The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 From the first he was the Word, and the Word was in relation with God and was God.
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In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 This Word was from the first in relation with God.
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From the very beginning the Word was with God.
3 All things came into existence through him, and without him nothing was.
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Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him.
4 What came into existence in him was life, and the life was the light of men.
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The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people.
5 And the light goes on shining in the dark; it is not overcome by the dark.
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The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
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God sent his messenger, a man named John,
7 He came for witness, to give witness about the light, so that all men might have faith through him.
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who came to tell people about the light, so that all should hear the message and believe.
8 He himself was not the light: he was sent to give witness about the light.
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He himself was not the light; he came to tell about the light.
9 The true light, which gives light to every man, was then coming into the world.
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This was the real light - the light that comes into the world and shines on all people.
10 He was in the world, the world which came into being through him, but the world had no knowledge of him.
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The Word was in the world, and though God made the world through him, yet the world did not recognize him.
11 He came to the things which were his and his people did not take him to their hearts.
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He came to his own country, but his own people did not receive him.
12 To all those who did so take him, however, he gave the right of becoming children of God--that is, to those who had faith in his name:
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Some, however, did receive him and believed in him; so he gave them the right to become God's children.
13 Whose birth was from God and not from blood, or from an impulse of the flesh and man's desire.
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They did not become God's children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father.
14 And so the Word became flesh and took a place among us for a time; and we saw his glory--such glory as is given to an only son by his father--saw it to be true and full of grace.
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The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son.
15 John gave witness about him, crying, This is he of whom I said, He who is coming after me is put over me because he was in existence before me.
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John spoke about him. He cried out, "This is the one I was talking about when I said, "He comes after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.' "
16 From his full measure we have all been given grace on grace.
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Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and the true way of life are ours through Jesus Christ.
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God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No man has seen God at any time; the only Son, who is on the breast of the Father, he has made clear what God is.
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No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is the same as God and is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
19 And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you?
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The Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John to ask him, "Who are you?"
20 He said quite openly and straightforwardly, I am not the Christ.
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John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out openly and clearly, saying: "I am not the Messiah."
21 And they said to him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And his answer was, I am not.
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"Who are you, then?" they asked. "Are you Elijah?" "No, I am not," John answered. "Are you the Prophet?" they asked. "No," he replied.
22 So they said to him, Who are you then? We have to give some answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?
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"Then tell us who you are," they said. "We have to take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the waste land, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.
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John answered by quoting the prophet Isaiah: "I am "the voice of someone shouting in the desert: Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!' "
24 Those who had been sent came from the Pharisees.
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The messengers, who had been sent by the Pharisees,
25 And they put this question to him, saying, Why then are you giving baptism if you are not the Christ, or Elijah, or the prophet?
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then asked John, "If you are not the Messiah nor Elijah nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?"
26 John's answer was: I give baptism with water; but there is one among you of whom you have no knowledge;
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John answered, "I baptize with water, but among you stands the one you do not know.
27 It is he who is coming after me; I am not good enough to undo his shoes.
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He is coming after me, but I am not good enough even to untie his sandals."
28 These things took place at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was giving baptism.
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All this happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
29 The day after, John sees Jesus coming to him and says, See, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
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The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
30 This is he of whom I said, One is coming after me who is put over me because he was in existence before me.
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This is the one I was talking about when I said, "A man is coming after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.'
31 I myself had no knowledge of him, but I came giving baptism with water so that he might be seen openly by Israel.
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I did not know who he would be, but I came baptizing with water in order to make him known to the people of Israel."
32 And John gave this witness, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting on him.
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And John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him.
33 I had no knowledge who he was, but he who sent me to give baptism with water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting, it is he who gives baptism with the Holy Spirit.
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I still did not know that he was the one, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, "You will see the Spirit come down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
34 This I saw myself and my witness is that he is the Son of God.
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I have seen it," said John, "and I tell you that he is the Son of God."
35 The day after, John was there again with two of his disciples;
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The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples,
36 And looking at Jesus while he was walking he said, See, there is the Lamb of God!
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when he saw Jesus walking by. "There is the Lamb of God!" he said.
37 Hearing what he said, the two disciples went after Jesus.
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The two disciples heard him say this and went with Jesus.
38 And Jesus, turning round, saw them coming after him and said to them, What are you looking for? They said to him, Rabbi (which is to say, Master), where are you living?
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Jesus turned, saw them following him, and asked, "What are you looking for?" They answered, "Where do you live, Rabbi?" (This word means "Teacher.")
39 He said to them, Come and see. They went with him then and saw where he was living; and they were with him all that day: it was then about the tenth hour of the day.
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"Come and see," he answered. (It was then about four o'clock in the afternoon.) So they went with him and saw where he lived, and spent the rest of that day with him.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two men who, hearing what John said, went after Jesus.
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One of them was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
41 Early in the morning he came across his brother and said to him, We have made discovery! It is the Messiah! (which is to say, the Christ).
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At once he found his brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah." (This word means "Christ.")
42 And he took him to Jesus. Looking at him fixedly Jesus said, You are Simon, the son of John; your name will be Cephas (which is to say, Peter).
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Then he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "Your name is Simon son of John, but you will be called Cephas." (This is the same as Peter and means "a rock.")
43 The day after this, Jesus had a desire to go into Galilee. He came across Philip and said to him, Come and be my disciple.
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The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Come with me!
44 Now Philip's town was Beth-saida, where Andrew and Peter came from.
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(Philip was from Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Peter lived.)
45 Philip came across Nathanael and said to him, We have made a discovery! It is he of whom Moses, in the law, and the prophets were writing, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
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Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the book of the Law and whom the prophets also wrote about. He is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
46 Nazareth! said Nathanael, Is it possible for any good to come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.
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"Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," answered Philip.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, See, here is a true son of Israel in whom there is nothing false.
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When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, he said about him, "Here is a real Israelite; there is nothing false in him!"
48 Nathanael said to him, Where did you get knowledge of me? In answer Jesus said, Before Philip was talking with you, while you were still under the fig-tree, I saw you.
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Nathanael asked him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you when you were under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49 Nathanael said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel!
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"Teacher," answered Nathanael, "you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
50 In answer Jesus said to him, You have faith because I said to you, I saw you under the fig-tree. You will see greater things than these.
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Jesus said, "Do you believe just because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree? You will see much greater things than this!"
51 And he said to him, Truly I say to you all, You will see heaven opening and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of man.
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And he said to them, "I am telling you the truth: you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.