John 3:1-36 (New American Standard)

The New Birth

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named ¹Nicodemus, a ²ruler of the Jews ; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "³Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher ; for no one can do these ^a4signs that You do unless ⁵God is with him." 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one ⁶is born ^bagain he cannot see ⁷the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old ? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of ⁸water and the Spirit he cannot enter into ⁹the kingdom of God. 6 "¹⁰That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born ^cagain.' 8 "¹¹The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going ; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you ¹²the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things ? 11 "Truly, truly, I say to you, ¹³we speak of what we know and ¹⁴testify of what we have seen, and ¹⁵you do not accept our testimony. 12 "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things ? 13 "¹⁶No one has ascended into heaven, but ¹⁷He who descended from heaven : ¹⁸the Son of Man. 14 "As ¹⁹Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must ²⁰the Son of Man ²¹be lifted up; 15 so that whoever ^dbelieves will ²²in Him have eternal life. 16 "For God so ²³loved the world, that He ²⁴gave His ^e25only begotten Son, that whoever ²⁶believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God ²⁷did not send the Son into the world ²⁸to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 "²⁹He who believes in Him is not judged ; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ³⁰the ^fonly begotten Son of God. 19 "This is the judgment, that ³¹the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for ³²their deeds were evil. 20 "³³For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 "But he who ³⁴practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

John's Last Testimony

22 After these things Jesus and His ³⁵disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and ³⁶baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there ; and people were coming and were being baptized - 24 for ³⁷John had not yet been thrown into prison. 25 Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about ³⁸purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, "³⁹Rabbi, He who was with you ⁴⁰beyond the Jordan, to whom you ⁴¹have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him." 27 John answered and said, "⁴²A man can receive nothing unless it ⁴³has been given him from heaven. 28 "You yourselves ^gare my witnesses that I said, '⁴⁴I am not the ^hChrist,' but, 'I have been sent ahead of Him.' 29 "He who has the bride is ⁴⁵the bridegroom ; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this ⁴⁶joy of mine has been made full. 30 "He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 "⁴⁷He who comes from above is above all, ⁴⁸he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. ⁴⁹He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 "What He has seen and heard, of that He ⁵⁰testifies ; and ⁵¹no one receives His testimony. 33 "He who has received His testimony ⁵²has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 "For He whom God has ⁵³sent speaks the words of God ; ⁱ⁵⁴for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 "⁵⁵The Father loves the Son and ⁵⁶has given all things into His hand. 36 "He who ⁵⁷believes in the Son has eternal life ; but he who ⁵⁸does not ^jobey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."