The New Birth

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named ^(A)Nicodemus, a ^(B)ruler of the Jews; ² this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “^(C)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these ^[a](D)signs that You do unless ^(E)God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one ^(F)is born ^[b]again he cannot see ^(G)the kingdom of God.”

⁴ Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of ^(H)water and the Spirit he cannot enter into ^(I)the kingdom of God. ^6 (J)That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born ^[c]again.’ ^8 (K)The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you ^(L)the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(M)we speak of what we know and ^(N)testify of what we have seen, and ^(O)you do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ^13 (P)No one has ascended into heaven, but ^(Q)He who descended from heaven: ^(R)the Son of Man. ¹⁴ As ^(S)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must ^(T)the Son of Man ^(U)be lifted up; ¹⁵ so that whoever ^[d]believes will ^(V)in Him have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For God so ^(W)loved the world, that He ^(X)gave His ^[e](Y)only begotten Son, that whoever ^(Z)believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God ^(AA)did not send the Son into the world ^(AB)to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ^18 (AC)He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ^(AD)the ^[f]only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ This is the judgment, that ^(AE)the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for ^(AF)their deeds were evil. ^20 (AG)For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But he who ^(AH)practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

John’s Last Testimony

²² After these things Jesus and His ^(AI)disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and ^(AJ)baptizing. ²³ John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— ²⁴ for ^(AK)John had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵ Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about ^(AL)purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, “^(AM)Rabbi, He who was with you ^(AN)beyond the Jordan, to whom you ^(AO)have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” ²⁷ John answered and said, “^(AP)A man can receive nothing unless it ^(AQ)has been given him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves ^[g]are my witnesses that I said, ‘^(AR)I am not the ^[h]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ ²⁹ He who has the bride is ^(AS)the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this ^(AT)joy of mine has been made full. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.

³¹ “^(AU)He who comes from above is above all, ^(AV)he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. ^(AW)He who comes from heaven is above all. ³² What He has seen and heard, of that He ^(AX)testifies; and ^(AY)no one receives His testimony. ³³ He who has received His testimony ^(AZ)has set his seal to this, that God is true. ³⁴ For He whom God has ^(BA)sent speaks the words of God; ^[i](BB)for He gives the Spirit without measure. ^35 (BC)The Father loves the Son and ^(BD)has given all things into His hand. ³⁶ He who ^(BE)believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who ^(BF)does not ^[j]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Jesus Goes to Galilee

4 Therefore when ^(A)the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and ^(B)baptizing more disciples than John ² (although ^(C)Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His ^(D)disciples were), ³ He left ^(E)Judea and went away ^(F)again into Galilee. ⁴ And He had to pass through ^(G)Samaria. ⁵ So He *came to a city of ^(H)Samaria called Sychar, near ^(I)the parcel of ground that ^(J)Jacob gave to his son Joseph; ⁶ and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about ^[a]the sixth hour.

The Woman of Samaria

⁷ There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His ^(K)disciples had gone away into ^(L)the city to buy food. ⁹ Therefore the ^(M)Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For ^(N)Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you ^(O)living water.” ¹¹ She *said to Him, “^[b]Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that ^(P)living water? ¹² You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who ^(Q)gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” ¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him ^(R)shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to ^(S)eternal life.”

¹⁵ The woman *said to Him, “^[c]Sir, ^(T)give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” ¹⁶ He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” ¹⁷ The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” ¹⁹ The woman *said to Him, “^[d]Sir, I perceive that You are ^(U)a prophet. ^20 (V)Our fathers worshiped in ^(W)this mountain, and you people say that ^(X)in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” ²¹ Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, ^(Y)an hour is coming when ^(Z)neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ^22 (AA)You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for ^(AB)salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But ^(AC)an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^(AD)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. ²⁴ God is ^[e]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship ^(AE)in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman *said to Him, “I know that ^(AF)Messiah is coming (^(AG)He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” ²⁶ Jesus *said to her, “^(AH)I who speak to you am He.”

²⁷ At this point His ^(AI)disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” ²⁸ So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, ²⁹ “Come, see a man ^(AJ)who told me all the things that I have done; ^(AK)this is not ^[f]the Christ, is it?” ³⁰ They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.

