JMNT(i)
28 "You folks, yourselves, repeatedly bear me witness (or: habitually testify for me) that I myself said, 'I am not the Christ (the Anointed One)!' But rather that, 'I am one having been sent forth as an emissary (one sent forth with a mission as a representative) in front of That One.'
29 "The One continually holding (or: constantly having) the bride is (exists being) a Bridegroom (or: [the] Bridegroom). Yet the friend of the Bridegroom – the man having taken a stand, and continuing standing, and continuously listening and hearing from Him in joy – is constantly rejoicing because of the Bridegroom’s voice! This joy – the one [that is] mine – has therefore been fulfilled (or: This, then, my joy, has been made full).
30 "It is necessary and binding for That One to be progressively growing and increasing, yet for me to be progressively less (or: continually made inferior).