¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ^(A)“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

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

^27 (A)It is He who, coming after me, ^[a]is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

^13 (A)You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.

^5 (A)of whom are the fathers and from ^(B)whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, ^(C)who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

^17 (A)And He is before all things, and in Him ^(B)all things consist.

¹⁸ And ^(A)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, ^(B)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.