New International Version NIV
The Message Bible MSG
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God,
2 He was with God in the beginning.
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in readiness for God from day one.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
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Everything was created through him; nothing - not one thing! - came into being without him.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
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What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
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The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
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There once was a man, his name John, sent by God
7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
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to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in.
8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
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John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
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The Life-Light was the real thing: Every person entering Life he brings into Light.
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
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He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn't even notice.
11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
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He came to his own people, but they didn't want 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—
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But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.
13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
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These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten.
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.
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The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.
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.’ ”)
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John pointed him out and called, "This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word."
16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
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We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
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We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, This endless knowing and understanding - all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
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No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day. Thunder in the Desert
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
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When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest.
20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
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He didn't evade the question. He told the plain truth: "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.”
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They pressed him, "Who, then? Elijah?" "I am not." "The Prophet?" "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?”
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Exasperated, they said, "Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something - anything! - 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.’ ”
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"I'm thunder in the desert: 'Make the road straight for God!' I'm doing what the prophet Isaiah preached."
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent
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Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party.
25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
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Now they had a question of their own: "If you're neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?"
26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.
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John answered, "I only baptize using water. A person you don't recognize has taken his stand in your midst.
27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
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He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I'm not even worthy to hold his coat for him."
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
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These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time.
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!
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The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out,
30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’
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"Here he is, God's Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I've been talking about, 'the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.'
31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
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I knew nothing about who he was - only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God."
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.
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John clinched his witness with this: "I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him.
33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
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I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, 'The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'
34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
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That's exactly what I saw happen, and I'm telling you, there's no question about it: This is the Son of God."
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.
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The next day John was back at his post with two disciples, who were watching.
36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
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He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, "Here he is, God's Passover Lamb."
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
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The two disciples heard him and went after Jesus.
38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
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Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, "What are you after?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?"
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
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He replied, "Come along and see for yourself." They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.
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Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard John's witness and followed Jesus.
41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).
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The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, "We've found the Messiah" (that is, "Christ").
42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter ).
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He immediately led him to Jesus. Jesus took one look up and said, "You're John's son, Simon? From now on your name is Cephas" (or Peter, which means "Rock").
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
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The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, "Come, follow me."
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.
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(Philip's hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
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Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!"
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
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Nathanael said, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding." But Philip said, "Come, see for yourself."
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
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When Jesus saw him coming he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body."
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
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Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me." Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree."
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
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Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!"
50 Jesus said, “You believebecause I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.”
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Jesus said, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet!
51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,youwill see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’the Son of Man.”
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Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again."
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.