John:1

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* The Word already was , way back before anything began to be . The Word and God were together . The Word was God . * Before anything began to be , the Word was there with God . * God made everything by the Word . Nothing has been made without him . * Life was in the Word . That life was Light for people . * The Light shone where it was dark and the darkness did not stop the Light from shining . * God sent a man named John . * He came to talk about the Light , so that all people might believe in the Light by what he said . * He himself was not that Light , but he was sent to talk about the Light . * The true Light which gives light to every person who comes into the world . * He , the Word , was in the world . Yes , he even made the world . And yet the world did not know him . * He came into the world that was his own , but his own people did not receive him . * But there were people who did believe in his name . They did receive him . He gave all those who received him and believed him the right to become children of God . * They were born into Gods family by God . That is , they were not born into his family in the way a person is born into this world . It was not by any persons will . * The Word became man and he lived among us . We saw with our own eyes that he is great . He is great the way God the Father made his only Son great . We saw that he is full of loving kindness and truth . * John talked about him . He called out saying , Here is the man I told you about . I said that the one who is coming after me is greater than I am , because he lived before I lived . * He was full of loving kindness , and we have all received so much kindness from him . * Moses gave the law , but Jesus Christ gave this loving kindness and truth . * No one has ever seen God . But his only Son is very near to his Fathers heart . He has told us plainly about God . * The leaders of the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem . They asked John , Who are you ? John told them . * He did not hide the truth , but he told people plainly . He said , I am not the Christ . * So they asked him , Well then , are you Elijah ? He answered , No , I am not . They asked , Are you the Prophet ? He answered , No . * Then those priests said , Who are you ? We want to give an answer to the people who sent us . What do you say about yourself ? * John said , I am a voice calling in the desert , "Make the road straight for the Lord ." This is what was said by Isaiah , the prophet of God long ago . * It was the Pharisees who had sent these people to John . * So they asked him , If you are not the Christ , nor Elijah , nor the Prophet , why then are you baptizing ? * John answered , I baptize people in water . But there is a man standing among you whom you do not know . * He is the one coming after me who is greater than I am . I am not even good enough to untie his shoe strings . * The place where John was baptizing was Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River . * The next day John saw Jesus coming to him . Look , said John . See Gods special Lamb ! He takes away the wrong ways of the world . * Here is the man I told you about . I said that the one who is coming after me is greater than I am , because he lived before I lived . * I myself did not know who he was . But I came and baptized people in water so that the people of Israel would know who he was . * John also said , I saw the Spirit coming from the sky . He came down on him like a dove . It stayed on him . * I myself did not know who he was . But he who sent me to baptize people in water told me . He said , "You will see the Spirit coming from the sky on a man . That man will baptize people in the Holy Spirit ." * I saw the Spirit coming on him , and I have told you . This man is the Son of God . * The next day , John was standing with two of his followers . * Jesus walked by . When John saw him , he said , Look , see Gods Lamb ! * The two followers heard what John said , so they went after Jesus . * Jesus turned . He saw them coming after him . He said to them , What are you looking for ? They said , Teacher , where do you live ? * Jesus said , Come and see . They went and saw the place where Jesus was staying . The time was about four oclock in the afternoon . They stayed with Jesus the rest of the day . * Andrew was one of those two followers of John who heard John speak and went after Jesus . He was Simon Peters brother . * The first thing Andrew did then was to find his brother Simon . He said , We have found the Messiah ! (Messiah means the Christ , the messenger of God .) * Andrew brought Simon to Jesus . Jesus looked at him and said , You are Simon , the son of John . Your name will be Cephas . (Cephas means Peter , a rock or stone .) * The next day Jesus said , I will go to Galilee . He found Philip and said to him , Come with me . * Philip was from the town of Bethsaida . Andrew and Peter were also from that town . * Philip went to find Nathanael . He said We have found the man about whom Moses wrote in the books of the law . The prophets also wrote about him . He is Jesus , from Nazareth . He is the son of Joseph . * Nathanael said , From Nazareth ? Can any good thing come from there ? Philip said , Come and see for yourself . * Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him . He said , Here is a man who is truly of Israel . He does not fool people . * Nathanael asked , How do you know me ? Jesus answered , I saw you when you were under the fig tree . That was before Philip called you . * Nathanael said , Teacher , you are the Son of God . You are the King of Israel . * Jesus answered , I told you that I saw you under the fig tree . Is that why you believe in me now ? You will see more wonderful things than that ! * I tell you the truth , said Jesus . You will see heaven open . You will see Gods angels going up and down to the Son of Man .

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