³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “^(AL)Rabbi, eat.” ³² But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³ So the ^(AM)disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” ³⁴ Jesus *said to them, “My food is to ^(AN)do the will of Him who sent Me and to ^(AO)accomplish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white ^(AP)for harvest. ³⁶ Already he who reaps is receiving ^(AQ)wages and is gathering ^(AR)fruit for ^(AS)life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this case the saying is true, ‘^(AT)One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”

The Samaritans

³⁹ From ^(AU)that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “^(AV)He told me all the things that I have done.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. ⁴¹ Many more believed because of His word; ⁴² and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed ^(AW)the Savior of the world.”

⁴³ After ^(AX)the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. ⁴⁴ For Jesus Himself testified that ^(AY)a prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵ So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, ^(AZ)having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

Healing a Nobleman’s Son

⁴⁶ Therefore He came again to ^(BA)Cana of Galilee ^(BB)where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at ^(BC)Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come ^(BD)out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see ^[g](BE)signs and ^(BF)wonders, you simply will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The royal official *said to Him, “^[h]Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus *said to him, “^(BG)Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. ⁵¹ As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his ^[i]son was living. ⁵² So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the ^[j]seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and ^(BH)his whole household. ⁵⁴ This is again a ^(BI)second ^[k]sign that Jesus performed when He had ^(BJ)come out of Judea into Galilee.

The Healing at Bethesda

5 After these things there was ^(A)a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now there is in Jerusalem by ^(B)the sheep gate a pool, which is called ^(C)in ^[a]Hebrew ^[b]Bethesda, having five porticoes. ³ In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [^[c]waiting for the moving of the waters; ⁴ for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.] ⁵ A man was there who had been ^[d]ill for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He *said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” ⁷ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when ^(D)the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus *said to him, “^(E)Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” ⁹ Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.

^(F)Now it was the Sabbath on that day. ¹⁰ So ^(G)the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and ^(H)it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” ¹¹ But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?” ¹³ But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. ¹⁴ Afterward Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not ^(I)sin anymore, ^(J)so that nothing worse happens to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away, and told ^(K)the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶ For this reason ^(L)the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

Jesus’ Equality with God

¹⁸ For this reason therefore ^(M)the Jews ^(N)were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, ^(O)making Himself equal with God.

¹⁹ Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(P)the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever ^[e]the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. ^20 (Q)For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him ^(R)greater works than these, so that you will marvel. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and ^(S)gives them life, even so ^(T)the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. ²² For not even the Father judges anyone, but ^(U)He has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. ^(V)He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

²⁴ “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and ^(W)believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and ^(X)does not come into judgment, but has ^(Y)passed out of death into life.

Two Resurrections

²⁵ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(Z)an hour is coming and now is, when ^(AA)the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who ^(AB)hear will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He ^(AC)gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; ²⁷ and He gave Him authority to ^(AD)execute judgment, because He is ^[f]the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for ^(AE)an hour is coming, in which ^(AF)all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, ²⁹ and will come forth; ^(AG)those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

³⁰ “^(AH)I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and ^(AI)My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but ^(AJ)the will of Him who sent Me.

³¹ “^(AK)If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not ^[g]true. ³² There is ^(AL)another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.

Witness of John

³³ You have sent to John, and he ^(AM)has testified to the truth. ³⁴ But ^(AN)the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was ^(AO)the lamp that was burning and was shining and you ^(AP)were willing to rejoice for ^[h]a while in his light.

Witness of Works

³⁶ But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for ^(AQ)the works which the Father has given Me ^(AR)to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father ^(AS)has sent Me.

Witness of the Father

³⁷ And the Father who sent Me, ^(AT)He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. ³⁸ You do not have ^(AU)His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He ^(AV)sent.

Witness of the Scripture

^39 [i](AW)You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is ^(AX)these that testify about Me; ⁴⁰ and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. ^41 (AY)I do not receive glory from men; ⁴² but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. ⁴³ I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; ^(AZ)if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you ^(BA)receive ^[j]glory from one another and you do not seek ^(BB)the ^[k]glory that is from ^(BC)the one and only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is ^(BD)Moses, in whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for ^(BE)he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ But ^(BF)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”