John 1-2

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.”

Water Turned to Wine

2 On the third day there was a ^(BO)wedding in ^(BP)Cana of Galilee, and the ^(BQ)mother of Jesus was there. ² Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. ³ And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

⁴ Jesus said to her, ^(BR)“Woman, ^(BS)what does your concern have to do with Me? ^(BT)My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

⁶ Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, ^(BU)according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. ⁷ Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. ⁹ When the master of the feast had tasted ^(BV)the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. ¹⁰ And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

¹¹ This ^(BW)beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, ^(BX)and ^[p]manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

¹² After this He went down to ^(BY)Capernaum, He, His mother, ^(BZ)His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple^(CA)

^13 (CB)Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ^14 (CC)And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers ^[q]doing business. ¹⁵ When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. ¹⁶ And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make ^(CD)My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” ¹⁷ Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ^(CE)“Zeal for Your house ^[r]has eaten Me up.”

¹⁸ So the Jews answered and said to Him, ^(CF)“What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, ^(CG)“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

²⁰ Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

²¹ But He was speaking ^(CH)of the temple of His body. ²² Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, ^(CI)His disciples remembered that He had said this ^[s]to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

The Discerner of Hearts

²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the ^(CJ)signs which He did. ²⁴ But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He ^(CK)knew all men, ²⁵ and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for ^(CL)He knew what was in man.