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John 3

1There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs you do unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I tell you: unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother's womb a second time and be born, can he?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you: unless someone is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not marvel that I told you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things happen?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and you do not know these things? 11Truly, truly, I tell you: we speak what we know and testify to what we have seen, and you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you 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 serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

16“For God loved the world in this way: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through him. 18The one who believes in him is not judged; the one who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of God's only Son. 19This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. 21But the one who does the truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be revealed as done in God.”

22After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the Judean countryside, and he spent time with them there and baptized. 23John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and people came and were baptized. 24For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

25A dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew about purification. 26They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, about whom you testified—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of him.’ 29The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the bridegroom's friend, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. 30He must increase, but 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 from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, and no one receives his testimony. 33The one who receives his testimony has set his seal to this: God is true. 34For the one God sent speaks God's words, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life; rather, God's wrath remains upon him.

Translation notes 7

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.

3:3, 7–8 — From above; wind and Spirit. Anōthen can mean “from above” or “again.” Nicodemus hears a second physical birth; the conversation develops birth from God. The draft prints “from above” and preserves “again” here as essential wordplay. Likewise pneuma can mean wind or spirit; “voice” can also mean sound. No single ordinary English word carries both sides of either exchange.

3:5 — Water and Spirit. The wording is retained without supplying “baptism,” “amniotic fluid,” or a second explanatory birth. Cleansing and renewal in Ezekiel 36:25–27 provide a significant background; the precise relationship to baptism is disputed.

3:13–21, 30–36 — Text and speakers. Some manuscripts add “who is in heaven” after “Son of Man” in verse 13. At verse 15, “in him” can be joined to believing instead of life. The draft closes Jesus' speech after verse 21 and the Baptist's after verse 30; other interpreters hear the narrator beginning at 3:16 or the Baptist continuing beyond 3:30. Ancient quotation marks do not settle these boundaries.

3:16 — In this way. This brings out how God's love is expressed in giving his Son. It does not deny the greatness of that love. “Only Son” follows the same lexical judgment as 1:14.

3:17–21, 36 — Judgment, truth, and disobedience. “Judge” retains the recurring word group, but here the adverse judgment is condemnation, not neutral observation. “Does the truth” preserves the active expression for living truthfully. “Disobeys” in verse 36 can also be rendered “refuses to believe”; it is a different verb from the preceding “believes.” The language of wrath remains.

3:34 — He gives the Spirit. The Greek does not name the giver or recipient in this clause. God giving the Spirit to the Son fits the following verse; Jesus giving the Spirit to believers is another interpretation. “Without measure” means without limit. The draft leaves the pronoun open.