Gospel according to John 1

¹ In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

² He was with God in the beginning.

³ Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him.

⁴ All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men,

⁵ a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower[*a].

⁶ A man came, sent by God. His name was John.

⁷ He came as a witness, as a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him.

⁸ He was not the light, only a witness to speak for the light.

⁹ The Word was the true light that enlightens all men; and he was coming into the world.

¹⁰ He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him.

¹¹ He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him.

¹² But to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to all who believe in the name of him

¹³ who was born not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man but of God himself.

¹⁴ The Word was made flesh, he lived among us[*b], and we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ John appears as his witness. He proclaims: ‘This is the one of whom I said: He who comes after me ranks before me because he existed before me’.

¹⁶ Indeed, from his fulness we have, all of us, received – yes, grace in return for grace,

¹⁷ since, though the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

¹⁹ This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews[*c] sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’

²⁰ he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ’.

²¹ ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?'[*d] ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the Prophet?'[*e] He answered, ‘No’.

²² So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’

²³ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied: a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord’.[*f]

²⁴ Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees,

²⁵ and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’

²⁶ John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you –

²⁷ the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap’.

²⁸ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.

²⁹ The next day, seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

³⁰ This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me.

³¹ I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’

³² John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him.

³³ I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit”.

³⁴ Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

³⁵ On the following day as John stood there again with two of his disciples,

³⁶ Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God’.

³⁷ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus.

³⁸ Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher -‘where do you live?’

³⁹ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour[*g].

⁴⁰ One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.

⁴¹ Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the Christ –

⁴² and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.

⁴³ The next day, after Jesus had decided to leave for Galilee, he met Philip and said, ‘Follow me’.

⁴⁴ Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida, as Andrew and Peter.

⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael[*h] and said to him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth’.

⁴⁶ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see’ replied Philip.

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit’.

⁴⁸ ‘How do you know me?’ said Nathanael ‘Before Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel’.

⁵⁰ Jesus replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. so You will see greater things than that.’

⁵¹ And then he added ‘I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending’.