John 1-4

New American Standard Bible 1995

The Deity of Jesus Christ

1 ^(A)In the beginning was ^(B)the Word, and the Word was ^(C)with God, and ^(D)the Word was God. ^2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. ^3 (E)All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ^4 (F)In Him was life, and the life was ^(G)the Light of men. ^5 (H)The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[b]comprehend it.

The Witness John

⁶ There ^[c]came a man sent from God, whose name was ^(I)John. ^7 [d]He came ^[e](J)as a witness, to testify about the Light, ^(K)so that all might believe through him. ^8 [f](L)He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

⁹ There was ^(M)the true Light ^[g]which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and ^(N)the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His ^[h]own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become ^(O)children of God, even ^(P)to those who believe in His name, ^13 (Q)who were ^[i]born, not of ^[j]blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Made Flesh

¹⁴ And ^(R)the Word ^(S)became flesh, and ^[k](T)dwelt among us, and ^(U)we saw His glory, glory as of ^[l]the only begotten from the Father, full of ^(V)grace and ^(W)truth. ¹⁵ John *^(X)testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘^(Y)He who comes after me ^[m]has a higher rank than I, ^(Z)for He existed before me.’” ¹⁶ For of His ^(AA)fullness ^[n]we have all received, and ^[o]grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For ^(AB)the Law was given through Moses; ^(AC)grace and ^(AD)truth ^[p]were realized through Jesus Christ. ^18 (AE)No one has seen God at any time; ^(AF)the only begotten God who is ^(AG)in the bosom of the Father, ^(AH)He has explained Him.

The Testimony of John

¹⁹ This is ^(AI)the testimony of John, when ^(AJ)the Jews sent to him priests and Levites ^(AK)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “^(AL)I am not ^[q]the Christ.” ²¹ They asked him, “What then? Are you ^(AM)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(AN)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(AO)a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ^[r]Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^(AP)the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them saying, “^(AQ)I baptize ^[s]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is ^(AR)He who comes after me, the ^(AS)thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany ^(AT)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, ^(AU)the Lamb of God who ^(AV)takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘^(AW)After me comes a Man who ^[t]has a higher rank than I, ^(AX)for He existed before me.’ ³¹ I did not recognize ^[u]Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing ^[v]in water.” ³² John ^(AY)testified saying, “^(AZ)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not recognize ^[w]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[x]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, ^(BA)this is the One who baptizes ^[y]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is ^(BB)the Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts

³⁵ Again ^(BC)the next day John was standing ^[z]with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^(BD)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “^(BE)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, for it was about the ^[aa]tenth hour. ^40 (BF)One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the ^(BG)Messiah” (which translated means ^[ab]Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^[ac](BH)John; you shall be called ^(BI)Cephas” (which is translated ^[ad](BJ)Peter).

^43 (BK)The next day He purposed to go into ^(BL)Galilee, and He *found ^(BM)Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “^(BN)Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(BO)Philip was from ^(BP)Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. ^45 (BQ)Philip *found ^(BR)Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(BS)Moses in the Law and also ^(BT)the Prophets wrote—Jesus of ^(BU)Nazareth, ^(BV)the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “^(BW)Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” ^(BX)Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an ^(BY)Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^(BZ)Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “^(CA)Rabbi, You are ^(CB)the Son of God; You are the ^(CC)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 ^(CD)the heavens opened and ^(CE)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(CF)the Son of Man.”

Miracle at Cana

2 On ^(CG)the third day there was a wedding in ^(CH)Cana of Galilee, and the ^(CI)mother of Jesus was there; ² and both Jesus and His ^(CJ)disciples were invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ And Jesus *said to her, “^(CK)Woman, ^[ae](CL)what does that have to do with us? ^(CM)My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His ^(CN)mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” ⁶ Now there were six stone waterpots set there ^(CO)for the Jewish custom of purification, containing ^[af]twenty or thirty gallons each. ⁷ Jesus *said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the ^[ag]headwaiter.” So they took it to him. ⁹ When the headwaiter tasted the water ^(CP)which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the bridegroom, ¹⁰ and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people ^(CQ)have ^[ah]drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹ This beginning of His ^[ai](CR)signs Jesus did in Cana of ^(CS)Galilee, and manifested His ^(CT)glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

¹² After this He went down to ^(CU)Capernaum, He and His ^(CV)mother and His ^(CW)brothers and His ^(CX)disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

First Passover—Cleansing the Temple

^13 (CY)The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus ^(CZ)went up to Jerusalem. ^14 (DA)And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵ And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶ and to those who were selling ^(DB)the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making ^(DC)My Father’s house a ^[aj]place of business.” ¹⁷ His ^(DD)disciples remembered that it was written, “^(DE)Zeal for Your house will consume me.” ^18 (DF)The Jews then said to Him, “^(DG)What sign do You show us ^[ak]as your authority for doing these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “^(DH)Destroy this ^[al]temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ^20 (DI)The Jews then said, “It took ^(DJ)forty-six years to build this ^[am]temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But He was speaking of ^(DK)the ^[an]temple of His body. ²² So when He was raised from the dead, His ^(DL)disciples ^(DM)remembered that He said this; and they believed ^(DN)the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem at ^(DO)the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, ^(DP)observing His signs which He was doing. ²⁴ But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for ^(DQ)He knew all men, ²⁵ and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, ^(DR)for He Himself knew what was in man.

The New Birth

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named ^(DS)Nicodemus, a ^(DT)ruler of the Jews; ² this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “^(DU)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these ^[ao](DV)signs that You do unless ^(DW)God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one ^(DX)is born ^[ap]again he cannot see ^(DY)the kingdom of God.”

