John 3
1 Now there was one of the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus--a ruler among the Jews.
Now there was among the Pharisees a man named Nicodemus, who was one of the rulers of the Jews.
2 He came to Jesus by night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God; for no one can do these miracles which you are doing, unless God is with him.
He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we are certain that you have come from God as a teacher, because no man would be able to do these signs which you do if God was not with him.
3 "In most solemn truth I tell you," answered Jesus, "that unless a man is born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God."
Jesus said to him, Truly, I say to you, Without a new birth no man is able to see the kingdom of God.
4 "How is it possible," Nicodemus asked, "for a man to be born when he is old? Can he a second time enter his mother's womb and be born?"
Nicodemus said to him, How is it possible for a man to be given birth when he is old? Is he able to go into his mother's body a second time and come to birth again?
5 "In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
Jesus said in answer, Truly, I say to you, If a man's birth is not from water and from the Spirit, it is not possible for him to go into the kingdom of God.
6 Whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever has been born of the Spirit is spirit.
That which has birth from the flesh is flesh, and that which has birth from the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not be astonished at my telling you, 'You must all be born anew.'
Do not be surprised that I say to you, It is necessary for you to have a second birth.
8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So is it with every one who has been born of the Spirit."
The wind goes where its pleasure takes it, and the sound of it comes to your ears, but you are unable to say where it comes from and where it goes: so it is with everyone whose birth is from the Spirit.
9 "How is all this possible?" asked Nicodemus.
And Nicodemus said to him, How is it possible for these things to be?
10 "Are you," replied Jesus, "'the Teacher of Israel,' and yet do you not understand these things?
And Jesus, answering, said, Are you the teacher of Israel and have no knowledge of these things?
11 In most solemn truth I tell you that we speak what we know, and give testimony of that of which we were eye-witnesses, and yet you all reject our testimony.
Truly, I say to you, We say that of which we have knowledge; we give witness of what we have seen; and you do not take our witness to be true.
12 If I have told you earthly things and none of you believe me, how will you believe me if I tell you of things in Heaven?
If you have no belief when my words are about the things of earth, how will you have belief if my words are about the things of heaven?
13 There is no one who has gone up to Heaven, but there is One who has come down from Heaven, namely the Son of Man whose home is in Heaven.
And no one has ever gone up to heaven but he who came down from heaven, the Son of man.
14 And just as Moses lifted high the serpent in the Desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
As the snake was lifted up by Moses in the waste land, even so it is necessary for the Son of man to be lifted up:
So that whoever has faith may have in him eternal life. (aiōnios g166)
16 For so greatly did God love the world that He gave His only Son, that every one who trusts in Him may not perish but may have the Life of Ages. (aiōnios g166)
For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life. (aiōnios g166)
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
God did not send his Son into the world to be judge of the world; he sent him so that the world might have salvation through him.
18 He who trusts in Him does not come up for judgement. He who does not trust has already received sentence, because he has not his trust resting on the name of God's only Son.
The man who has faith in him does not come up to be judged; but he who has no faith in him has been judged even now, because he has no faith in the name of the only Son of God.
19 And this is the test by which men are judged--the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than they loved the Light, because their deeds were wicked.
And this is the test by which men are judged: the light has come into the world and men have more love for the dark than for the light, because their acts are evil.
20 For every wrongdoer hates the light, and does not come to the light, for fear his actions should be exposed and condemned.
The light is hated by everyone whose acts are evil and he does not come to the light for fear that his acts will be seen.
21 But he who does what is honest and right comes to the light, in order that his actions may be plainly shown to have been done in God.
But he whose life is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his acts have been done by the help of God.
22 After this Jesus and His disciples went into Judaea; and there He made a stay in company with them and baptized.
After these things Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judaea, and there he was with them for some time, giving baptism.
23 And John too was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there were many pools of water there; and people came and received baptism.
Now John was then giving baptism at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people came and were given baptism.
24 (For John was not yet in prison.)
For at this time John had not been put into prison.
25 As the result, a discussion having arisen on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification,
Then a question came up between John's disciples and a Jew about washing.
26 they came to John and reported to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the Jordan and to whom you bore testimony is now baptizing, and great numbers of people are resorting to him."
And they went to John and said to him, Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the man to whom you gave witness, is now giving baptism, and everyone is going to him.
27 "A man cannot obtain anything," replied John, "unless it has been granted to him from Heaven.
And this was John's answer: A man is unable to have anything if it is not given to him from heaven.
28 You yourselves can bear witness to my having said, 'I am not the Christ,' but 'I am His appointed forerunner.'
You yourselves give witness that I said, I am not the Christ. What I said was, I am sent before the Christ.
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; and the bridegroom's friend who stands by his side and listens to him, rejoices heartily on account of the bridegroom's happiness. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
He who has the bride is the husband: but the husband's friend, whose place is by his side and whose ears are open to him, is full of joy because of the husband's voice: such is my joy, and it is complete.
30 He must grow greater, but I must grow less.
He has to become greater while I become less.
31 He who comes from above is above all. He whose origin is from the earth is not only himself from the earth, his teaching also is from the earth. He who comes from Heaven is above all.
He who comes from heaven is greater than all others: he who comes from earth is of the earth, and of the earth are his words: he who comes from heaven is over all.
32 What He has seen and heard, to that He bears witness; but His testimony no one receives.
He gives witness of what he has seen and of what has come to his ears; and no man takes his witness as true.
33 Any man who has received His testimony has solemnly declared that God is true.
He who so takes his witness has made clear his faith that God is true.
34 For He whom God has sent speaks God's words; for God does not give the Spirit with limitations."
For he whom God has sent says God's words; and God does not give him the Spirit by measure.
35 The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to His hands.
The Father has love for the Son and has put all things into his hands.
36 He who believes in the Son has the Life of the Ages; he who disobeys the Son will not enter into Life, but God's anger remains upon him. (aiōnios g166)
He who has faith in the Son has eternal life; but he who has not faith in the Son will not see life; God's wrath is resting on him. (aiōnios g166)
