The Word Became Flesh
1aIn the beginning was bthe Word, and cthe Word was with God, and dthe Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4fIn him was life,1 and gthe life was the light of men. 5hThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6There was a man isent from God, whose name was jJohn. 7He came as a kwitness, to bear witness about the light, lthat all might believe through him. 8mHe was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9nThe 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 othe world did not know him. 11He came to phis own,2 and qhis own people3 rdid not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, swho believed in his name, the gave the right uto become vchildren of God, 13who wwere born, xnot of blood ynor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14And zthe Word abecame flesh and bdwelt among us, cand we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son4 from the Father, full of dgrace and etruth. 15(fJohn bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, g‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16For from hhis fullness we have all received, igrace upon grace.5 17For jthe law was given through Moses; kgrace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18lNo one has ever seen God; mthe only God,6 who is at the Father's side,7 nhe has made him known.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19And this is the otestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, p“Who are you?” 20qHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21And they asked him, “What then? rAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you sthe 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 tthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight8 the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25They asked him, u“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26John answered them, v“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27even whe 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, xthe Lamb of God, who ytakes away the sin zof the world! 30This is he of whom I said, a‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him, but bfor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32And John cbore witness: d“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and eit remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but fhe who sent me to baptize gwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, hthis is he who baptizes gwith the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son9 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, ithe Lamb of God!” 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, j“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, k“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.10 40lOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus11 was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found mthe Messiah” (which means Christ). 42He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of nJohn. You shall be called oCephas” (which means pPeter12).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43qThe next day Jesus decided rto go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now sPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found tNathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom uMoses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus vof Nazareth, wthe son of Joseph.” 46Nathanael said to him, x“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, yan Israelite indeed, zin whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael said to him, “How ado you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49Nathanael answered him, b“Rabbi, cyou are the Son of God! You are the dKing 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,13 you will see eheaven opened, and fthe angels of God ascending and descending on gthe Son of Man.”
Footnotes
- 1 1:4 Or was not any thing made. That which has been made was life in him
- 2 1:11 Greek to his own things; that is, to his own domain, or to his own people
- 3 1:11 People is implied in Greek
- 4 1:14 Or only One, or unique One
- 5 1:16 Or grace in place of grace
- 6 1:18 Or the only One, who is God; some manuscripts the only Son
- 7 1:18 Greek in the bosom of the Father
- 8 1:23 Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight
- 9 1:34 Some manuscripts the Chosen One
- 10 1:39 That is, about 4 p.m.
- 11 1:40 Greek him
- 12 1:42 Cephas and Peter are from the word for rock in Aramaic and Greek, respectively
- 13 1:51 The Greek for you is plural; twice in this verse
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Twenty-Five Divine Declarations from John’s Gospel John 1:1–21:25 Series • ID: 29001Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.