John 3

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

²the same came unto him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him.

³Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

⁴Nicodemus saith unto 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?

⁵Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁷Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew.

⁸The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

⁹Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

¹⁰Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?

¹¹Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

¹²If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?

¹³And no one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven.

¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;

¹⁵that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.

¹⁷For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.

¹⁸He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.

¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.

²⁰For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved.

²¹But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God.

²²After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judæa; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

²³And John also was baptizing in Ænon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

²⁴For John was not yet cast into prison.

²⁵There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purifying.

²⁶And they came unto John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.

²⁷John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven.

²⁸Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him.

²⁹He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, that standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is made full.

³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.

³¹He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

³²What he hath seen and heard, of that he beareth witness; and no man receiveth his witness.

³³He that hath received his witness hath set his seal to this, that God is true.

³⁴For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for he giveth not the Spirit by measure.

³⁵The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

³⁶He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John 3

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.

²He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.”

³Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

⁴“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

⁶Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.

⁷Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’

⁸The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

⁹“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things?

¹¹Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony.

¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.

¹⁴Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

¹⁵that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

¹⁷For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

¹⁸Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

¹⁹And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

²¹But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”

²²After this, Jesus and His disciples went into the Judean countryside, where He spent some time with them and baptized.

²³Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because the water was plentiful there, and people kept coming to be baptized.

²⁴(For John had not yet been thrown into prison.)

²⁵Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the issue of ceremonial washing.

²⁶So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Look, Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about—He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.”

²⁷John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.

²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’

²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

³⁰He must increase; I must decrease.

³¹The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all.

³²He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony.

³³Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful.

³⁴For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

³⁵The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands.

³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”