There appeared a man sent from God, whose name was John;

He came as a witness--to bear witness to the Light that through him all men might believe.

And the Word became Man, and dwelt among us, (We saw his glory--the glory of the Only Son sent from the Father), full of love and truth.

(John bears witness to him; he cried aloud--for it was he who spoke--"'He who is Coming' after me is now before me, for he was ever first");

No man has ever yet seen God; God the Only Son, who is ever with the Father--He has revealed him.

"Who then are you?" they continued; "tell us, that we may have some answer to give to those who have sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

"I," he answered, "am--'The voice of one crying aloud in the Wilderness--"straighten the way of the Lord"', as the Prophet Isaiah said."

He is coming after me, yet I am not worthy even to unfasten his sandal."

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and exclaimed: "Here is the Lamb of God, who is to take away the sin of the world!

It was of him that I spoke when I said 'After me there is coming a man who is now before me, for he was ever First.'

John also made this statement--"I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of the heavens, and it remained upon him.

I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him--he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'

This I have seen myself, and I have declared my belief that he is the Son of God."

He looked at Jesus as he passed and exclaimed: "There is the Lamb of God!"

But Jesus turned round, and saw them following. "What are you looking for?" he asked. "Rabbi," they answered (or, as we should say, "Teacher"), "where are you staying?"

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said: "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!"

Then, as the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

So he made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the Temple Courts, and the sheep and bullocks as well; he scattered the money of the money-changers, and overturned their tables,

Upon this the Jews asked Jesus: "What sign are you going to show us, since you act in this way?"

But Jesus was speaking of his body as a temple.

This man came to Jesus by night, and said to him: "Rabbi, we know that you are a Teacher come from God; for no one could give such signs as you are giving, unless God were with him."

"In truth I tell you," exclaimed Jesus, "unless a man is reborn, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

"How can a man," asked Nicodemus, "be born when he is old? Can he be born a second time?"

All that owes its birth to human nature is human, and all that owes its birth to the Spirit is spiritual.

The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes, or where it goes; it is the same with every one that owes his birth to the Spirit."

And, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up;

He who believes in him escapes condemnation, while he who does not believe in him is already condemned, because he has not believed in the only Son of God.

The ground of his condemnation is this, that though the Light has come into the world, men preferred the darkness to the Light, because their actions were wicked.

And the disciples came to John and said: "Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, and to whom you have yourself borne testimony--he, also, is baptizing, and everybody is going to him."

John's answer was--"A man can gain nothing but what is given him from Heaven.

You are yourselves witnesses that I said 'I am not the Christ,' but 'I have been sent before him as a Messenger.'

It is the bridegroom who has the bride; but the bridegroom's friend, who stands by and listens to him, is filled with joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. This joy I have felt to the full.

He who comes from above is above all others; but a child of earth is earthly, and his teaching is earthly, too. He who comes from Heaven is above all others.

They who did accept his statement attested the fact that God is true.

For he whom God sent as his Messenger gives us God's own teaching, for God does not limit the gift of the Spirit.

Jacob's Spring was there, and Jesus, being tired after his journey, sat down beside the spring, just as he was. It was then about mid-day.

"How is it," replied the Samaritan woman, "that you who are a Jew ask for water from a Samaritan woman like me?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).

"If you knew of the gift of God," replied Jesus, "and who it is that is saying to you 'Give me some water,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you 'living water'."

"You have no bucket, Sir, and the well is deep," she said; "where did you get that 'living water?'

Surely you are not greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us the well, and used to drink from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle!"

"For you have had five husbands, and the man with whom you are now living is not your husband; in saying that, you have spoken the truth."

"It was on this mountain that our ancestors worshiped; and yet you Jews say that the proper place for worship is in Jerusalem."

"Believe me," replied Jesus, "a time is coming when it will be neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem that you will worship the Father.

But a time is coming, indeed it is already here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father spiritually and truly; for such are the worshipers that the Father desires.

God is Spirit; and those who worship him must worship spiritually and truly."

"I know," answered the woman, "that the Messiah, who is called the Christ, is coming; when once he has come, he will tell us everything."

"My food," replied Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me, and to complete his work.

Already the reaper is receiving wages and gathering in sheaves for Immortal Life, so that sower and reaper rejoice together.

And they said to the woman: "It is no longer because of what you say that we believe in him, for we have heard him ourselves and know that he really is the Savior of the world."

For he himself declared that 'a Prophet is not honored in his own country.'

