Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.3:3 The Greek for again also means from above; also in verse 7.”
4“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit3:6 Or but spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You3:7 The Greek is plural. must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”3:8 The Greek for Spirit is the same as that for wind.
9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.3:13 Some manuscripts Man, who is in heaven 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,3:14 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted. 15that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”3:15 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 21.
16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
John Testifies Again About Jesus
22After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24(This was before John was put in prison.) 25An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less.”3:30 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 36.
31The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God3:34 Greek he gives the Spirit without limit. 35The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
ኢየሱስ ኒቆዲሞስን አስተማረ
1ከፈሪሳውያን ወገን፣ ከአይሁድ አለቆች አንዱ የሆነ ኒቆዲሞስ የተባለ ሰው ነበረ፤ 2በሌሊትም ወደ ኢየሱስ መጥቶ፣ “ረቢ፤ እግዚአብሔር ከእርሱ ጋር ከሆነ ሰው በቀር አንተ የምታደርጋቸውን ታምራዊ ምልክቶች ማንም ሊያደርግ ስለማይችል፣ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ የመጣህ መምህር እንደ ሆንህ እናውቃለን” አለው።
3ኢየሱስም መልሶ፣ “እውነት እልሃለሁ፤ ማንም ዳግመኛ ካልተወለደ3፥3 ወይም ከላይ ካልተወለደ፤ 7 ይመ በቀር የእግዚአብሔርን መንግሥት ሊያይ አይችልም” አለው።
4ኒቆዲሞስም፣ “ሰው ከሸመገለ በኋላ እንዴት ሊወለድ ይችላል? ዳግመኛ እንዲወለድ ተመልሶ ወደ እናቱ ማሕፀንስ ሊገባ ይችላልን?” አለው።
5ኢየሱስም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “እውነት እልሃለሁ፤ ማንም ከውሃና ከመንፈስ ካልተወለደ በቀር ወደ እግዚአብሔር መንግሥት ሊገባ አይችልም፤ 6ከሥጋ የተወለደ ሥጋ ነው፤ ከመንፈስ የተወለደም መንፈስ ነው። 7‘ዳግመኛ መወለድ አለባችሁ’ ስላልሁህ አትገረም፤ 8ነፋስ ወደሚወድደው ይነፍሳል፤ ድምፁንም ትሰማለህ፤ ነገር ግን ከየት እንደ መጣ፣ ወዴት እንደሚሄድም አታውቅም፤ ከመንፈስም የተወለደ ሁሉ እንደዚሁ ነው።”
9ኒቆዲሞስም፣ “ይህ እንዴት ሊሆን ይችላል?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
