rsv John:1-3. SEEK
Seeker Overlay ON
*
In the beginning was the Word ,
and the Word was with God ,
and the Word was God .
*
He was in the beginning with God ;
*
all things were made through him ,
and without him was not anything made that was made .
*
In him was life ,
and the life was the light of men .
*
The light shines in the darkness ,
and the darkness has not overcome it .
*
There was a man sent from God ,
whose name was John .
*
He came for testimony ,
to bear witness to the light ,
that all might believe through him .
*
He was not the light ,
but came to bear witness to the light .
*
The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world .
*
He was in the world ,
and the world was made through him ,
yet the world knew him not .
*
He came to his own home ,
and his own people received him not .
*
But to all who received him ,
who believed in his name ,
he gave power to become children of God ;
*
who were born ,
not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man ,
but of God .
*
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us ,
full of grace and truth ;
we have beheld his glory ,
glory as of the only Son from the Father .
* (
John bore witness to him ,
and cried , "
This was he of whom I said , `
He who comes after me ranks before me ,
for he was before me .'")
*
And from his fulness have we all received ,
grace upon grace .
*
For the law was given through Moses ;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ .
*
No one has ever seen God ;
the only Son ,
who is in the bosom of the Father ,
he has made him known .
*
And this is the testimony of John ,
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him , "
Who are you ?"
*
He confessed ,
he did not deny ,
but confessed , "
I am not the Christ ."
*
And they asked him , "
What then ?
Are you Elijah ?"
He said , "
I am not ." "
Are you the prophet ?"
And he answered , "
No ."
*
They said to him then , "
Who are you ?
Let us have an answer for those who sent us .
What do you say about yourself ?"
*
He said , "
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness , `
Make straight the way of the Lord ,'
as the prophet Isaiah said ."
*
Now they had been sent from the Pharisees .
*
They asked him , "
Then why are you baptizing ,
if you are neither the Christ ,
nor Elijah ,
nor the prophet ?"
*
John answered them , "
I baptize with water ;
but among you stands one whom you do not know ,
*
even he who comes after me ,
the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie ."
*
This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan ,
where John was baptizing .
*
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him ,
and said , "
Behold ,
the Lamb of God ,
who takes away the sin of the world !
*
This is he of whom I said , `
After me comes a man who ranks before me ,
for he was before me .'
*
I myself did not know him ;
but for this I came baptizing with water ,
that he might be revealed to Israel ."
*
And John bore witness , "
I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven ,
and it remained on him .
*
I myself did not know him ;
but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me , `
He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain ,
this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit .'
*
And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God ."
*
The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples ;
*
and he looked at Jesus as he walked ,
and said , "
Behold ,
the Lamb of God !"
*
The two disciples heard him say this ,
and they followed Jesus .
*
Jesus turned ,
and saw them following ,
and said to them , "
What do you seek ?"
And they said to him , "
Rabbi " (
which means Teacher ), "
where are you staying ?"
*
He said to them , "
Come and see ."
They came and saw where he was staying ;
and they stayed with him that day ,
for it was about the tenth hour .
*
One of the two who heard John speak ,
and followed him ,
was Andrew ,
Simon Peter '
s brother .
*
He first found his brother Simon ,
and said to him , "
We have found the Messiah " (
which means Christ ).
*
He brought him to Jesus .
Jesus looked at him ,
and said , "
So you are Simon the son of John ?
You shall be called Cephas " (
which means Peter ).
*
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee .
And he found Philip and said to him , "
Follow me ."
*
Now Philip was from Beth-sa '
ida ,
the city of Andrew and Peter .
*
Philip found Nathan '
a-el ,
and said to him , "
We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote ,
Jesus of Nazareth ,
the son of Joseph ."
*
Nathan '
a-el said to him , "
Can anything good come out of Nazareth ?"
Philip said to him , "
Come and see ."
*
Jesus saw Nathan '
a-el coming to him ,
and said of him , "
Behold ,
an Israelite indeed ,
in whom is no guile !"
*
Nathan '
a-el said to him , "
How do you know me ?"
Jesus answered him , "
Before Philip called you ,
when you were under the fig tree ,
I saw you ."
*
Nathan '
a-el answered him , "
Rabbi ,
you are the Son of God !
You are the King of Israel !"
*
Jesus answered him , "
Because I said to you ,
I saw you under the fig tree ,
do you believe ?
You shall see greater things than these ."
*
And he said to him , "
Truly ,
truly ,
I say to you ,
you will see heaven opened ,
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man ."
*
On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee ,
and the mother of Jesus was there ;
*
Jesus also was invited to the marriage ,
with his disciples .
*
When the wine failed ,
the mother of Jesus said to him , "
They have no wine ."
*
And Jesus said to her , "
O woman ,
what have you to do with me ?
My hour has not yet come ."