So Jesus came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Now there was one of the King's officers whose son was lying ill at Capernaum.

"Sir," said the officer, "come down before my child dies." And Jesus answered: "Go, your son is living."

By this the father knew that it was at the very time when Jesus had said to him 'Your son is living'; and he himself, with all his household, believed in Jesus.

There is in Jerusalem, near the Sheep-gate, a Bath with five colonnades round it. It is called in Hebrew 'Bethesda.'

"I have no one, Sir," the afflicted man answered, "to put me into the Bath when there is a troubling of the water, and, while I am getting to it, some one else steps down before me."

Now it was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured: "This is the Sabbath; you must not carry your mat."

For the Father loves his Son, and shows him everything that he is doing; and he will show him still greater things--so that you will be filled with wonder.

For, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them Life, so also the Son gives Life to whom he pleases.

So that all men may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son fails to honor the Father who sent him.

In truth I tell you that a time is coming, indeed it is already here, when the Dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and when those who listen will live.

For, just as the Father has inherent Life within him, so also he has granted to the Son to have inherent Life within him;

And, because he is Son of Man, he has also given him authority to act as judge.

Do not wonder at this; for the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice,

I can do nothing of myself; I judge as I am taught; and the judgment that I give is just, because my aim is not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

If I bear testimony to myself, my testimony is not trustworthy;

It is another who bears testimony to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is trustworthy.

You have yourselves sent to John, and he as testified to the Truth.

But the testimony which I receive is not from man; I am saying this for your Salvation.

But the testimony which I have is of greater weight than John's; for the work that the Father has given me to carry out-- the work that I am doing--is in itself proof that the Father has sent me as his Messenger.

And you have not taken his Message home to your hearts, because you do not believe him whom he sent as his Messenger.

And, though it is those very Scriptures that bear testimony to me, you refuse to come to me to have life.

Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have been resting your hopes.

"There is a boy here," said Andrew, another of his disciples, Simon Peter's brother,

"Who has five barley loaves and two fishes; but what is that for so many?"

And then Jesus took the loaves, and, after saying the thanksgiving, distributed them to those who were sitting down; and the same with the fish, giving the people as much as they wanted.

When the people saw the signs which Jesus gave, they said: "This is certainly 'the Prophet who was to come' into the world."

But Jesus said to them: "It is I; do not be afraid!"

"In truth I tell you," answered Jesus, "it is not on account of the signs which you saw that you are looking for me, but because you had the bread to eat and were satisfied.

"How," they asked, "are we to do the work that God would have us do?"

"The work that God would have you do," answered Jesus, "is to believe in him whom God sent as his Messenger."

"What sign, then," they asked, "are you giving, which we may see, and so believe you? What is the work that you are doing?

Our ancestors had the manna to eat in the desert; as Scripture says--'He gave them bread from Heaven to eat.'"

For the Bread that God gives is that which comes down from Heaven, and gives Life to the world."

"Master," they exclaimed, "give us that Bread always!"

But, as I have said already, you have seen me, and yet you do not believe in me.

And his will is this--that I should not lose one of all those whom he has given me, but should raise them up at the Last Day.

For it is the will of my Father that every one who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have Immortal Life; and I myself will raise him up at the Last Day."

"Is not this Jesus, Joseph's son," they asked, "whose father and mother we know? How is it that he now says that he has come down from Heaven?"

It is said in the Prophets--'And they shall all be taught by God.' Every one who is taught by the Father and learns from him comes to me.

Not that any one has seen the Father, except him who is from God--he has seen the Father.

The Bread that comes down from Heaven is such that whoever eats of it will never die.

I am the Living Bread that has come down from Heaven. If any one eats of this Bread, he will live for ever; and the Bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I will give for the Life of the world."

Upon this the Jews began disputing with one another: "How is it possible for this man to give us his flesh to eat?"

For my flesh is true food, and my blood true drink.

As the Living Father sent me as his Messenger, and as I live because the Father lives, so he who takes me for his food shall live because I live.

That is the Bread which has come down from Heaven--not such as your ancestors ate, and yet died; he who takes this Bread for his food shall live for ever."

On hearing it, many of his disciples said: "This is harsh doctrine! Who can bear to listen to it?"

"Is this a hindrance to you? What, then, if you should see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?

It is the Spirit that gives Life; mere flesh is of no avail. In the teaching that I have been giving you there is Spirit and there is Life.

And he added: "This is why I told you that no one can come to me, unless enabled by the Father."