| John 1 The Word Became Flesh 1 In the beginning was the Word , and the Word was with God , and the Word was God . 2 He was with God in the beginning . 3 Through him all things were made ; without him nothing was made that has been made . 4 In him was life , and that life was the light of men . 5 The light shines in the darkness , but the darkness has not understood[a ] it . 6 There came a man who was sent from God ; his name was John . 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light , so that through him all men might believe . 8 He himself was not the light ; he came only as a witness to the light . 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world . [ b ] 10 He was in the world , and though the world was made through him , the world did not recognize him . 11 He came to that which was his own , but his own did not receive him . 12 Yet to all who received him , to those who believed in his name , he gave the right to become children of God — 13 children born not of natural descent , [ c ] nor of human decision or a husband 's will , but born of God . 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us . We have seen his glory , the glory of the One and Only , [ d ] who came from the Father , full of grace and truth . 15 John testifies concerning him . He cries out , saying , “ This was he of whom I said , ‘ He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me . ' ” 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another . 17 For the law was given through Moses ; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ . 18 No one has ever seen God , but God the One and Only , [ e][f ] who is at the Father 's side , has made him known . John the Baptist Denies Being the Christ 19 Now this was John 's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was . 20 He did not fail to confess , but confessed freely , “ I am not the Christ . [ g ] ” 21 They asked him , “ Then who are you ? Are you Elijah ? ” He said , “ I am not . ” “ Are you the Prophet ? ” He answered , “ No. ” 22 Finally they said , “ Who are you ? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us . What do you say about yourself ? ” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet , “ I am the voice of one calling in the desert , ‘ Make straight the way for the Lord . '”[h ] 24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him , “ Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ , nor Elijah , nor the Prophet ? ” 26 “ I baptize with[i ] water , ” John replied , “ but among you stands one you do not know . 27 He is the one who comes after me , the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie . ” 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan , where John was baptizing . Jesus the Lamb of God 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said , “ Look , the Lamb of God , who takes away the sin of the world ! 30 This is the one I meant when I said , ‘ A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me . ' 31 I myself did not know him , but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel . ” 32 Then John gave this testimony : “ I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him . 33 I would not have known him , except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me , ‘ The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit . ' 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God . ” Jesus ' First Disciples 35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples . 36 When he saw Jesus passing by , he said , “ Look , the Lamb of God ! ” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this , they followed Jesus . 38 Turning around , Jesus saw them following and asked , “ What do you want ? ” They said , “ Rabbi ” ( which means Teacher ) , “ where are you staying ? ” 39 “ Come , ” he replied , “ and you will see . ” So they went and saw where he was staying , and spent that day with him . It was about the tenth hour . 40 Andrew , Simon Peter 's brother , was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus . 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him , “ We have found the Messiah ” ( that is , the Christ ) . 42 And he brought him to Jesus . Jesus looked at him and said , “ You are Simon son of John . You will be called Cephas ” ( which , when translated , is Peter[j ] ) . Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael 43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee . Finding Philip , he said to him , “ Follow me . ” 44 Philip , like Andrew and Peter , was from the town of Bethsaida . 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him , “ We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law , and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth , the son of Joseph . ” 46 “ Nazareth ! Can anything good come from there ? ” Nathanael asked . “ Come and see , ” said Philip . 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching , he said of him , “ Here is a true Israelite , in whom there is nothing false . ” 48 “ How do you know me ? ” Nathanael asked . Jesus answered , “ I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you . ” 49 Then Nathanael declared , “ Rabbi , you are the Son of God ; you are the King of Israel . ” 50 Jesus said , “ You believe[k ] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree . You shall see greater things than that . ” 51 He then added , “ I tell you[l ] the truth , you[m ] shall see heaven open , and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man . ” John 2 Jesus Changes Water to Wine 1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee . Jesus ' mother was there , 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding . 3 When the wine was gone , Jesus ' mother said to him , “ They have no more wine . ” 4 “ Dear woman , why do you involve me ? ” Jesus replied . “ My time has not yet come . ” 5 His mother said to the servants , “ Do whatever he tells you . ” 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars , the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing , each holding from twenty to thirty gallons . [ a ] 7 Jesus said to the servants , “ Fill the jars with water ” ; so they filled them to the brim . 8 Then he told them , “ Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet . ” They did so , 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine . He did not realize where it had come from , though the servants who had drawn the water knew . Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said , “ Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink ; but you have saved the best till now . ” 11 This , the first of his miraculous signs , Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee . He thus revealed his glory , and his disciples put their faith in him . Jesus Clears the Temple 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples . There they stayed for a few days. 13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover , Jesus went up to Jerusalem . 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle , sheep and doves , and others sitting at tables exchanging money . 15 So he made a whip out of cords , and drove all from the temple area , both sheep and cattle ; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables . 16 To those who sold doves he said , “ Get these out of here ! How dare you turn my Father 's house into a market ! ” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written : “ Zeal for your house will consume me . ” [ b ] 18 Then the Jews demanded of him , “ What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this ? ” 19 Jesus answered them , “ Destroy this temple , and I will raise it again in three days. ” 20 The Jews replied , “ It has taken forty-six years to build this temple , and you are going to raise it in three days ? ” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body . 22 After he was raised from the dead , his disciples recalled what he had said . Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken . 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast , many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name . [ c ] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them , for he knew all men . 25 He did not need man 's testimony about man , for he knew what was in a man . |