⁴ Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of ^(DZ)water and the Spirit he cannot enter into ^(EA)the kingdom of God. ^6 (EB)That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born ^[aq]again.’ ^8 (EC)The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you ^(ED)the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(EE)we speak of what we know and ^(EF)testify of what we have seen, and ^(EG)you do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ^13 (EH)No one has ascended into heaven, but ^(EI)He who descended from heaven: ^(EJ)the Son of Man. ¹⁴ As ^(EK)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must ^(EL)the Son of Man ^(EM)be lifted up; ¹⁵ so that whoever ^[ar]believes will ^(EN)in Him have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For God so ^(EO)loved the world, that He ^(EP)gave His ^[as](EQ)only begotten Son, that whoever ^(ER)believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God ^(ES)did not send the Son into the world ^(ET)to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ^18 (EU)He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ^(EV)the ^[at]only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ This is the judgment, that ^(EW)the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for ^(EX)their deeds were evil. ^20 (EY)For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But he who ^(EZ)practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

John’s Last Testimony

²² After these things Jesus and His ^(FA)disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and ^(FB)baptizing. ²³ John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— ²⁴ for ^(FC)John had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵ Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about ^(FD)purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, “^(FE)Rabbi, He who was with you ^(FF)beyond the Jordan, to whom you ^(FG)have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” ²⁷ John answered and said, “^(FH)A man can receive nothing unless it ^(FI)has been given him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves ^[au]are my witnesses that I said, ‘^(FJ)I am not the ^[av]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ ²⁹ He who has the bride is ^(FK)the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this ^(FL)joy of mine has been made full. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.

³¹ “^(FM)He who comes from above is above all, ^(FN)he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. ^(FO)He who comes from heaven is above all. ³² What He has seen and heard, of that He ^(FP)testifies; and ^(FQ)no one receives His testimony. ³³ He who has received His testimony ^(FR)has set his seal to this, that God is true. ³⁴ For He whom God has ^(FS)sent speaks the words of God; ^[aw](FT)for He gives the Spirit without measure. ^35 (FU)The Father loves the Son and ^(FV)has given all things into His hand. ³⁶ He who ^(FW)believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who ^(FX)does not ^[ax]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Jesus Goes to Galilee

4 Therefore when ^(FY)the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and ^(FZ)baptizing more disciples than John ² (although ^(GA)Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His ^(GB)disciples were), ³ He left ^(GC)Judea and went away ^(GD)again into Galilee. ⁴ And He had to pass through ^(GE)Samaria. ⁵ So He *came to a city of ^(GF)Samaria called Sychar, near ^(GG)the parcel of ground that ^(GH)Jacob gave to his son Joseph; ⁶ and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about ^[ay]the sixth hour.

The Woman of Samaria

⁷ There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His ^(GI)disciples had gone away into ^(GJ)the city to buy food. ⁹ Therefore the ^(GK)Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For ^(GL)Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you ^(GM)living water.” ¹¹ She *said to Him, “^[az]Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that ^(GN)living water? ¹² You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who ^(GO)gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” ¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him ^(GP)shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to ^(GQ)eternal life.”

¹⁵ The woman *said to Him, “^[ba]Sir, ^(GR)give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” ¹⁶ He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” ¹⁷ The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” ¹⁹ The woman *said to Him, “^[bb]Sir, I perceive that You are ^(GS)a prophet. ^20 (GT)Our fathers worshiped in ^(GU)this mountain, and you people say that ^(GV)in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” ²¹ Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, ^(GW)an hour is coming when ^(GX)neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ^22 (GY)You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for ^(GZ)salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But ^(HA)an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^(HB)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. ²⁴ God is ^[bc]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship ^(HC)in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman *said to Him, “I know that ^(HD)Messiah is coming (^(HE)He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” ²⁶ Jesus *said to her, “^(HF)I who speak to you am He.”

²⁷ At this point His ^(HG)disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” ²⁸ So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, ²⁹ “Come, see a man ^(HH)who told me all the things that I have done; ^(HI)this is not ^[bd]the Christ, is it?” ³⁰ They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.

³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “^(HJ)Rabbi, eat.” ³² But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³ So the ^(HK)disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” ³⁴ Jesus *said to them, “My food is to ^(HL)do the will of Him who sent Me and to ^(HM)accomplish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white ^(HN)for harvest. ³⁶ Already he who reaps is receiving ^(HO)wages and is gathering ^(HP)fruit for ^(HQ)life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this case the saying is true, ‘^(HR)One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”

The Samaritans

³⁹ From ^(HS)that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “^(HT)He told me all the things that I have done.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. ⁴¹ Many more believed because of His word; ⁴² and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed ^(HU)the Savior of the world.”

⁴³ After ^(HV)the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. ⁴⁴ For Jesus Himself testified that ^(HW)a prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵ So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, ^(HX)having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

Healing a Nobleman’s Son

⁴⁶ Therefore He came again to ^(HY)Cana of Galilee ^(HZ)where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at ^(IA)Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come ^(IB)out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see ^[be](IC)signs and ^(ID)wonders, you simply will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The royal official *said to Him, “^[bf]Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus *said to him, “^(IE)Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. ⁵¹ As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his ^[bg]son was living. ⁵² So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the ^[bh]seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and ^(IF)his whole household. ⁵⁴ This is again a ^(IG)second ^[bi]sign that Jesus performed when He had ^(IH)come out of Judea into Galilee.