Chapter 1

¹In the beginning the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was divine.

²It was he that was with God in the beginning. ³Everything came into existence through him, and apart from him nothing came to be. ⁴It was by him that life came into existence, and that life was the light of mankind. ⁵The light is still shining in the darkness, for the darkness has never put it out.

⁶There appeared a man by the name of John, with a message from God. ⁷He came to give testimony, to testify to the light, so that everyone might come to believe in it through him. ⁸He was not the light; he came to testify to the light.

⁹The real light, which sheds light upon everyone, was just coming into the world. ¹⁰He came into the world, and though the world came into existence through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹He came to his home, and his own family did not welcome him. ¹²But to all who did receive him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³owing their birth not to nature nor to any human or physical impulse, but to God.

¹⁴So the Word became flesh and blood and lived for a while among us, abounding in blessing and truth, and we saw the honor God had given him, such honor as an only son receives from his father. ¹⁵(John testified to him and cried out—for it was he who said it—“He who was to come after me is now ahead of me, for he existed before me!”)

¹⁶For from his abundance we have all had a share, and received blessing after blessing. ¹⁷For while the Law was given through Moses, blessing and truth came to us through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God; it is the divine Only Son, who leans upon his Father’s breast, that has made him known.

¹⁹Now this is the testimony that John gave when the Jews sent priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem to ask him who he was. ²⁰He admitted—he made no attempt to deny it—he admitted that he was not the Christ. ²¹Then they asked him,

“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”

He said,

“No, I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered,

“No.”

²²Then they said to him,

“Who are you? We must have some answer to give those who sent us here. What have you to say for yourself?”

²³He said,

“I am a voice of one shouting in the desert, ‘Straighten the Lord’s way!’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴Now the messengers were Pharisees. ²⁵And they asked him,

“Then why are you baptizing people, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶“I am only baptizing in water,” John answered, “but someone is standing among you of whom you do not know. ²⁷He is to come after me, and I am not worthy to undo his shoe!”

²⁸This took place at Bethany, on the farther side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said,

“There is God’s lamb, who is to remove the world’s sin! ³⁰This is the man of whom I spoke when I said, ‘After me there is coming a man who is even now ahead of me, for he existed before me.’ ³¹I did not know him, but it is in order that he may be made known to Israel that I have come and baptized people in water.”

³²And John gave this testimony:

“I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove, and it remained upon him. ³³I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain, is the one who is to baptize in the holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I did see it, and I testify that he is the Son of God.”

³⁵Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and looking at Jesus as he passed, he said,

“There is God’s lamb!”

³⁷The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸But Jesus turned, and seeing them following him he said,

“What do you want?”

They said to him,

“Rabbi”—that is to say, Master—“Where are you staying?”

³⁹He said to them,

“Come and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent the rest of the day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John said and followed Jesus. ⁴¹Andrew immediately sought out his own brother Simon and said to him,

“We have found the Messiah!”—that is to say, the Christ.

⁴²He took him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said,

“You are Simon, son of John. You shall be called Cephas”—that is, Peter, which means rock.

⁴³The next day Jesus determined to leave for Galilee. And he sought out Philip and said to him,

“Come with me.”

⁴⁴Now Philip came from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip sought out Nathanael, and said to him,

“We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the Law and about whom the prophets wrote; it is Jesus, the son of Joseph, who comes from Nazareth!”

⁴⁶Nathanael said to him,

“Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Philip said to him,

“Come and see!”

⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, and he said of him,

“Here is really an Israelite without any deceit in him!”

⁴⁸Nathanael said to him,

“How do you know me?”

Jesus answered,

“While you were still under that fig tree, before Philip called you I saw you.”

⁴⁹Nathanael answered,

“Master, you are the Son of God! You are king of Israel!”

⁵⁰Jesus answered,

“Do you believe in me because I told you that I had seen you under that fig tree? You will see greater things than that!” ⁵¹And he said to him, “I tell you all, you will see heaven opened and God’s angels going up, and coming down to the Son of Man!”