The Deity of Jesus Christ

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ^2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. ⁵ The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[b]comprehend it.

The Witness John

⁶ There ^[c]came a man sent from God, whose name was John. ^7 [d]He came ^[e]as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. ^8 [f]He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

⁹ There was the true Light ^[g]which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His ^[h]own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³ who were ^[i]born, not of ^[j]blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Word Made Flesh

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and ^[k]dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of ^[l]the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ^[m]has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” ¹⁶ For of His fullness ^[n]we have all received, and ^[o]grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth ^[p]were realized through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

The Testimony of John

¹⁹ This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not ^[q]the Christ.” ²¹ They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the ^[r]Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them saying, “I baptize ^[s]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ^[t]has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ³¹ I did not recognize ^[u]Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing ^[v]in water.” ³² John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not recognize ^[w]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[x]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes ^[y]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts

³⁵ Again the next day John was standing ^[z]with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹ He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the ^[aa]tenth hour. ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means ^[ab]Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^[ac]John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated ^[ad]Peter).

⁴³ The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”