John 3 Now there was a man named Nicodemus, who belonged to the party of the Pharisees and was a leader among the Jews.

Williams⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Now there was a man named Nicodemus, who belonged to the party of the Pharisees and was a leader among the Jews. ² He came to Jesus one night and said to Him, "Teacher, we know that you have come from God, for no one can perform the wonder-works that you are doing, unless God is with him." ³ Jesus answered him, "I most solemnly say to you, no one can ever see the kingdom of God, unless he is born from above." ⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot again enter his mother's womb and be born, can he?" ⁵ Jesus answered, "I most solemnly say to you, no one can ever get into the kingdom of God, unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Whatever is born of the physical is physical, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spiritual. ⁷ Never wonder at my telling you that you must all be born from above. ⁸ The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. That is just the way it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." ⁹ Then Nicodemus answered by asking, "How can this be?" ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel and do not know this? ¹¹ I most solemnly say to you, we know what we are talking about and we have seen what we are testifying to, yet you are all rejecting our testimony. ¹² If you do not believe the earthly things I tell you, how can you believe the heavenly things, if I tell you about them? ¹³ And yet no one has gone up into heaven except the Son of Man who came down out of heaven. ¹⁴ And just as Moses in the desert lifted the serpent on the pole, the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ "For God loved the world so much that He gave His Only Son, so that anyone who trusts in Him may never perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God sent His Son into the world, not to pass sentence on it, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ Whoever trusts in Him is never to come up for judgment, but whoever does not trust in Him has already received his sentence, because he has not trusted in the name of God's only Son. ¹⁹ And the ground for the sentence is this, that the light has come into the world, and yet, because their actions were evil, men have loved darkness more than the light. ²⁰ For anyone who is in the habit of doing wrong hates the light, and to keep his actions from being reproved, he does not come out into the daylight. ²¹ But whoever is in the habit of living the truth will come out in the daylight, that his actions may be shown to be performed with God's help." ²² After this, Jesus and His disciples went into Judea, and for some time He stayed there with them and kept baptizing people. ²³ But John too was baptizing people at Aenon, near Salim, for there was plenty of water there, and so the people were coming and being baptized. ²⁴ (For John had not yet been put in prison.) ²⁵ Then a discussion came up between John's disciples and a Jew about purification. ²⁶ And they went to John and said to him, "Teacher, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, to whom you bore testimony yourself, is baptizing people and everybody is going to Him." ²⁷ John answered, "A man cannot get anything, unless it is given to him from heaven. ²⁸ You can bear testimony to me yourselves that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent as His announcer.' ²⁹ It is the bridegroom who has the bride, but the bridegroom's friend, who stands outside and listens to him, is very happy to hear the bridegroom's voice. So this happiness of mine is running over. ³⁰ He must grow greater and greater, but I less and less." ³¹ He who comes from above is far above all others. He who springs from earth belongs to the earth and speaks of earth. He who comes from heaven is far above all others. ³² He continues to bear testimony to what He has actually seen and heard, and yet no one accepts His testimony. ³³ Whoever does accept His testimony has certified with a seal that God is true. ³⁴ For He whom God has sent continues to speak the words of God, for God continues to give Him the Spirit without measure. ³⁵ The Father loves His Son and has put everything in His hands. ³⁶ Whoever trusts in the Son possesses eternal life, but whoever refuses to trust in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God continues to remain on him.