John 1 - New International Version (NIV)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word,^(A) and the Word was with God,^(B) and the Word was God.^{(C) 2} He was with God in the beginning.^{(D) 3} Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.^{(E) 4} In him was life,^(F) and that life was the light^(G) of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness,^(H) and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.^(I)

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John.^{(J) 7} He came as a witness to testify^(K) concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.^{(L) 8} He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light^(M) that gives light to everyone^(N) was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him,^(O) the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.^{(P) 12} Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed^(Q) in his name,^(R) he gave the right to become children of God^(S)— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.^(T)

¹⁴ The Word became flesh^(U) and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,^(V) the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace^(W) and truth.^(X)

¹⁵ (John testified^(Y) concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)^{(Z) 16} Out of his fullness^(AA) we have all received grace^(AB) in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses;^(AC) grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.^{(AD) 18} No one has ever seen God,^(AE) but the one and only Son, who is himself God and^[b](AF) is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

¹⁹ Now this was John’s^(AG) testimony when the Jewish leaders^[c](AH) in 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 Messiah.”^(AI)

²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”^(AJ)

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”^(AK)

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 wilderness,^(AL) ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”^[d](AM)

²⁴ Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ “I baptize with^[e] water,”^(AN) John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me,^(AO) the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”^(AP)

²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan,^(AQ) where John was baptizing.

John Testifies About Jesus

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God,^(AR) who takes away the sin of the world!^{(AS) 30} This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’^{(AT) 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.^{(AU) 33} And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water^(AV) told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’^{(AW) 34} I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”^[f](AX)

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus^(AY)

³⁵ The next day John^(AZ) was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”^(BA)

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”^(BB) (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 they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

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).^{(BC) 42} And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called^(BD) Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter^[g]).^(BE)

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip,^(BF) he said to him, “Follow me.”^(BG)

⁴⁴ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.^{(BH) 45} Philip found Nathanael^(BI) and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,^(BJ) and about whom the prophets also wrote^(BK)—Jesus of Nazareth,^(BL) the son of Joseph.”^(BM)

⁴⁶ “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”^(BN) Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite^(BO) in whom there is no deceit.”^(BP)

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,^(BQ) you are the Son of God;^(BR) you are the king of Israel.”^(BS)

⁵⁰ Jesus said, “You believe^[h] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹ He then added, “Very truly I tell you,^[i] you^[j] will see ‘heaven open,^(BT) and the angels of God ascending and descending^(BU) on’^[k] the Son of Man.”^(BV)

Footnotes

1. John 1:5 Or understood
2. John 1:18 Some manuscripts but the only Son, who
3. John 1:19 The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19.
4. John 1:23 Isaiah 40:3
5. John 1:26 Or in; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice)
6. John 1:34 See Isaiah 42:1; many manuscripts is the Son of God.
7. John 1:42 Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) both mean rock.
8. John 1:50 Or Do you believe … ?
9. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
10. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
11. John 1:51 Gen. 28:12

Cross references

1. John 1:1 : Isa 55:11; Rev 19:13
2. John 1:1 : Jn 17:5; 1Jn 1:2
3. John 1:1 : Php 2:6
4. John 1:2 : Ge 1:1; Jn 8:58; 17:5, 24; 1Jn 1:1; Rev 1:8
5. John 1:3 : ver 10; 1Co 8:6; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2
6. John 1:4 : S Jn 5:26; 6:57; 11:25; 14:6; Ac 3:15; Heb 7:16; 1Jn 1:1, 2; 5:20; Rev 1:18
7. John 1:4 : Ps 36:9; Jn 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46
8. John 1:5 : Ps 18:28
9. John 1:5 : Jn 3:19
10. John 1:6 : S Mt 3:1
11. John 1:7 : ver 15, 19, 32; Jn 3:26; 5:33
12. John 1:7 : ver 12; S Jn 3:15
13. John 1:9 : 1Jn 2:8
14. John 1:9 : Isa 49:6
15. John 1:10 : S ver 3
16. John 1:11 : Isa 53:3
17. John 1:12 : ver 7; S Jn 3:15
18. John 1:12 : S 1Jn 3:23
19. John 1:12 : Dt 14:1; S Ro 8:14; 8:16, 21; Eph 5:1; 1Jn 3:1, 2
20. John 1:13 : Jn 3:6; Tit 3:5; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:23; 1Jn 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4
21. John 1:14 : Gal 4:4; Php 2:7, 8; 1Ti 3:16; Heb 2:14; 1Jn 1:1, 2; 4:2
22. John 1:14 : Ex 33:18; 40:34
23. John 1:14 : S Ro 3:24
24. John 1:14 : Jn 14:6
25. John 1:15 : ver 7
26. John 1:15 : ver 30; Mt 3:11
27. John 1:16 : Eph 1:23; Col 1:19; 2:9
28. John 1:16 : S Ro 3:24
29. John 1:17 : Dt 32:46; Jn 7:19
30. John 1:17 : ver 14
31. John 1:18 : Ex 33:20; Jn 6:46; Col 1:15; 1Ti 6:16; 1Jn 4:12
32. John 1:18 : Jn 3:16, 18; 1Jn 4:9
33. John 1:19 : S Mt 3:1
34. John 1:19 : Jn 2:18; 5:10, 16; 6:41, 52; 7:1; 10:24
35. John 1:20 : Jn 3:28; Lk 3:15, 16
36. John 1:21 : S Mt 11:14
37. John 1:21 : Dt 18:15
38. John 1:23 : Mt 3:1
39. John 1:23 : Isa 40:3
40. John 1:26 : S Mk 1:4
41. John 1:27 : ver 15, 30
42. John 1:27 : Mk 1:7
43. John 1:28 : Jn 3:26; 10:40
44. John 1:29 : ver 36; Ge 22:8; Isa 53:7; 1Pe 1:19; Rev 5:6; 13:8
45. John 1:29 : S Jn 3:17
46. John 1:30 : ver 15, 27
47. John 1:32 : Mt 3:16
48. John 1:33 : S Mk 1:4
49. John 1:33 : S Mk 1:8
50. John 1:34 : ver 49; S Mt 4:3
51. John 1:35 : 1:40-42pp — Mt 4:18-22; Mk 1:16-20; Lk 5:2-11
52. John 1:35 : S Mt 3:1
53. John 1:36 : S ver 29
54. John 1:38 : ver 49; S Mt 23:7
55. John 1:41 : Jn 4:25
56. John 1:42 : Ge 17:5, 15; 32:28; 35:10
57. John 1:42 : Mt 16:18
58. John 1:43 : Mt 10:3; Jn 6:5-7; 12:21, 22; 14:8, 9
59. John 1:43 : S Mt 4:19
60. John 1:44 : S Mt 11:21
61. John 1:45 : Jn 21:2
62. John 1:45 : S Lk 24:27
63. John 1:45 : S Lk 24:27
64. John 1:45 : S Mk 1:24
65. John 1:45 : Lk 3:23
66. John 1:46 : Jn 7:41, 42, 52
67. John 1:47 : Ro 9:4, 6
68. John 1:47 : Ps 32:2
69. John 1:49 : ver 38; S Mt 23:7
70. John 1:49 : ver 34; S Mt 4:3
71. John 1:49 : S Mt 2:2; 27:42; Jn 12:13
72. John 1:51 : S Mt 3:16
73. John 1:51 : Ge 28:12
74. John 1:51 : S Mt 8:20