16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared¹ to Daniel, “May ^oyour God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 ^pAnd a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, ^qand the king sealed it ^rwith his own signet and with the signet of his ^slords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; ^tno diversions were brought to him, and ^usleep fled from him.

19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of ^vthe living God, ^ohas your God, whom you serve continually, ^wbeen able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, ^x“O king, live forever! 22 My God ^ysent his angel ^zand shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless ^abefore him; ^aand also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and ^bno kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and ^cthose men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

25 Then King Darius wrote to all ^dthe peoples, nations, and languages ^ethat dwell in all the earth: ^f“Peace be multiplied to you. 26 ^gI make a decree, that in all my royal dominion ^hpeople are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,

28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and ⁿthe reign of ^oCyrus the Persian.

3 Then this Daniel became ^tdistinguished above all ^sthe other high officials and ^rsatraps, because ^uan excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned ^vto set him over the whole kingdom.

The Word Became Flesh

1 ^aIn the beginning was ^bthe Word, and ^cthe Word was with God, and ^dthe Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 ^eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 ^fIn him was life,¹ and ^gthe life was the light of men. 5 ^hThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man ⁱsent from God, whose name was ^jJohn. 7 He came as a ^kwitness, to bear witness about the light, ^lthat all might believe through him. 8 ^mHe was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 ⁿThe true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet ^othe world did not know him. 11 He came to ^phis own,² and ^qhis own people^{3 r}did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, ^swho believed in his name, ^the gave the right ^uto become ^vchildren of God, 13 who ^wwere born, ^xnot of blood ^ynor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And ^zthe Word ^abecame flesh and ^bdwelt among us, ^cand we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son⁴ from the Father, full of ^dgrace and ^etruth. 15 (^fJohn bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ^g‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from ^hhis fullness we have all received, ⁱgrace upon grace.⁵ 17 For ^jthe law was given through Moses; ^kgrace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 ^lNo one has ever seen God; ^mGod the only Son, who⁶ is at the Father’s side,^{7 n}he has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the ^otestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ^p“Who are you?” 20 ^qHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? ^rAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you ^sthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am ^tthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight⁸ the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, ^u“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, ^v“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even ^whe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^xthe Lamb of God, who ^ytakes away the sin ^zof the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ^a‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but ^bfor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John ^cbore witness: ^d“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^eit remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but ^fhe who sent me to baptize ^gwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^hthis is he who baptizes ^gwith the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son⁹ of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ⁱthe Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ^j“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, ^k“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.¹⁰ 40 ^lOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus¹¹ was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^mthe Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ⁿJohn. You shall be called ^oCephas” (which means ^pPeter¹²).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 ^qThe next day Jesus decided ^rto go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now ^sPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found ^tNathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom ^uMoses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus ^vof Nazareth, ^wthe son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, ^x“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^yan Israelite indeed, ^zin whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How ^ado you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, ^b“Rabbi, ^cyou are the Son of God! You are the ^dKing of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,¹³ you will see ^eheaven opened, and ^fthe angels of God ascending and descending on ^gthe Son of Man.”

Jesus Calls Levi

27 ^bAfter this he went out and saw ^ca tax collector named ^dLevi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And ^eleaving everything, he rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company ^fof tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and ^gtheir scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ^h“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 ⁱI have not come to call the righteous ^jbut sinners ^kto repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

33 And they said to him, ^l“The disciples of John ^mfast often and ^moffer prayers, ⁿand so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, ^o“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 ^pThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^qthen they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old ^rwineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”¹