Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

The First Sign: Turning Water into Wine

2 On the third day a wedding took place in Cana^(A) of Galilee.^(B) Jesus’s mother^(C) was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. ³ When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.”

⁴ “What has this concern of yours to do with me,^[a](D) woman?”^(E) Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ “Do whatever he tells you,” his mother told the servants.

⁶ Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification.^(F) Each contained twenty or thirty gallons.^[b]

⁷ “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. ⁸ Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.”^[c] And they did.

⁹ When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom ¹⁰ and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.”

¹¹ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana^(G) of Galilee.^(H) He revealed^(I) his glory,^(J) and his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this, he went down to Capernaum,^(K) together with his mother, his brothers,^(L) and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.

Cleansing the Temple

¹³ The Jewish Passover^(M) was near, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.^{(N) 14} In the temple^(O) he found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and he also found the money changers sitting there. ¹⁵ After making a whip out of cords,^(P) he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep^(Q) and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. ¹⁶ He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s^(R) house^(S) into a marketplace!”^[d](T)

¹⁷ And his disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal^(U) for your house will consume^(V) me.^[e](W)

¹⁸ So the Jews replied to him, “What sign will you show us for doing these things?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple,^[f](X) and I will raise it up in three days.”^(Y)

²⁰ Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build,^[g] and will you raise it up in three days?” ^(Z)

²¹ But he was speaking about the temple of his body.^{(AA) 22} So when he was raised from the dead,^(AB) his disciples remembered that he had said this,^(AC) and they believed the Scripture^(AD) and the statement Jesus had made.

²³ While he was in Jerusalem^(AE) during the Passover Festival,^(AF) many believed in his name^(AG) when they saw the signs he was doing. ²⁴ Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all ²⁵ and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.^(AH)

Jesus and Nicodemus

3 There was a man from the Pharisees^(AI) named Nicodemus,^(AJ) a ruler^(AK) of the Jews. ² This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi,^(AL) we know that you are a teacher^(AM) who has come from God,^(AN) for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”^(AO)

³ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,^[h](AP) he cannot see the kingdom of God.”^(AQ)

⁴ “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born^(AR) of water and the Spirit,^(AS) he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ Whatever is born of the flesh^(AT) is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit^(AU) is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born^(AV) again. ⁸ The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.^(AW) So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^(AX)

⁹ “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

¹⁰ “Are you a teacher^[i] of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. ¹¹ “Truly I tell you,^(AY) we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended^(AZ) into heaven^(BA) except the one who descended from heaven^(BB) —the Son of Man.^[j](BC)

¹⁴ “Just as Moses^(BD) lifted up the snake in the wilderness,^(BE) so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him may^[k] have eternal life.^{(BF) 16} For God loved^(BG) the world in this way:^[l] He gave^[m] his one and only^(BH) Son,^(BI) so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.^{(BJ) 17} For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn^(BK) the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned,^(BL) because he has not believed in the name^(BM) of the one and only Son^(BN) of God. ¹⁹ This is the judgment: The light^(BO) has come into the world,^(BP) and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates^(BQ) the light and avoids it,^[n] so that his deeds^(BR) may not be exposed. ²¹ But anyone who lives by^[o] the truth comes to the light, so that his works^(BS) may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

Jesus and John the Baptist

²² After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent time with them and baptized.

²³ John^(BT) also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized, ²⁴ since John had not yet been thrown into prison.^(BU)

²⁵ Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples^(BV) and a Jew^[p] about purification.^{(BW) 26} So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi,^(BX) the one you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan,^(BY) is baptizing—and everyone is going to him.”^(BZ)

²⁷ John responded, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,^(CA) but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’^{(CB) 29} He who has the bride^(CC) is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly^[q] at the groom’s voice. So this joy^(CD) of mine is complete. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.”

The One from Heaven

³¹ The one who comes from above^(CE) is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms.^[r] The one who comes from heaven is above all.^{(CF) 32} He testifies^(CG) to what he has seen and heard, and yet no one accepts his testimony. ³³ The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true.^{(CH) 34} For the one whom God sent speaks God’s words, since he^[s] gives the Spirit^(CI) without measure. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son^(CJ) and has given all things into his hands.^{(CK) 36} The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son^[t] will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.^(CL)