You Must Be Born Again

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 ^fThis man came to Jesus^{1 g}by night and said to him, “Rabbi, ^hwe know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these ⁱsigns that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is ^jborn again² he cannot see 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 ^kof water and the Spirit, he cannot ^lenter the kingdom of God. 6 ^mThat which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.³ 7 ⁿDo not marvel that I said to you, ‘You⁴ must be born again.’ 8 The wind⁵ blows where 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, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^owe speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you^{6 p}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 ^qNo one has ascended into heaven except he who descended ^rfrom heaven, ^sthe Son of Man.⁷ 14 And ^tas Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be ^ulifted up, 15 that ^vwhoever believes in him may have eternal life.⁸

For God So Loved the World

16 “For God so loved the world,^{9 w}that he gave his only ^xSon, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not ^ysend his Son into the world ^zto condemn the world, but ^ain order that the world might be saved through him. 18 ^bWhoever believes in him is not condemned, but ^cwhoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed ^din the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the ^elight has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the ^flight and does not come to the light, ^glest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes 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 was ^hbaptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for ⁱJohn had not yet been put in prison).

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you ^jbore witness—look, he is baptizing, and ^kall are going to him.” 27 John answered, ^l“A person cannot receive even one thing ^munless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, ⁿthat I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been ^osent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the ^pbridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore ^qthis joy of mine is now complete. 30 ^rHe must increase, but I must decrease.”¹⁰

31 He who comes ^sfrom above is ^tabove all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and ^uspeaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his ^vseal to this, that God is ^wtrue. 34 For he whom God has sent ^xutters the words of God, for ^yhe gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father ^zloves the Son and has given ^aall things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see 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 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near ^dthe field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.¹

7 A woman from Samaria came ^eto 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?” (For ^gJews 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 Are you greater ⁱthan our father Jacob? He 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 ^jwhoever drinks of the water that I will give him ^kwill never be thirsty again.² The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, ^lgive me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call 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 ^myou are a prophet. 20 ⁿOur fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, ^othe hour is coming when ^pneither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^qin spirit and truth, for the Father is 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 ^rMessiah is coming (he who is called Christ). ^sWhen he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, ^t“I who speak to you am he.”

27 Just then his 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 who told me all that I ever did. ^uCan this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “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, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, ^v“My food is to do ^wthe will of him who sent me and ^xto 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 ^ythe fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

39 ^zMany Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the 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 because 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, and we know that this is indeed ^athe Savior of the world.”

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

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

46 ^dSo he came again to Cana in Galilee, ^ewhere he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had 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, “Unless you³ see ^fsigns and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before 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, and all his household. 54 This was now ^gthe 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 ^ha feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the ⁱSheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic¹ called Bethesda,² which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.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, “Get up, ^jtake up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

^kNow that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews⁴ said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and ^lit 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 Jesus 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! ^mSin no more, that 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 were ⁿpersecuting Jesus, ^obecause 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 were ^pseeking all the more ^qto kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, ^rmaking himself ^sequal with God.

The Authority of the Son

19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^tthe Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For ^uwhatever the Father⁵ does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For ^vthe Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And ^wgreater works than these will he show him, so that you may ^xmarvel. 21 For as the Father ^yraises the dead and ^zgives them life, so also the Son ^agives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but ^bhas given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may ^chonor the Son, just as they honor the Father. ^dWhoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and ^ebelieves him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has ^fpassed from death to life.

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^gan hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will ^hhear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, ⁱso he has granted the Son also to have life ^jin himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, ^kbecause he is the Son of Man. 28 ^lDo not marvel at this, for an hour is coming ^mwhen all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, ⁿthose who have done good to the resurrection of ^olife, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Witnesses to Jesus

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and ^pmy judgment is just, because I seek ^qnot my own will but ^rthe will of him who sent me. 31 If I ^salone ^tbear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You ^usent to John, and he has ^vborne witness to the ^wtruth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may ^xbe saved. 35 He was a burning and ^yshining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me ^zto accomplish, the very works that I am doing, ^abear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself ^bborne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, ^chis form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word ^dabiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has ^esent. 39 You ^fsearch the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that ^gbear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to ^hcome to me that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God ⁱwithin you. 43 I have come ^jin my Father’s name, and you ^kdo not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive ^lglory from one another and do not ^mseek the ⁿglory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, ^oon whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for ^phe wrote of me. 47 But ^qif you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

6 ^rAfter this Jesus went away to the other side of the ^sSea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw ^tthe signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 ^uNow the Passover, ^vthe feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, ^w“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 Philip answered him, ^x“Two hundred ^ydenarii¹ worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when 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 ^zeaten 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, ^a“This is indeed ^bthe Prophet who is to come into the world!”

15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on Water

16 ^cWhen 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 ^dwalking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, ^e“It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 ^fThen 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 one 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 ^gLord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, ^hseeking Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not ⁱbecause you saw signs, but ^jbecause you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his ^kseal.” 28 Then they said to him, ^l“What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, ^m“This is the work of God, ⁿthat you ^obelieve in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then ^pwhat sign do you do, that we may ^qsee and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the ^rmanna in the wilderness; as it is written, ^s‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the ^ttrue bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who ^ucomes down from heaven and ^vgives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, ^wgive us this bread always.”