John 1:1-13

New Living Translation

Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word

1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
²He existed in the beginning with God.
³God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
⁴The Word gave life to everything that was created,^[a]
    and his life brought light to everyone.
⁵The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.^[b]

⁶God sent a man, John the Baptist,^[c] ⁷to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. ⁸John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. ⁹The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹²But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

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Footnotes

1:3-4 Or and nothing that was created was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything.
1:5 Or and the darkness has not understood it.
1:6 Greek a man named John.