John 1

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being that has come into being. ⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

⁶There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness, to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him. ⁸He was not the light, but came to testify about the light. ⁹The true light, which gives light to every person, was coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave authority to become children of God, ¹³who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us. We saw his glory, glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵John testifies about him and has cried out, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me has come to rank ahead of me, because he was before me.’” ¹⁶For from his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. The only one, who is God and is at the Father's breast, has made him known.

¹⁹This is John's testimony when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²²So they said to him, “Who are you? We must give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said, “I am a voice crying in the wilderness, ‘Make the Lord's way straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, “Why, then, do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize in water. Among you stands someone you do not know, ²⁷the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸These things happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is the one of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who has come to rank ahead of me, because he was before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing in water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³²John testified, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and remaining upon him. ³³I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize in water told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴I have seen and have testified that this is God's Chosen One.”

³⁵The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶Looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷The two disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus. ³⁸Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to him, “Rabbi”—which translated means “Teacher”—“where are you staying?” ³⁹He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.

⁴⁰Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. ⁴¹He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah”—which translated means “Anointed One.” ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, the son of John. You will be called Cephas”—which is translated “Peter.”

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go into Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also: Jesus, Joseph's son, from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Look, truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you when you were under the fig tree.” ⁴⁹Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered him, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹He said to him, “Truly, truly, I tell you: you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Translation notes 13

1:1 — The Word was God. The Greek describes the Word as God while distinguishing the Word from the God with whom he was. The missing article before this occurrence of “God” does not by itself mean “a god.” The translation does not expand the sentence into a later doctrinal formula.

1:3–4 — Where the sentence ends. Another punctuation joins “what has come into being” to the following statement about life. This draft uses the traditional sentence division; SBLGNT punctuates differently. Ancient wording does not settle modern punctuation in the way an author's modern typescript would.

1:5 — Overcome. The verb can also mean “grasp” or “understand.” “Overcome” suits the conflict between light and darkness; “understood” remains a significant alternative. Compare darkness “overtaking” someone in 12:35.

1:9–13 — Coming, his own, and birth. “Coming into the world” can alternatively describe each person rather than the light. In verse 11, the Greek changes from neuter “his own” to masculine “his own people.” “Children” in verse 12 is not the word “sons.” Verse 13 literally has plural “bloods,” referring to human descent. “A man” preserves a word that can mean a man or husband, alongside the separate reference to flesh.

1:14 — Pitched his tent. The verb can mean “dwell,” but its tent language fits the surrounding glory imagery and the biblical tabernacle tradition. The text does not say Jesus erected a physical tent. “Only Son” expresses the familial sense of monogenēs; “Son” is understood here rather than separately written. The traditional “only-begotten” represents another way of expressing this unique filial relationship, but the word alone does not describe the process of begetting.

1:16 — Grace in place of grace. The preposition commonly marks exchange or replacement. “Grace upon grace,” emphasizing successive abundance, is another established interpretation. Neither wording licenses inserting “but” between law and grace in verse 17 or treating the law as a graceless gift.

1:18 — The only one, who is God. SBLGNT reads “only/unique” with “God,” rather than the strongly attested alternative “the only Son.” The English takes the description in apposition: the unique one, himself God. “At the Father's breast” retains an image of intimate nearness; compare 13:23. This is a consequential textual and grammatical choice, not simply a modern replacement for “begotten.”

1:19 and throughout — The Jews. The expression's scope changes with the scene. Here it refers to those arranging an official delegation; in 9:18–22 it denotes the people conducting the inquiry and controlling exclusion. Elsewhere it describes customs, ordinary people, mourners, or believers. Jesus is himself identified as a Jew in 4:9, and 4:22 says salvation is from the Jews. Neither “Jewish leaders” nor “Judeans” fits every occurrence. The draft retains the term, but a local group must not be mistaken for every Jewish person.

1:21 — The Prophet. A particular expected prophet is meant, associated with the promise of a prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15–18. The speakers distinguish this figure from Elijah and the Messiah.

1:34 — God's Chosen One. This follows SBLGNT. “The Son of God” has much broader manuscript support and is printed in many critical editions. “Chosen One” has early support and may explain why scribes substituted the more familiar title; the reverse direction is also debated. Both titles occur in early Christian language. This choice remains provisional.

1:39; 4:6, 52 — Hours. Counting daylight hours from sunrise gives approximately 4 p.m. for the tenth hour, noon for the sixth, and 1 p.m. for the seventh. These are approximate equivalents, not precise modern clock readings. The Greek hour numbers remain in the text.

1:41–42 — Messiah, Christ, and Peter. John translates the Semitic title Messias into Greek Christos. Both mean “Anointed One”; the English makes that explanation intelligible. Cephas and Peter likewise correspond to names associated with “rock.” “Christ” remains in expressions such as “Jesus Christ”; “Messiah” normally expresses the expected title.

1:51; 3:7, 11–12; 4:20–22, 48 — You. English does not distinguish singular and plural “you.” At 1:51 Jesus broadens his words beyond Nathanael to a plural audience. In 3:7, “I told you” is singular but “You must be born” is plural; the address in 3:11–12 is plural. In 4:20–22 the woman's “you” and Jesus' answering “you” concern communities. The warning at 4:48 is also plural, not limited grammatically to the official.