You Must Be Born Again

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named ^hNicodemus, ⁱa ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus^{1 j}by night and said to him, ^k“Rabbi, ^lwe know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do ^munless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is ⁿborn ^oagain² he cannot ^psee the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to 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?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born ^qof water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 ^rThat which is born of the flesh is ^sflesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.³ 7 ^tDo not marvel that I said to you, ‘You⁴ must be born ^uagain.’ 8 ^vThe wind⁵ blows ^wwhere it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, ^x“How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel ^yand yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^zwe speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but ^zyou⁶ do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 ^aNo one has ^bascended into heaven except ^che who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.⁷ 14 And ^das Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man ^ebe lifted up, 15 that whoever believes ^fin him ^gmay have eternal life.⁸

For God So Loved the World

16 “For ^hGod so loved ⁱthe world,^{9 j}that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not ^kperish but have eternal life. 17 For ^lGod did not send his Son into the world ^mto condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 ⁿWhoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not ^obelieved in the name of the only Son of God. 19 ^pAnd this is the judgment: ^qthe light has come into the world, and ^rpeople loved the darkness rather than the light because ^stheir works were evil. 20 ^tFor everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, ^ulest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever ^vdoes what is true ^wcomes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and ^xwas baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for ^yJohn had not yet been put in prison).

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over ^zpurification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, ^a“Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, ^bto whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and ^call are going to him.” 27 John answered, ^d“A person cannot receive even one thing ^eunless it is given him ^ffrom heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ^g‘I am not the Christ, but ^hI have been sent before him.’ 29 ⁱThe one who has the bride is the bridegroom. ^jThe friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, ^krejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 ^lHe must increase, but I must decrease.”¹⁰

31 ^mHe who comes from above ⁿis above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and ^ospeaks in an earthly way. ^pHe who comes from heaven ⁿis above all. 32 ^qHe bears witness to what he has seen and heard, ^ryet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony ^ssets his seal to this, ^tthat God is true. 34 For he whom ^uGod has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit ^vwithout measure. 35 ^wThe Father loves the Son and ^xhas given all things into his hand. 36 ^yWhoever believes in the Son has eternal life; ^zwhoever does not obey the Son shall not ^asee life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria

4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and ^bbaptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed ^cagain for Galilee. 4 ^dAnd he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field ^ethat Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, ^fwearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.¹

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ^f“Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (^gFor Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you ^hliving water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 ⁱAre you greater than our father Jacob? ^jHe gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but ^kwhoever drinks of the water that I will give him ^lwill never be thirsty again.² The water that I will give him will become ^min him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, ⁿgive me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, ^ocall your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that ^pyou are ^qa prophet. 20 ^rOur fathers worshiped on ^sthis mountain, but you say that ^tin Jerusalem is ^uthe place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, ^v“Woman, believe me, ^wthe hour is coming when ^xneither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 ^yYou worship what you do not know; ^zwe worship what we know, for ^zsalvation is ^afrom the Jews. 23 But ^bthe hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^cin spirit and ^dtruth, for the Father ^eis seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that ^fMessiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, ^ghe will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, ^h“I who speak to you am he.”

27 Just then ⁱhis disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man ^jwho told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ^k“Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, ^l“Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, ^m“My food is ⁿto do the will of him who sent me and ^oto accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that ^pthe fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that ^qsower and ^rreaper ^smay rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ^t‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap ^uthat for which you did not labor. Others have labored, ^vand you have entered into their labor.”

39 Many Samaritans ^wfrom that town believed in him ^xbecause of ^ythe woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed ^zbecause of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, ^aand we know that this is indeed ^bthe Savior ^cof the world.”

43 After ^dthe two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified ^ethat a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, ^fhaving seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For ^gthey too had gone to the feast.

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

46 So he came again to ^hCana in Galilee, ⁱwhere he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus ^jhad come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, ^k“Unless you³ see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down ^lbefore my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants⁴ met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour⁵ the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, ^mand all his household. 54 ⁿThis was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

5 After this there was a ^ofeast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by ^pthe Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic¹ called Bethesda,² which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and ^qparalyzed.³ 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, ^r“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 ^rAnd at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

^sNow that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews⁴ said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and ^tit is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for ^uJesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! ^vSin no more, ^wthat nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews ^xwere persecuting Jesus, ^ybecause he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Jesus Is Equal with God

18 This was why the Jews ^zwere seeking all the more to kill him, ^abecause not only was he ^bbreaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God ^chis own Father, ^dmaking himself equal with God.

The Authority of the Son

19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^ethe Son ^fcan do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father⁵ does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For ^gthe Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And ^hgreater works than these will he show him, so that ⁱyou may marvel. 21 For as the Father ^jraises the dead and ^kgives them life, so ^lalso the Son gives life ^mto whom he will. 22 ⁿFor the Father judges no one, but ^ohas given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they ^phonor the Father. ^qWhoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^rwhoever hears my word and ^sbelieves him who sent me has eternal life. He ^tdoes not come into judgment, but ^uhas passed from death to life.

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^van hour is coming, and is now here, when ^wthe dead will hear ^xthe voice of the Son of God, and those who hear ^wwill live. 26 ^yFor as the Father has life in himself, ^zso he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he ^ahas given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for ^van hour is coming when ^ball who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, ^cthose who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Witnesses to Jesus

30 ^d“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and ^emy judgment is just, because ^fI seek not my own will ^gbut the will of him who sent me. 31 ^hIf I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is ⁱanother who bears witness about me, and ^jI know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 ^kYou sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that ^lthe testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and ^mshining lamp, and ⁿyou were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But ^lthe testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For ^othe works that the Father has given me ^pto accomplish, the very works that I am doing, ^qbear witness about me that ^rthe Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me ^shas himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, ^this form you have never seen, 38 and ^uyou do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 ^vYou search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and ^wit is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet ^xyou refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 ^yI do not receive glory from people. 42 But ^zI know that you do not have ^athe love of God within you. 43 I have come ^bin my Father’s name, and ^cyou do not receive me. ^dIf another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and ^edo not seek the glory that comes from ^fthe only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, ^gon whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for ^hhe wrote of me. 47 But ⁱif you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

6 After this ^jJesus went away to the other side of ^kthe Sea of Galilee, which is ^lthe Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on ^mthe mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now ⁿthe Passover, the ^ofeast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 ^pLifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to ^qPhilip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 ^rPhilip answered him, “Two hundred denarii¹ worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, ^sAndrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five ^tbarley loaves and two fish, but ^twhat are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” ^uNow there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and ^vwhen he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ^w“This is indeed ^xthe Prophet ^ywho is to come into the world!”

15 ^zPerceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus ^awithdrew again to ^bthe mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on Water

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,² they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 ^cBut he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

I Am the Bread of Life

22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only ^done boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord ^ehad given thanks. 24 ^fSo when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and ^gwent to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.