10ኢየሱስም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰለት፤ “አንተ የእስራኤል መምህር ሆነህ ሳለ እነዚህን ነገሮች አታውቅምን? 11እውነት እልሃለሁ፤ የምናውቀውን እንናገራለን፤ ያየነውንም እንመሰክራለን፤ እናንተ ግን ምስክርነታችንን አትቀበሉም። 12ስለ ምድራዊው ነገር ነግሬአችሁ ያላመናችሁ፣ ስለ ሰማያዊው ነገር ብነግራችሁ እንዴት ታምናላችሁ? 13ከሰማይ ከወረደው ከሰው ልጅ በቀር፣ ወደ ሰማይ የወጣ ማንም የለም።3፥13 ወይም በሰማይ ካለው… 14ሙሴ በምድረ በዳ እባብን እንደ ሰቀለ፣ የሰው ልጅም እንዲሁ ሊሰቀል ይገባዋል፤ 15ይኸውም በእርሱ የሚያምን ሁሉ የዘላለም ሕይወት እንዲኖረው ነው።
16“በእርሱ የሚያምን ሁሉ የዘላለም ሕይወት እንዲኖረው እንጂ እንዳይጠፋ እግዚአብሔር አንድያ ልጁን እስከ መስጠት ድረስ ዓለምን እንዲሁ ወድዷልና። 17እግዚአብሔር ልጁን ወደ ዓለም የላከው በዓለም ለመፍረድ ሳይሆን፣ ዓለምን በእርሱ ለማዳን ነው። 18በእርሱ የሚያምን ሁሉ አይፈረድበትም፤ በእርሱ የማያምን ግን በአንዱ በእግዚአብሔር ልጅ ስም3፥18 ወይም በእግዚአብሔር አንድያ ልጅ ስላላመነ፣ አሁኑኑ ተፈርዶበታል። 19ፍርዱም ይህ ነው፤ ብርሃን ወደ ዓለም መጣ፤ ሰዎች ግን ሥራቸው ክፉ ስለ ነበረ፣ ከብርሃን ይልቅ ጨለማን ወደዱ፤ 20ክፉ የሚያደርግ ሁሉ ብርሃንን ይጠላል፤ አድራጎቱም እንዳይገለጥበት ወደ ብርሃን አይመጣም። 21በእውነት የሚመላለስ ግን ሥራው በእግዚአብሔር የተሠራ መሆኑ በግልጽ ይታይ ዘንድ ወደ ብርሃን ይመጣል።”3፥21 አንዳንድ ተርጓሚዎች ትምህርተ ጥቅሱን ከቍጥር 15 በኋላ ያደርጋሉ።
መጥምቁ ዮሐንስ ስለ ኢየሱስ መሰከረ
22ከዚህ በኋላ ኢየሱስና ደቀ መዛሙርቱ ወደ ይሁዳ አገር ሄዱ፤ እዚያም ከእነርሱ ጋር ጥቂት ተቀመጠ፤ አጠመቀም።
23በዚህ ጊዜ ዮሐንስም በሳሌም አቅራቢያ ሄኖን በተባለ ስፍራ ብዙ ውሃ ስለ ነበረ ያጠምቅ ነበር፤ ሰዎችም ለመጠመቅ ይመጡ ነበር። 24ይህም የሆነው ዮሐንስ ከመታሰሩ በፊት ነበር። 25በአንዳንድ የዮሐንስ ደቀ መዛሙርትና በአንድ አይሁዳዊ3፥25 አንዳንድ ቅጆች አንዳንድ አይሁድ ይላሉ። መካከል ስለ መንጻት ሥርዐት ክርክር ተነሣ፤ 26ወደ ዮሐንስም መጥተው፣ “ረቢ፤ በዮርዳኖስ ማዶ ከአንተ ጋር የነበረው፣ ስለ እርሱም የመሰከርህለት ሰው እነሆ፤ ያጠምቃል። ሰውም ሁሉ ወደ እርሱ እየሄደ ነው” አሉት።
27ዮሐንስም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “ከላይ ካልተሰጠው በቀር ማንም አንዳች ሊቀበል አይችልም። 28‘እኔ ክርስቶስ3፥28 ወይም መሲሕ አይደለሁም፤ ነገር ግን ከእርሱ በፊት ተልኬአለሁ’ እንዳልሁ እናንተ ራሳችሁ ትመሰክራላችሁ። 29ሙሽራዪቱ የሙሽራው ነች፤ ድምፁን ለመስማት በአጠገቡ የሚቆመው ሚዜ ግን፣ የሙሽራውን ድምፅ ሲሰማ እጅግ ደስ ይለዋል፤ ያ ደስታ የእኔ ነው፤ እርሱም አሁን ተፈጽሟል። 30እርሱ ሊልቅ፣ እኔ ግን ላንስ ይገባል።
31“ከላይ የሚመጣው ከሁሉ በላይ ነው፤ ከምድር የሆነው የምድር ነው፤ የምድሩንም ይናገራል። ከሰማይ የሚመጣው ከሁሉ በላይ ነው፤ 32ያየውንና የሰማውን ይመሰክራል፤ ነገር ግን ምስክርነቱን ማንም አይቀበልም፤ 33ምስክርነቱንም የተቀበለ ሰው፣ እግዚአብሔር እውነተኛ እንደ ሆነ አረጋገጠ። 34እግዚአብሔር3፥34 በግሪኩ እርሱ ይላል መንፈሱን ሳይሰፍር ስለሚሰጥ፣ እግዚአብሔር የላከው የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ይናገራል። 35አብ ወልድን ይወድዳል፤ ሁሉንም ነገር በእጁ ሰጥቶታል። 36በወልድ የሚያምን ሁሉ የዘላለም ሕይወት አለው፤ በወልድ የማያምን ግን የእግዚአብሔር ቍጣ በላዩ ይሆናል እንጂ ሕይወትን አያይም።”3፥36 አንዳንድ ተርጓሚዎች ትእምርተ ጥቅሱን ከ30 በኋላ ያደርጋሉ።
