαμεν μαρτυροῦμεν, καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἡμῶν οὐ λαμβάνετε.
“I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know and give evidence regarding what we have seen, but you refuse to accept our testimony.
12 εἰ τὰ ἐπίγεια εἶπον ὑμῖν καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε, πῶς ἐὰν εἴπω ὑμῖν τὰ ἐπουράνια πιστεύσετε;
If you don't trust what I say when I tell you about earthly things, how would you ever trust what I say if I were to tell you about heavenly things?
13 καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
No one has gone up to heaven, but the Son of man came down from heaven.
14 καὶ καθὼς Μωϋσῆς ὕψωσεν τὸν ὄφιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου,
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of man must be lifted up,
that everyone who trusts in him will have eternal life. (aiōnios g166)
16 Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν Υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ’ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. (aiōnios g166)
For God loved the world, and this is how: he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who trusts in him shouldn't die, but have eternal life. (aiōnios g166)
17 οὐ γὰρ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Υἱὸν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἵνα κρίνῃ τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλ’ ἵνα σωθῇ ὁ κόσμος δι’ αὐτοῦ.
God didn't send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν οὐ κρίνεται· ὁ μὴ πιστεύων ἤδη κέκριται, ὅτι μὴ πεπίστευκεν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ.
Those who trust in him are not condemned, while those who don't trust in him are condemned already because they didn't trust in the one and only Son of God.
19 αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ κρίσις, ὅτι τὸ φῶς ἐλήλυθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἠγάπησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι μᾶλλον τὸ σκότος ἢ τὸ φῶς· ἦν γὰρ αὐτῶν πονηρὰ τὰ ἔργα.
This is how the decision is made: the light came to the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light, for their actions were evil.
20 πᾶς γὰρ ὁ φαῦλα πράσσων μισεῖ τὸ φῶς καὶ οὐκ ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸ φῶς, ἵνα μὴ ἐλεγχθῇ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ·
All those who do evil hate the light and don't come into the light, because they don't want their actions to be exposed.
21 ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸ φῶς, ἵνα φανερωθῇ αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔργα ὅτι ἐν Θεῷ ἐστιν εἰργασμένα.
But those who do good come into the light, so that what God accomplishes in them can be revealed.”
22 Μετὰ ταῦτα ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν γῆν, καὶ ἐκεῖ διέτριβεν μετ’ αὐτῶν καὶ ἐβάπτιζεν.
After this Jesus and his disciples went into Judea and spent some time with the people, baptizing them.
23 ἦν δὲ καὶ Ἰωάνης βαπτίζων ἐν Αἰνὼν ἐγγὺς τοῦ Σαλείμ, ὅτι ὕδατα πολλὰ ἦν ἐκεῖ, καὶ παρεγίνοντο καὶ ἐβαπτίζοντο·
John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there and people kept coming to be baptized.
24 οὔπω γὰρ ἦν βεβλημένος εἰς τὴν φυλακὴν Ἰωάνης.
(This was before John was imprisoned.)
25 Ἐγένετο οὖν ζήτησις ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν Ἰωάνου μετὰ Ἰουδαίου περὶ καθαρισμοῦ.
An argument developed between John's disciples and a Jew over ceremonial purification.
26 καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς τὸν Ἰωάνην καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ Ῥαββεί, ὃς ἦν μετὰ σοῦ πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, ᾧ σὺ μεμαρτύρηκας, ἴδε οὗτος βαπτίζει καὶ πάντες ἔρχονται πρὸς αὐτόν.
They went to John and told him, “Rabbi, the man you were with on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you testified in support of—see, now he's baptizing, and everyone is going to him!”
27 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰωάνης καὶ εἶπεν Οὐ δύναται ἄνθρωπος λαμβάνειν οὐδὲν ἐὰν μὴ ᾖ δεδομένον αὐτῷ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.
“No one receives anything unless they're given it from heaven,” John replied.
28 αὐτοὶ ὑμεῖς μοι μαρτυρεῖτε ὅτι εἶπον Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ὁ Χριστός, ἀλλ’ ὅτι Ἀπεσταλμένος εἰμὶ ἔμπροσθεν ἐκείνου.
“You yourselves can testify that I declared, ‘I'm not the Messiah. I've been sent to prepare his way.’
29 Ὁ ἔχων τὴν νύμφην νυμφίος ἐστίν· ὁ δὲ φίλος τοῦ νυμφίου ὁ ἑστηκὼς καὶ ἀκούων αὐτοῦ, χαρᾷ χαίρει διὰ τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ νυμφίου. αὕτη οὖν ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ πεπλήρωται.
The bridegroom is the one who has the bride! The best man waits, listening for the bridegroom, and is so happy when he hears the bridegroom's voice—in the same way my happiness is now complete.
30 ἐκεῖνον δεῖ αὐξάνειν, ἐμὲ δὲ ἐλαττοῦσθαι.
He must become more important, and I must become less important.”
31 Ὁ ἄνωθεν ἐρχόμενος ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν· ὁ ὢν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐστιν καὶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς λαλεῖ. ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐρχόμενος ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν·
He who comes from above is greater than all; he who comes from the earth belongs to the earth and talks about earthly things. He who comes from heaven is greater than all.
32 ὃ ἑώρακεν καὶ ἤκουσεν, τοῦτο μαρτυρεῖ, καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν αὐτοῦ οὐδεὶς λαμβάνει.
He gives evidence about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts what he has to say.
33 ὁ λαβὼν αὐτοῦ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἐσφράγισεν ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἀληθής ἐστιν.
Yet anyone who accepts what he says confirms that God is truthful.
34 ὃν γὰρ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ Θεοῦ λαλεῖ· οὐ γὰρ ἐκ μέτρου δίδωσιν τὸ Πνεῦμα.
For the one God sent speaks God's words, because God doesn't restrict the Spirit.
35 ὁ Πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ τὸν Υἱόν, καὶ πάντα δέδωκεν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ.
The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
36 ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον· ὁ δὲ ἀπειθῶν τῷ Υἱῷ οὐκ ὄψεται ζωήν, ἀλλ’ ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ μένει ἐπ’ αὐτόν. (aiōnios g166)
Anyone who trusts in the Son has eternal life, but anyone who refuses to trust the Son will not experience eternal life but remains under God's condemnation. (aiōnios g166)
