New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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From the first he was the Word, and the Word was in relation with God and was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
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This Word was from the first in relation with God.
3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being
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All things came into existence through him, and without him nothing was.
4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
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What came into existence in him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
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And the light goes on shining in the dark; it is not overcome by the dark.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
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There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
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He came for witness, to give witness about the light, so that all men might have faith through him.
8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
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He himself was not the light: he was sent to give witness about the light.
9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
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The true light, which gives light to every man, was then coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.
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He was in the world, the world which came into being through him, but the world had no knowledge of him.
11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.
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He came to the things which were his and his people did not take him to their hearts.
12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,
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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:
13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
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Whose birth was from God and not from blood, or from an impulse of the flesh and man's desire.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.
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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.
15 (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, "He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' ")
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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.
16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
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From his full measure we have all been given grace on grace.
17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
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For the law was given through Moses; grace and the true way of life are ours through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
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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.
19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
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And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you?
20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah."
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He said quite openly and straightforwardly, I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No."
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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.
22 Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
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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?
23 He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord,' " as the prophet Isaiah said.
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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.
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.
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Those who had been sent came from the Pharisees.
25 They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?"
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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?
26 John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know,
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John's answer was: I give baptism with water; but there is one among you of whom you have no knowledge;
27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal."
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It is he who is coming after me; I am not good enough to undo his shoes.
28 This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
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These things took place at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was giving baptism.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
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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!
30 This is he of whom I said, "After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'
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This is he of whom I said, One is coming after me who is put over me because he was in existence before me.
31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel."
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I myself had no knowledge of him, but I came giving baptism with water so that he might be seen openly by Israel.
32 And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
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And John gave this witness, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting on him.
33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
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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.
34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."
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This I saw myself and my witness is that he is the Son of God.
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,
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The day after, John was there again with two of his disciples;
36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!"
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And looking at Jesus while he was walking he said, See, there is the Lamb of God!
37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
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Hearing what he said, the two disciples went after Jesus.
38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
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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?
39 He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon.
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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.
40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
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Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two men who, hearing what John said, went after Jesus.
41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed ).
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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).
42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter ).
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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).
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."
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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.
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
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Now Philip's town was Beth-saida, where Andrew and Peter came from.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."
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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.
46 Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
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Nazareth! said Nathanael, Is it possible for any good to come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"
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Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, See, here is a true son of Israel in whom there is nothing false.
48 Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."
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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.
49 Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
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Nathanael said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel!
50 Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these."
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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.
51 And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
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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.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.