*
His mother said to the servants , "
Do whatever he tells you ."
*
Now six stone jars were standing there ,
for the Jewish rites of purification ,
each holding twenty or thirty gallons .
*
Jesus said to them , "
Fill the jars with water ."
And they filled them up to the brim .
*
He said to them , "
Now draw some out ,
and take it to the steward of the feast ."
So they took it .
*
When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine ,
and did not know where it came from (
though the servants who had drawn the water knew ),
the steward of the feast called the bridegroom
*
and said to him , "
Every man serves the good wine first ;
and when men have drunk freely ,
then the poor wine ;
but you have kept the good wine until now ."
*
This ,
the first of his signs ,
Jesus did at Cana in Galilee ,
and manifested his glory ;
and his disciples believed in him .
*
After this he went down to Caper '
na-um ,
with his mother and his brothers and his disciples ;
and there they stayed for a few days .
*
The Passover of the Jews was at hand ,
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem .
*
In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons ,
and the money-changers at their business .
*
And making a whip of cords ,
he drove them all ,
with the sheep and oxen ,
out of the temple ;
and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables .
*
And he told those who sold the pigeons , "
Take these things away ;
you shall not make my Father '
s house a house of trade ."
*
His disciples remembered that it was written , "
Zeal for thy house will consume me ."
*
The Jews then said to him , "
What sign have you to show us for doing this ?"
*
Jesus answered them , "
Destroy this temple ,
and in three days I will raise it up ."
*
The Jews then said , "
It has taken forty-six years to build this temple ,
and will you raise it up in three days ?"
*
But he spoke of the temple of his body .
*
When therefore he was raised from the dead ,
his disciples remembered that he had said this ;
and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken .
*
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast ,
many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did ;
*
but Jesus did not trust himself to them ,
*
because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man ;
for he himself knew what was in man .
*
Now there was a man of the Pharisees ,
named Nicode '
mus ,
a ruler of the Jews .
*
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him , "
Rabbi ,
we know that you are a teacher come from God ;
for no one can do these signs that you do ,
unless God is with him ."
*
Jesus answered him , "
Truly ,
truly ,
I say to you ,
unless one is born anew ,
he cannot see the kingdom of God ."
*
Nicode '
mus said to him , "
How can a man be born when he is old ?
Can he enter a second time into his mother '
s womb and be born ?"
*
Jesus answered , "
Truly ,
truly ,
I say to you ,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit ,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God .
*
That which is born of the flesh is flesh ,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit .
*
Do not marvel that I said to you , `
You must be born anew .'
*
The wind blows where it wills ,
and you hear the sound of it ,
but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes ;
so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit ."
*
Nicode '
mus said to him , "
How can this be ?"
*
Jesus answered him , "
Are you a teacher of Israel ,
and yet you do not understand this ?
*
Truly ,
truly ,
I say to you ,
we speak of what we know ,
and bear witness to what we have seen ;
but you do not receive our testimony .
*
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe ,
how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things ?
*
No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven ,
the Son of man .
*
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness ,
so must the Son of man be lifted up ,
*
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life ."
*
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son ,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life .
*
For God sent the Son into the world ,
not to condemn the world ,
but that the world might be saved through him .
*
He who believes in him is not condemned ;
he who does not believe is condemned already ,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God .
*
And this is the judgment ,
that the light has come into the world ,
and men loved darkness rather than light ,
because their deeds were evil .
*
For every one who does evil hates the light ,
and does not come to the light ,
lest his deeds should be exposed .
*
But he who does what is true comes to the light ,
that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God .
*
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea ;
there he remained with them and baptized .
*
John also was baptizing at Ae '
non near Salim ,
because there was much water there ;
and people came and were baptized .
*
For John had not yet been put in prison .
*
Now a discussion arose between John '
s disciples and a Jew over purifying .
*
And they came to John ,
and said to him , "
Rabbi ,
he who was with you beyond the Jordan ,
to whom you bore witness ,
here he is ,
baptizing ,
and all are going to him ."
*
John answered , "
No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven .
*
You yourselves bear me witness ,
that I said ,
I am not the Christ ,
but I have been sent before him .
*
He who has the bride is the bridegroom ;
the friend of the bridegroom ,
who stands and hears him ,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom '
s voice ;
therefore this joy of mine is now full .
*
He must increase ,
but I must decrease ."
*
He who comes from above is above all ;
he who is of the earth belongs to the earth ,
and of the earth he speaks ;
he who comes from heaven is above all .
*
He bears witness to what he has seen and heard ,
yet no one receives his testimony ;
*
he who receives his testimony sets his seal to this ,
that God is true .
*
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God ,
for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit ;
*
the Father loves the Son ,
and has given all things into his hand .
*
He who believes in the Son has eternal life ;
he who does not obey the Son shall not see life ,
but the wrath of God rests upon him .
*
Now when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John