John 3:1-36
3 And there was a man who belonged to the Pharisees, whose name was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
2 this man came to him by night and said to him “Rabbi, we know you have come from God as teacher; for nobody can do these tokens that you are doing if God is not with him.”
3 * Jesus replied “Verily, verily I tell you, if a man is not born over, he cannot see the Reign of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to him “How can a man be born when he is old? can he get into his mother’s body a second time and be born?”
5 * Jesus answered “Verily, verily I say to you, if one is not born from water and spirit he cannot get into the Reign of God.
6 * What is born from the flesh is flesh and what is born from the spirit is spirit.
7 * Do not wonder at my telling you ‘you must be born over.’
8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. Anyone who is born from the spirit is like that.”
9 Nicodemus replied “How can those things be done?”
10 Jesus replied “Are you the teacher of Israel and do you not get the meaning of that?
11 Verily, verily, I tell you that we are speaking of what we know and testifying to what we have seen, and you are not receiving our testimony.
12 If I tell you the earthly side and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you the heavenly side?
13 And nobody has gone up to heaven but he who came down out of heaven, the Son of Man.
14 And as Moses raised the snake aloft in the desert, so the Son of Man must be raised aloft,
15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world but in order to have the world saved through him.
18 He who believes in him is not judged; he who does not believe is already judged because he has not believed in the name of God’s only son.
19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their doings were bad.
20 For anyone who is misbehaving hates the light and does not come to the light, that his doings may not be exposed;
21 ** but he who is doing as truth would have him comes to the light that his doings may be disclosed, because they are work done in God.”
22 After this Jesus and his disciples came into Judea, and he spent a while with them there and baptized.
23 And John too was baptizing at Enon near Salim, because there was much water there; and they came and had themselves baptized,
24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 So there came up an argument on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about cleansing;
26 and they came to John and said to him “Rabbi, the one that was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the one you testified for—there he is baptizing and everybody is coming to him.”
27 John replied “A man cannot take anything if it is not given to him from heaven.
28 You yourselves bear me witness that I said I was not the Messiah, but that I had been sent before him.
29 The one who has the bride is bridegroom; but the bridegroom’s friend who stands and hears him is right joyous over the bridegroom’s voice; so this joy is mine in full measure.
30 He must grow, but I must dwindle.
31 He who comes from above is above all: he who is from the earth is a thing of earth and speaks things of earth; he who comes from heaven is above all.
32 What he has seen and heard, to that he testifies, and nobody accepts his testimony.
33 He who has accepted his testimony has set his seal to it that God is true;
34 for he whom God has sent speaks God’s words, for he does not give the Spirit by measure.
35 The Father loves the Son, and has given everything into his hand.
36 * He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who disobeys the Son will not see life, but God’s anger rests on him.”
Footnotes
^ 3:3 Or born from above
^ 3:5 Or water and wind
^ 3:6 Or from the wind is spirit
^ 3:7 Or born from above
^ 3:21 Or doing his honest best comes Lit. doing the truth comes
^ 3:21 Or are done as work done in God
^ 3:36 Or remains on him
