John 1

New King James Version

The Eternal Word^(A)

1 In the beginning ^(B)was the Word, and the ^(C)Word was ^(D)with God, and the Word was ^(E)God. ^2 (F)He was in the beginning with God. ^3 (G)All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ^4 (H)In Him was life, and ^(I)the life was the light of men. ⁵ And ^(J)the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[a]comprehend it.

John’s Witness: The True Light

⁶ There was a ^(K)man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a ^(L)witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might ^(M)believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that ^(N)Light. ^9 (O)That^[b] was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and ^(P)the world did not know Him. ^11 (Q)He came to His ^[c]own, and His ^[d]own did not receive Him. ¹² But ^(R)as many as received Him, to them He gave the ^[e]right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ^13 (S)who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Becomes Flesh

^14 (T)And the Word ^(U)became ^(V)flesh and dwelt among us, and ^(W)we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, ^(X)full of grace and truth.

^15 (Y)John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ^(Z)‘He who comes after me ^[f]is preferred before me, ^(AA)for He was before me.’ ”

^16 [g]And of His ^(AB)fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For ^(AC)the law was given through Moses, but ^(AD)grace and ^(AE)truth came through Jesus Christ. ^18 (AF)No one has seen God at any time. ^(AG)The only begotten ^[h]Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

A Voice in the Wilderness^(AH)

¹⁹ Now this is ^(AI)the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

^20 (AJ)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you ^(AK)the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

²² Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

²³ He said: ^(AL)“I am

as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵ And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ John answered them, saying, ^(AN)“I baptize with water, ^(AO)but there stands One among you whom you do not know. ^27 (AP)It is He who, coming after me, ^[i]is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

²⁸ These things were done ^(AQ)in ^[j]Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Lamb of God^(AR)

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! ^(AS)The Lamb of God ^(AT)who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ^[k]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ³¹ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, ^(AU)therefore I came baptizing with water.”

^32 (AV)And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, ^(AW)this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and testified that this is the ^(AX)Son of God.”

The First Disciples

³⁵ Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. ³⁶ And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, ^(AY)“Behold the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they ^(AZ)followed Jesus. ³⁸ Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”

They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”

³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was ^(BA)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the ^[l]Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.

Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of ^[m]Jonah. ^(BB)You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, ^[n]A Stone).

Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found ^(BC)Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(BD)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(BE)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(BF)Moses in the law, and also the ^(BG)prophets, wrote—Jesus ^(BH)of Nazareth, the ^(BI)son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶ And Nathanael said to him, ^(BJ)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, ^(BK)an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”

⁴⁸ Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, ^(BL)You are the Son of God! You are ^(BM)the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(BN)hereafter^[o] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”