John 1Book 43 of 66 · 51 verses · MBT primary, NKJV fallback where MBT pending

  1. In the beginning, the Word already was — face-to-face with God, and Himself God.
  2. He was there, in the beginning, with God.
  3. Through Him everything came to be. Without Him, not one thing that exists came into being.
  4. In Him was life, and that life was the light of every person.
  5. The light keeps shining into the darkness, and the darkness has never overcome it — nor understood it.
  6. A man came, sent from God. His name was John.
  7. He came as a witness — to testify about the Light, so that through him, everyone might come to believe.
  8. He himself was not the Light; he was sent to bear witness to the Light.
  9. The true Light — the Light that gives light to every person — was now coming into the world.
  10. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him.
  11. He came to what was His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
  12. But to all who received Him — all who believed on His name — He gave the right to become children of God,
  13. born not from bloodlines, nor from human desire, nor from a husband's will, but born of God Himself.
  14. And the Word became flesh. He pitched His tent among us, and we saw His glory with our own eyes — the glory of the Father's one-and-only Son, full of grace and full of truth.
  15. John testified about Him and called out: "This is the One I was speaking of when I said, 'The One coming after me has outranked me, because He existed before me.'"
  16. From His fullness we have all received — one grace piled on another, grace in exchange for grace.
  17. The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
  18. No one has ever seen God. The one-and-only Son, Himself God, who rests at the Father's side — He is the One who has made Him known.
  19. This is the testimony of John, when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
  20. He confessed it openly; he did not deny, but confessed: "I am not the Christ."
  21. So they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
  22. Then they said, "Who are you — so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?"
  23. He said, "I am the voice of one calling out in the wilderness: 'Make the way of the Lord straight,' just as the prophet Isaiah said."
  24. Now those who had been sent were from the Pharisees.
  25. They pressed him: "Why then are you baptizing — if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
  26. John answered them, "I baptize with water. But standing among you is One you do not know —
  27. the One coming after me, whose sandal-strap I am not worthy to untie."
  28. These things happened in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
  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 was speaking of when I said, 'A man is coming after me who has outranked me, because He existed before me.'
  31. I myself did not know who He was — but the reason I came baptizing with water was so that He might be revealed to Israel."
  32. Then John testified: "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained on Him.
  33. I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'The One on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain — He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
  34. And I have seen it. I testify: this is the Son of God."
  35. The next day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples,
  36. and as he watched Jesus walking by, he said, "Look — the Lamb of God!"
  37. The two disciples heard him say it and followed Jesus.
  38. Jesus turned and saw them following, and asked them, "What are you looking for?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which translates 'Teacher'), "where are You staying?"
  39. He told them, "Come, and you will see." So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
  40. Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who had heard John and followed Jesus.
  41. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translates 'the Christ').
  42. He brought him to Jesus. Looking at him, Jesus said, "You are Simon, son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which translates 'Peter').
  43. The next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and told him, "Follow Me."
  44. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.
  45. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law — and the Prophets, too — Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph."
  46. Nathanael said to him, "From Nazareth? Can anything good come out of there?" Philip said, "Come and see."
  47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said about him, "Look — a true Israelite, a man in whom there is no deceit!"
  48. Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered, "Before Philip called you, when you were still under the fig tree, I saw you."
  49. Nathanael answered, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
  50. Jesus answered him, "You believe because I said I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these."
  51. And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I tell you — you will all see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."