John 1:9-30

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”)

16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and^[a] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders^[b] in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.

20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”

22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”^[c]

24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent

25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26 “I baptize with^[d] water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.

27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John Testifies About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’

Cross References

• 1. 1 John 2:8
• 2. Isaiah 49:6
• 3. S ver 3; Hebrews 1:2
• 4. Isaiah 53:3
• 5. ver 7; S John 3:15
• 6. S 1 John 3:23
• 7. Deuteronomy 14:1; S Romans 8:14; Romans 8:16,21; Ephesians 5:1; 1 John 3:1,2; Galatians 3:26
• 8. John 3:6; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 3:9; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1,4
• 9. Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:7,8; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 1:1,2; 1 John 4:2
• 10. Exodus 33:18; Exodus 40:34
• 11. S Romans 3:24
• 12. John 14:6
• 13. ver 7
• 14. ver 30; Matthew 3:11
• 15. Ephesians 1:23; Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9
• 16. S Romans 3:24
• 17. Deuteronomy 32:46; John 7:19
• 18. ver 14
• 19. Exodus 33:20; John 6:46; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12
• 20. John 3:16,18; 1 John 4:9
• 21. S Matthew 3:1
• 22. John 2:18; John 5:10,16; John 6:41,52; John 7:1; John 10:24
• 23. John 3:28; Luke 3:15,16
• 24. S Matthew 11:14
• 25. Deuteronomy 18:15
• 26. Matthew 3:1
• 27. Isaiah 40:3
• 28. S Mark 1:4
• 29. ver 15,30
• 30. Mark 1:7
• 31. John 3:26; John 10:40
• 32. ver 36; Genesis 22:8; Isaiah 53:7; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:6; Revelation 13:8
• 33. S John 3:17
• 34. ver 15,27

Footnotes

• [a] Some manuscripts "but the only Son, who"
• [b] The Greek term traditionally translated "the Jews" ("hoi Ioudaioi" ) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38.
• [c] Isaiah 40:3
• [d] Or "in" ; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice)