John 1:1-28
1In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2He existed in the beginning with God.
3God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4The Word gave life to everything that was created,
John 1:3-4 Or and nothing that was created was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything.
and his life brought light to everyone.
5The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John 1:5 Or and the darkness has not understood it.
6God sent a man, John the Baptist,7to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
John 1:6 Greek a man named John.
10He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
John 1:14a Greek became flesh.
John 1:14b Or grace and truth; also in 1:17.
15John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”
16From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.17For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
John 1:16 Or received the grace of Christ rather than the grace of the law; Greek reads received grace upon grace.
John 1:18 Some manuscripts read But the one and only Son.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” 20He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.”
John 1:19 Greek and Levites.
21“Well then, who are you?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”
“No,” he replied.
“Are you the Prophet we are expecting?”
John 1:21 Greek Are you the Prophet? See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
“No.”
22“Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”
23John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’”
John 1:23 Isa 40:3.
24Then the Pharisees who had been sent 25asked him, “If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?”
26John told them, “I baptize with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. 27Though his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.”
John 1:26 Or in; also in 1:31, 33.
28This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
New Living, NLT, and the New Living Translation logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers. www.tyndale.com
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