John

¹Now there was one of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ²He came to Jesus¹⁰⁴⁰ by night, and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God because no one can perform the signs which you accomplish unless God is with him.”

³Jesus answered him, “Amen, amen, I tell you; unless one is born anew,¹⁰⁴¹ he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

⁴Nicodemus asked him, “How can someone who is old be born? Can one enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born [anew]?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I tell you; unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God! ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit¹⁰⁴² is spirit. ⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ ⁸The wind¹⁰⁴³ blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus said, “How can this be?”

¹⁰Jesus replied and said, “You are the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? ¹¹Amen, amen, I tell you; we speak of what we know, and [we] bear witness to what we have seen, and you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you [about] heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven, except for the one who came down out of heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.^{1044 14}And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, likewise, the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵so that everyone believing in him should not perish but¹⁰⁴⁵ have eternal life. ¹⁶Indeed, God so loved the world that he gave his uniquely-begotten¹⁰⁴⁶ Son, so that everyone who believes¹⁰⁴⁷ in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷Certainly, God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world should be saved¹⁰⁴⁸ through him. ¹⁸Anyone who believes in him is not judged, but whoever does not believe has already been judged, because such a person has not believed in the Name of the only-begotten¹⁰⁴⁹ Son of God. ¹⁹This is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, for fear that his works would be exposed. ²¹But whoever practices the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be revealed as done in God.”

John the Baptist bears witness again—‘The friend of the bridegroom’

²²After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them, and baptized. ²³John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and people¹⁰⁵⁰ came, and [they] were baptized. ²⁴(For John had not yet been thrown into prison). ²⁵Now a discussion¹⁰⁵¹ arose on the part of John’s disciples with a [certain] Jew¹⁰⁵² about ceremonial washing.^{1053 26}They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, behold, this one is [now] baptizing, and everyone is coming to him!”

²⁷John answered, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’ ²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands [by] and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. And so my joy is fulfilled. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.”

The one who comes from above¹⁰⁵⁴

³¹He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and he speaks from the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. ³²And what he has seen and heard is what he bears witness to, but no one accepts¹⁰⁵⁵ his testimony. ³³He who has accepted his testimony has set his seal [to this], that God is true. ³⁴Indeed the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God 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 whoever does not believe in¹⁰⁵⁶ the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on such a person.

The Samaritan woman

1040. Greek “him”
1041. The word translated “anew” (a;nwqen) (anothen) here and in John 3:7 also means “again,” “from above” or even “from the very first.”
1042. Or “spirit”
1043. The same Greek word (pneu,matoj)(pneuma) means wind, breath, and spirit.
1044. CT omits “who is in heaven” based on the Alexandrian tradition. However, the longer ending “who is in heaven” was known to many ancient writers, including Hippolytus, Origen, Dionysius, Hilary, Jerome, Augustine). Origen and Jerome also mention the shorter form.
1045. CT omits “not perish but”
1046. See note for 1:14
1047. Literally “the one believing in him”
1048. The Greek swqh/ also conveys the idea of “to deliver/rescue/heal/make well”
1049. Or “one and only/unique/uniquely loved”
1050. Greek “they”
1051. Or “controversy”
1052. Other manuscripts read “some Jews”
1053. Or “purification (rites)”
1054. Verses 31-36 are either a discourse by John the Baptist or more probably a reflection by the evangelist.
1055. Or “receives”
1056. Or “disobeys”