¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ^(A)“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ^19 (B)Go ^[a]therefore and ^(C)make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ^20 (D)teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am ^(E)with you always, even to the end of the age.” ^[b]Amen.

¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but ^(A)the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

¹³ These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the ^[a]Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ^14 (B)But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The Eternal Word^(A)

1 In the beginning ^(B)was the Word, and the ^(C)Word was ^(D)with God, and the Word was ^(E)God. ^2 (F)He was in the beginning with God. ^3 (G)All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ^4 (H)In Him was life, and ^(I)the life was the light of men. ⁵ And ^(J)the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[a]comprehend it.

John’s Witness: The True Light

⁶ There was a ^(K)man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a ^(L)witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might ^(M)believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that ^(N)Light. ^9 (O)That^[b] was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and ^(P)the world did not know Him. ^11 (Q)He came to His ^[c]own, and His ^[d]own did not receive Him. ¹² But ^(R)as many as received Him, to them He gave the ^[e]right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ^13 (S)who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Becomes Flesh

^14 (T)And the Word ^(U)became ^(V)flesh and dwelt among us, and ^(W)we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, ^(X)full of grace and truth.

^15 (Y)John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ^(Z)‘He who comes after me ^[f]is preferred before me, ^(AA)for He was before me.’ ”

^16 [g]And of His ^(AB)fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For ^(AC)the law was given through Moses, but ^(AD)grace and ^(AE)truth came through Jesus Christ.

^16 (A)For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten ^(B)Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ^17 (C)For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

^18 (D)“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, ^(E)that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ^(A)“I am the light of the world. He who ^(B)follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Jesus Defends His Self-Witness

¹³ The Pharisees therefore said to Him, ^(C)“You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not ^[a]true.”

¹⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but ^(D)you do not know where I come from and where I am going. ^15 (E)You judge according to the flesh; ^(F)I judge no one. ¹⁶ And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for ^(G)I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.

The Truth Shall Make You Free

³¹ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you ^(A)abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the ^(B)truth, and ^(C)the truth shall make you free.”