John

Williams(i) 1 In the beginning the Word existed; and the Word was face to face with God; yea, the Word was God Himself. 2 He is the One who was face to face with God in the beginning. 3 It was through Him that everything came into existence, and apart from Him not a single thing came into existence. 4 It was by Him that life began to exist, and that life was the light of mankind. 5 So the light continues to shine in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it. 6 There appeared a man named John, sent from God. 7 He came for the purpose of testifying, to testify to the light, so that everyone through him might come to believe. 8 He was not the light; he came to testify to the light. 9 The real light, which sheds light upon everyone, was just coming into the world. 10 He came into the world, and though the world through Him began to exist, it did not recognize Him. 11 He came into His own world, but His own people did not welcome Him. 12 But to all who did accept Him, and trust in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God, 13 who were born of God and not of natural blood nor of physical or human impulse. 14 So the Word became human and lived a little while among us, and we actually saw His glory, the glory of One who is an only Son from His Father, and He was full of spiritual blessing and truth. 15 John testified to Him and cried out, for this was the one who said, "The One who is coming after me has been put before me, because He existed before me." 16 For from His bounty we have all received spiritual blessing after spiritual blessing. 17 For while the law was given through Moses, spiritual blessing and truth have come through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only son, Deity Himself, who lies upon His Father's breast, has made him known. 19 Now this is the testimony which John gave when the Jews sent priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem, to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 He frankly admitted, and did not try at all to deny it; yes, he frankly admitted, "I am not the Christ." 21 So they asked him again, "What are you then? Elijah?" And he answered, "Of course, I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." 22 Then they said to him, "Who are you? Tell us, so that we can have an answer to give to those who sent us. What have you to say for yourself?" 23 He said, "I am a voice of one shouting in the desert, 'Make the road straight for the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said." 24 Now the messengers belonged to the party of the Pharisees; 25 so they asked him, "Why are you baptizing then, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" 26 John answered them, "I am baptizing only in water. There is standing among you One with whom you are not acquainted. 27 He is to become my successor, because He has been put before me, and I am not fit to untie His shoestrings." 28 This took place at Bethany on the farther side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said, "Look! He is the Lamb of God who is to take away the world's sin. 30 This is the One about whom I said, 'After me there is coming a man who has already been put before me, because He existed before me.' 31 I did not know Him myself, but I came baptizing in water, that He might be made known to Israel." 32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him. 33 I did not know Him myself, but the very One who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'The One on whom you see the Spirit coming down and remaining, is the One who is to baptize in the Holy Spirit.' 34 I did see it; and my testimony is that He is the Son of God." 35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he saw Jesus passing by he said, "Look! He is the Lamb of God!" 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and so they followed Jesus. 38 Now Jesus turned, and as He saw them following Him, He said, "What are you looking for?" They said to Him, "Rabbi," (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39 He 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. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means, the Christ). 42 Then he took him to Jesus. Jesus looked him over and said, "You are Simon, son of John. From now on your name shall be Cephas" (which means Peter, or Rock). 43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. So He sought out Philip and said to him, "Follow me." 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip sought out Nathaniel and said to him, "We have found the One about whom Moses wrote in the law and the One about whom the prophets wrote; it is Jesus, the son of Joseph, who comes from Nazareth." 46 Then Nathaniel said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward Him, and said of him, "Here is a genuine Israelite with no deceit in him!" 48 Nathaniel said to Him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "While you were still under the fig tree, before Philip called you, I saw you." 49 Nathaniel answered Him, "Teacher, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel!" 50 Jesus answered him, "Do you believe in me because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." 51 Then He said to him, "I most solemnly say to you all, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up, and coming down upon the Son of Man!"