Isaiah 9; John 1; 1 John 1

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Isaiah 9

For to Us a Child Is Born

1 But there will be no ggloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he hbrought into contempt the land of iZebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he jhas made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.2

3 iThe people kwho walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of ldeep darkness,

on them has light shone.

mYou have multiplied the nation;

you have increased its joy;

they rejoice before you

as with njoy at the harvest,

as they oare glad pwhen they divide the spoil.

qFor the yoke of his burden,

rand the staff for his shoulder,

the rod of his oppressor,

you have broken as son the day of Midian.

tFor every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult

and every garment rolled in blood

will be burned as fuel for the fire.

uFor to us a child is born,

to us va son is given;

wand the government shall be xupon4 his shoulder,

and his name shall be called5

Wonderful yCounselor, zMighty God,

aEverlasting bFather, Prince of cPeace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace

dthere will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it

ewith justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

fThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression

The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,

and it will fall on Israel;

and all the people will know,

gEphraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,

who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:

10  The bricks have fallen,

but we will build with dressed stones;

the sycamores have been cut down,

but we will put cedars in their place.

11  But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,

and stirs up his enemies.

12  hThe Syrians on the east and ithe Philistines on the west

devour Israel with open mouth.

jFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

13  The people kdid not turn to him who struck them,

nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.

14  So the Lord cut off from Israel lhead and tail,

palm branch and reed in one day

15  mthe elder and honored man is the head,

and nthe prophet who teaches lies is the tail;

16  for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,

and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.

17  Therefore the Lord does not orejoice over their young men,

and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;

for everyone is pgodless and an evildoer,

and every mouth speaks qfolly.6

jFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

18  For wickedness burns like ra fire;

it consumes briers and thorns;

it kindles the thickets of the forest,

and they roll upward in a column of smoke.

19  Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts

the land is scorched,

and sthe people are like fuel for the fire;

tno one spares another.

20  uThey slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,

and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;

veach devours the flesh of his own arm,

21  Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;

together they are wagainst Judah.

xFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.


John 1

The Word Became Flesh

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

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

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 people3 rdid 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, gHe 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; mthe only God,6 who is at the Father’s side,7 nhe 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, pWho 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, uThen why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet? 26 John answered them, vI 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, aAfter 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: dI 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, jWhat are you seeking? And they said to him, kRabbi (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, xCan 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, bRabbi, 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.


1 John 1

The Word of Life

aThat which was bfrom the beginning, cwhich we have heard, dwhich we have seen with our eyes, ewhich we looked upon and fhave touched with our hands, concerning the word of life gthe life hwas made manifest, and we have seen it, and itestify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, awhich was with the Father and hwas made manifest to us cthat which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed jour fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so kthat our1 joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

lThis is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that mGod is light, and in him is no darkness at all. nIf we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and odo not practice the truth. But pif we walk in the light, qas he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and rthe blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. sIf we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and tthe truth is not in us. uIf we confess our sins, he is vfaithful and just to forgive us our sins and rto cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, wwe make him a liar, and xhis word is not in us.