John 1:19-51

New American Standard Bible

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ This is ^(A)the testimony of John, when ^(B)the Jews sent priests and Levites to him ^(C)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “^(D)I am not the ^[a]Christ.” ²¹ And so they asked him, “What then? Are you ^(E)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(F)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(G)the voice of one calling ^[b]out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴ And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ^[c]Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^(H)the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, saying, “^(I)I baptize ^[d]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is ^(J)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the ^(K)strap of His sandal.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany ^(L)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, ^(M)the Lamb of God who ^(N)takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘^(O)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be ^[e]my superior, ^(P)because He existed before me.’ ³¹ And I did not recognize ^[f]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing ^[g]in water.” ³² And John ^(Q)testified, saying, “^(R)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ And I did not recognize ^[h]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[i]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, ^(S)this is the One who baptizes ^[j]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is ^(T)the ^[k]Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry; First Converts

³⁵ Again ^(U)the next day John was standing ^[l]with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^(V)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “^(W)Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹ He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day; it was about the ^[m]tenth hour. ^40 (X)One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the ^(Y)Messiah” (which translated means ^[n]Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^[o](Z)John; you shall be called ^(AA)Cephas” (which is translated ^[p](AB)Peter).

^43 (AC)The next day He ^[q]decided to go to ^(AD)Galilee, and He *found ^(AE)Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “^(AF)Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(AG)Philip was from ^(AH)Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ^45 (AI)Philip *found ^(AJ)Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(AK)Moses wrote in the Law, and ^(AL)the prophets also wrote: Jesus ^(AM)the son of Joseph, from ^(AN)Nazareth!” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “^(AO)Can anything good be from Nazareth?” ^(AP)Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Here is truly an ^(AQ)Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^(AR)Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “^(AS)Rabbi, You are ^(AT)the Son of God; You are the ^(AU)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see ^(AV)heaven opened and ^(AW)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(AX)the Son of Man.”