John 1:19-34

New Century Version

John Tells People About Jesus

¹⁹ Here is the truth John^[a] told when the leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰ John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said, “I am not the Christ.”

²¹ So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”^[b]

He answered, “No, I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”^[c] they asked.

He answered, “No.”

²² Then they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to tell those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John told them in the words of the prophet Isaiah:

²⁴ Some Pharisees who had been sent asked John: ²⁵ “If you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet, why do you baptize people?”

²⁶ John answered, “I baptize with water, but there is one here with you that you don’t know about. ²⁷ He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals.”

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

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God,^[d] who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the One I was talking about when I said, ‘A man will come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’ ³¹ Even I did not know who he was, although I came baptizing with water so that the people of Israel would know who he is.”

^32-33 Then John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven in the form of a dove and rest on him. Until then I did not know who the Christ was. But the God who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man; he is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen this happen, and I tell you the truth: This man is the Son of God.”^[e]