The Word Became a Human Being
1In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him. 4Life was in him, and that life was the light for all people. 5The light shines in the darkness. But the darkness has not overcome the light.
6There was a man sent from God. His name was John. 7He came to be a witness about that light. He was a witness so that all people might believe. 8John himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light.
9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10The Word was in the world. And the world was made through him. But the world did not recognize him. 11He came to what was his own. But his own people did not accept him. 12Some people did accept him and did believe in his name. He gave them the right to become children of God. 13To be a child of God has nothing to do with human parents. Children of God are not born because of human choice or because a husband wants them to be born. They are born because of what God does.
14The Word became a human being. He made his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. And the Word was full of grace and truth.
15John was a witness about the Word. John cried out and said, “This was the one I was talking about. I said, ‘He who comes after me is more important than I am. He is more important because he existed before I was born.’ ” 16God is full of grace. From him we have all received grace in place of the grace already given. 17In the past, God gave us grace through the law of Moses. Now, grace and truth come to us through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. But the One and Only is God and is at the Father’s side. The one at the Father’s side has shown us what God is like.
John the Baptist Says That He Is Not the Messiah
19The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was. John spoke the truth to them. 20He did not try to hide the truth. He spoke to them openly. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”
21They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet we’ve been expecting?” they asked.
“No,” he answered.
22They asked one last time, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23John replied, using the words of Isaiah the prophet. John said, “I’m the messenger who is calling out in the desert, ‘Make the way for the Lord straight.’ ” (Isaiah 40:3)
24The Pharisees who had been sent 25asked him, “If you are not the Messiah, why are you baptizing people? Why are you doing that if you aren’t Elijah or the Prophet we’ve been expecting?”
26“I baptize people with water,” John replied. “But someone is standing among you whom you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie his sandals.”
28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. That was where John was baptizing.
What John Says About Jesus
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God! He takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I was talking about. I said, ‘A man who comes after me is more important than I am. That’s because he existed before I was born.’ 31I did not know him. But God wants to make it clear to Israel who this person is. That’s the reason I came baptizing with water.”
32Then John told them, “I saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven like a dove. The Spirit remained on Jesus. 33I myself did not know him. But the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and remain on someone. He is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34I have seen it happen. I am a witness that this is God’s Chosen One.”
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36He saw Jesus walking by. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”
37The two disciples heard him say this. So they followed Jesus. 38Then Jesus turned around and saw them following. He asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Rabbi means Teacher.
39“Come,” he replied. “You will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying. They spent the rest of the day with him. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
40Andrew was Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew was one of the two disciples who heard what John had said. He had also followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon. He told him, “We have found the Messiah.” Messiah means Christ. 42And he brought Simon to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas.” Cephas means Peter, or Rock.
Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael
43The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
44Philip was from the town of Bethsaida. So were Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the Law. The prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47Jesus saw Nathanael approaching. Here is what Jesus said about him. “He is a true Israelite. Nothing about him is false.”
48“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree. I saw you there before Philip called you.”
49Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel.”
50Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51Then he said to the disciples, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You will see heaven open. You will see the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”
生命之道
1太初，道已经存在，道与上帝同在，道就是上帝。 2太初，道就与上帝同在。 3万物都是借着祂造的1:3 “造的”或译“存在”。，受造之物没有一样不是借着祂造的。 4祂里面有生命，这生命是人类的光。 5光照进黑暗里，黑暗不能胜过1:5 “胜过”或译“接受”或“明白”。光。
6有一个人名叫约翰，是上帝差来的。 7他来是要为光做见证，叫世人可以借着他而相信。 8约翰不是那光，他来是为那光做见证。 9那照亮世人的真光来到了世上。 10祂来到自己所创造的世界，世界却不认识祂。 11祂来到自己的地方，自己的人却不接纳祂。 12但所有接纳祂的，就是那些信祂的人，祂就赐给他们权利成为上帝的儿女。 13这些人既不是从人的血缘关系生的，也不是从人的情欲或意愿生的，而是从上帝生的。
14道成为肉身，住在我们中间，充满了恩典和真理。我们见过祂的荣耀，正是父独一儿子的荣耀。
15约翰为祂做见证的时候，高声喊道：“这就是我以前所说的那位，‘祂在我以后来却比我位分高，因为祂在我之前已经存在了。’” 16从祂的丰盛里，我们一次又一次地领受了恩典。 17因为律法是借着摩西颁布的，恩典和真理是借着耶稣基督赐下来的。 18从来没有人见过上帝，只有父怀中的独一上帝1:18 “独一上帝”有古卷作“独一儿子”。把祂显明出来。
施洗者约翰的见证
19以下是约翰的见证。犹太人从耶路撒冷派祭司和利未人来找约翰，查问他是谁。 20约翰毫不隐瞒地说：“我不是基督。”
21他们问：“那么，你是谁？是以利亚吗？”
他说：“不是。”
他们又问：“你是那位先知吗？”
他说：“也不是。”
22他们又追问：“你到底是谁？我们好回复差我们来的人。你自己说你是谁？”
23他说：“我就是在旷野大声呼喊‘修直主的路’的那个人，正如以赛亚先知所言。”
24派来的人当中有几个法利赛人1:24 “派来的人当中有几个法利赛人”或译“法利赛人派来的那几个人”。，他们问他： 25“你既然不是基督，不是以利亚，也不是那位先知，那你为什么给人施洗呢？”
26约翰答道：“我是用水施洗，但在你们中间有一位你们不认识的， 27祂虽然是在我以后来的，我就是给祂解鞋带也不配。” 28这事发生在约旦河东岸的伯大尼，那里是约翰给人施洗的地方。
上帝的羔羊
29次日，约翰看见耶稣走过来，就说：“看啊！上帝的羔羊，除去世人罪恶的！ 30这就是我以前所说的那位，‘有一个人在我以后来却比我位分高，因为祂在我之前已经存在了。’ 31我以前并不认识祂，现在我用水给人施洗，是要把祂显明给以色列人。”
32约翰又做见证说：“我看见圣灵好像鸽子一样从天降下，住在祂身上。 33我本来不认识祂，但那位差我来用水给人施洗的告诉我，‘你看见圣灵降下，住在谁身上，谁就是用圣灵给人施洗的。’ 34我看见了，便做见证，祂就是上帝的儿子。”
第一批门徒
35再次日，约翰和两个门徒站在那里， 36他看见耶稣经过，就说：“看啊！这是上帝的羔羊！” 37两个门徒听见他的话，便跟从了耶稣。 38耶稣转过身来，看见他们跟着，便问：“你们想要什么？”
他们说：“老师1:38 “老师”希腊文是“拉比”，特指犹太教的老师，下同。，你住在哪里？”
39耶稣说：“你们来看吧。”他们便跟着去看耶稣住的地方。到了那里大约下午四点了，他们就住在耶稣那里。 40听见约翰的话后跟从耶稣的两个人中，有一个是西门·彼得的弟弟安得烈。 41他首先去找他哥哥西门，说：“我们找到弥赛亚了！”弥赛亚的意思是基督1:41 希伯来文的“弥赛亚”和希腊文的“基督”都是“受膏者”的意思。。 42他带着西门去见耶稣。
耶稣看着西门，对他说：“约翰的儿子西门，你要改名为矶法。”矶法的意思是彼得。
43又过了一天，耶稣决定去加利利。祂遇见了腓力，就对他说：“跟从我！” 44腓力是伯赛大人，与彼得、安得烈是同乡。 45腓力去找拿但业，对他说：“我们遇见了摩西律法书和先知书记载的那位！祂是约瑟的儿子耶稣，从拿撒勒来的。”
46拿但业说：“拿撒勒还会出什么好东西？”
腓力说：“你来看看吧！”
47耶稣看见拿但业走过来，就指着他说：“看啊，这是个真正的以色列人！他心里毫无诡诈。”
48拿但业问耶稣：“你怎么会认识我？”
耶稣答道：“腓力还没有去找你之前，我就看见你在无花果树下了。”
49拿但业说：“老师，你是上帝的儿子！你是以色列的王！”
50耶稣说：“我说看见你在无花果树下，你就信我吗？将来你还要看见比这更大的事。 51我实实在在地告诉你们，你们会看见天门敞开，上帝的天使以人子1:51 “人子”是耶稣的自称，耶稣在这里自比天梯，背景请参见创世记28:12。为梯上上下下。”
