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Capter
1
The Word Became Flesh
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 were made; without
him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and that life was the
light of men.
5 The light shines in the darkness, but
the darkness has not understood it.
6 There came a man who was sent from God;
his name was John.
7 He came as a witness to testify concerning
that light, so that through him all men might believe.
8 He himself was not the light; he came
only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to every
man was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and though the
world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
11 He came to that which was his own,
but his own did not receive him.
12 Yet to all who received him, to those
who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God--
13 children born not of natural descent,
nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and
Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries
out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after
me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after
another.
17 For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God, but God the
One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
John the Baptist Denies Being the Christ
19 Now this was John's testimony when
the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed
freely, "I am not the Christ."
21 They asked him, "Then who are
you? Are you Elijah?"
He said, "I am not."
"Are you the Prophet?"
He answered, "No."
22 Finally they said, "Who are you?
Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say
about yourself?"
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah
the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make
straight the way for the Lord.' "
24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent
25 questioned him, "Why then do you
baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
26 "I baptize with water," John
replied, "but among you stands one you do not know.
27 He is the one who comes after me, the
thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."
28 This all happened at Bethany on the
other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Jesus the Lamb of God
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming
toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the
sin of the world!
30 This is the one I meant when I said,
'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'
31 I myself did not know him, but the
reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to
Israel."
32 Then John gave this testimony: "I
saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.
33 I would not have known him, except
that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on
whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize
with the Holy Spirit.'
34 I have seen and I testify that this
is the Son of God."
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