The Word Became a Human Being

1 In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him. ⁴ Life was in him, and that life was the light for all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness. But the darkness has not overcome the light.

⁶ There was a man sent from God. His name was John. ⁷ He came to be a witness about that light. He was a witness so that all people might believe. ⁸ John himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ The Word was in the world. And the world was made through him. But the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to what was his own. But his own people did not accept him. ¹² Some people did accept him and did believe in his name. He gave them the right to become children of God. ¹³ To be a child of God has nothing to do with human parents. Children of God are not born because of human choice or because a husband wants them to be born. They are born because of what God does.

¹⁴ The Word became a human being. He made his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. And the Word was full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ John was a witness about the Word. John cried out and said, “This was the one I was talking about. I said, ‘He who comes after me is more important than I am. He is more important because he existed before I was born.’ ” ¹⁶ God is full of grace. From him we have all received grace in place of the grace already given. ¹⁷ In the past, God gave us grace through the law of Moses. Now, grace and truth come to us through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. But the One and Only is God and is at the Father’s side. The one at the Father’s side has shown us what God is like.

John the Baptist Says That He Is Not the Messiah

¹⁹ The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was. John spoke the truth to them. ²⁰ He did not try to hide the truth. He spoke to them openly. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”

²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet we’ve been expecting?” they asked.

“No,” he answered.

²² They asked one last time, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John replied, using the words of Isaiah the prophet. John said, “I’m the messenger who is calling out in the desert, ‘Make the way for the Lord straight.’ ” (Isaiah 40:3)

²⁴ The Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ asked him, “If you are not the Messiah, why are you baptizing people? Why are you doing that if you aren’t Elijah or the Prophet we’ve been expecting?”

²⁶ “I baptize people with water,” John replied. “But someone is standing among you whom you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie his sandals.”

²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. That was where John was baptizing.

What John Says About Jesus

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God! He takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I was talking about. I said, ‘A man who comes after me is more important than I am. That’s because he existed before I was born.’ ³¹ I did not know him. But God wants to make it clear to Israel who this person is. That’s the reason I came baptizing with water.”

³² Then John told them, “I saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven like a dove. The Spirit remained on Jesus. ³³ I myself did not know him. But the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and remain on someone. He is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen it happen. I am a witness that this is God’s Chosen One.”

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ He saw Jesus walking by. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”

³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this. So they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Then Jesus turned around and saw them following. He asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Rabbi means Teacher.

³⁹ “Come,” he replied. “You will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying. They spent the rest of the day with him. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew was Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew was one of the two disciples who heard what John had said. He had also followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon. He told him, “We have found the Messiah.” Messiah means Christ. ⁴² And he brought Simon to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas.” Cephas means Peter, or Rock.

Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

⁴⁴ Philip was from the town of Bethsaida. So were Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the Law. The prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶ “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael approaching. Here is what Jesus said about him. “He is a true Israelite. Nothing about him is false.”

⁴⁸ “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree. I saw you there before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹ Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel.”

⁵⁰ Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹ Then he said to the disciples, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You will see heaven open. You will see the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

2 On the third day there was a wedding. It took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. ² Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Dear woman, why are you telling me about this?” Jesus replied. “The time for me to show who I really am isn’t here yet.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do what he tells you.”

⁶ Six stone water jars stood nearby. The Jews used water from that kind of jar for special washings. They did that to make themselves pure and “clean.” Each jar could hold 20 to 30 gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the top.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now dip some out. Take it to the person in charge of the dinner.”

They did what he said. ⁹ The person in charge tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He didn’t realize where it had come from. But the servants who had brought the water knew. Then the person in charge called the groom to one side. ¹⁰ He said to him, “Everyone brings out the best wine first. They bring out the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink. But you have saved the best until now.”

¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana in Galilee was the first of his signs. Jesus showed his glory by doing this sign. And his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this, Jesus went down to Capernaum. His mother and brothers and disciples went with him. They all stayed there for a few days.

Jesus Clears Out the Temple Courtyard

¹³ It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. So Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courtyard he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves. Others were sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So Jesus made a whip out of ropes. He chased all the sheep and cattle from the temple courtyard. He scattered the coins of the people exchanging money. And he turned over their tables. ¹⁶ He told those who were selling doves, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered what had been written. It says, “My great love for your house will destroy me.” (Psalm 69:9)

¹⁸ Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “When you destroy this temple, I will raise it up again in three days.”

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken 46 years to build this temple. Are you going to raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But the temple Jesus had spoken about was his body. ²² His disciples later remembered what he had said. That was after he had been raised from the dead. Then they believed the Scripture. They also believed the words that Jesus had spoken.

²³ Meanwhile, he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. Many people saw the signs he was doing. And they believed in his name. ²⁴ But Jesus did not fully trust them. He knew what people are like. ²⁵ He didn’t need anyone to tell him what people are like. He already knew why people do what they do.

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus. He was one of the Jewish rulers. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. We know that God is with you. If he weren’t, you couldn’t do the signs you are doing.”

³ Jesus replied, “What I’m about to tell you is true. No one can see God’s kingdom unless they are born again.”

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “They can’t go back inside their mother! They can’t be born a second time!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “What I’m about to tell you is true. No one can enter God’s kingdom unless they are born with water and the Holy Spirit. ⁶ People give birth to people. But the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised when I say, ‘You must all be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wants to. You hear the sound it makes. But you can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going. It is the same with everyone who is born with the Spirit.”

⁹ “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus. “Don’t you understand these things? ¹¹ What I’m about to tell you is true. We speak about what we know. We are witnesses about what we have seen. But still you people do not accept what we say. ¹² I have spoken to you about earthly things, and you do not believe. So how will you believe if I speak about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven. He is the Son of Man. ¹⁴ Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. In the same way, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. ¹⁵ Then everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

¹⁶ God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. ¹⁷ God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world. He sent his Son to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Anyone who believes in him is not judged. But anyone who does not believe is judged already. They have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ Here is the judgment. Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light. They loved darkness because what they did was evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil deeds hates the light. They will not come into the light. They are afraid that what they do will be seen. ²¹ But anyone who lives by the truth comes into the light. They live by the truth with God’s help. They come into the light so that it will be easy to see their good deeds.

John the Baptist Is a Witness About Jesus

²² After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the countryside of Judea. There he spent some time with them. And he baptized people there. ²³ John was also baptizing. He was at Aenon near Salim, where there was plenty of water. People were coming and being baptized. ²⁴ This was before John was put in prison. ²⁵ Some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew began to argue. They argued about special washings to make people “clean.” ²⁶ They came to John and here is what they said to him. “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River is baptizing people. He is the one you told us about. Everyone is going to him.”

²⁷ John replied, “A person can receive only what God gives them from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves are witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah. I was sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹ The bride belongs to the groom. The friend who helps the groom waits and listens for him. He is full of joy when he hears the groom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰ He must become more important. I must become less important.

³¹ “The one who comes from above is above everything. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks like someone from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above everything. ³² He is a witness to what he has seen and heard. But no one accepts what he says. ³³ Anyone who has accepted it has said, ‘Yes. God is truthful.’ ³⁴ The one whom God has sent speaks God’s words. That’s because God gives the Holy Spirit without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has put everything into his hands. ³⁶ Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life. Anyone who does not believe in the Son will not have life. God’s anger remains on them.”