John 1 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Deity of Jesus Christ

1^aIn the beginning was ^bthe Word, and the Word was ^cwith God, and ^dthe Word was God. ²¹He was in the beginning with God. ³^aAll things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ⁴^aIn Him was life, and the life was ^bthe Light of men. ⁵^aAnd the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

The Witness of John the Baptist

⁶There was a man having been sent from God, whose name was ¹^,^aJohn. ⁷¹He came ²^,^aas a witness, to bear witness about the Light, ^bso that all might believe through him. ⁸¹^,^aHe was not the Light, but he came to bear witness about the Light.

⁹There was ^athe true Light ¹which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. ¹⁰He was in the world, and ^athe world ¹was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹He came to what was His ¹own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. ¹²But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become ^achildren of God, even ^bto those who believe in His name, ¹³^awho were ¹born, not of ²blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Became Flesh

¹⁴And ^athe Word ^bbecame flesh, and ¹^,^cdwelt among us, and ^dwe beheld His glory, glory as of the ²only begotten from the Father, full of ^egrace and ^ftruth. ¹⁵John *^abore witness about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘^bHe who comes after me ¹has been ahead of me, ^cfor He existed before me.’” ¹⁶For of His ^afullness ¹we have all received, and grace ²upon grace. ¹⁷For ^athe Law was given through Moses; ^bgrace and ^ctruth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸^aNo one has seen God at any time; ^bthe only begotten God who is ^cin the bosom of the Father, ^dHe has explained Him.

A Voice in the Wilderness

¹⁹And this is ^athe witness of John, when ^bthe ¹Jews sent to him priests and Levites ^cfrom Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “^aI am not the ¹Christ.” ²¹And they asked him, “What then? Are you ^aElijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you ^bthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²²Therefore, they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said, “I am ^aa voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the ¹Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵And they asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ¹Christ, nor Elijah, nor ^athe Prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, saying, “^aI baptize with water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷“This One is ^aHe who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy to untie the ^bstrap of His sandal.” ²⁸These things took place in Bethany ^abeyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹On the next day, he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, ^athe Lamb of God who ^btakes away the sin of the world! ³⁰“This is He of whom I said, ‘^aAfter me comes a man who has been ¹ahead of me, ^bfor He existed before me.’ ³¹“I did not know ¹Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water.” ³²And John ^abore witness saying, “^bI have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abided on Him. ³³“And I did not know ¹Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, ^athis is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴“And I myself have seen, and have borne witness that this is ^athe Son of God.”

Behold, the Lamb of God

³⁵^aOn the next day, John again was standing ¹with two of his disciples, ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^athe Lamb of God!” ³⁷And the two disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus. ³⁸And when Jesus turned and noticed them following, He *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “^aRabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day. It was about the ¹tenth hour. ⁴⁰^aOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the ^aMessiah” (which translated means ¹Christ). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. When Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of ^aJohn; you shall be called ^bCephas” (which is translated ¹^,^cPeter).

⁴³^aOn the next day, He desired to go into ^bGalilee, and He *found ^cPhilip. And Jesus *said to him, “^dFollow Me.” ⁴⁴Now ^aPhilip was from ^bBethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵^aPhilip *found ^bNathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^cMoses in the Law and also ^dthe Prophets wrote—Jesus of ^eNazareth, ^fthe son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶And Nathanael said to him, “^aCan any good thing come out of Nazareth?” ^bPhilip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said about him, “Behold, truly an ^aIsraelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael *said to Him, “From where do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^aPhilip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael answered Him, “^aRabbi, You are ^bthe Son of God; You are the ^cKing of Israel.” ⁵⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see ^athe heavens opened and ^bthe angels of God ascending and descending on ^cthe Son of Man.”