A man came, sent from God, whose name was John.

He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him.

Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory -- the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

John testified about him and shouted out, "This one was the one about whom I said, 'He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.'"

No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.

Then they said to him, "Who are you? Tell us so that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

John said, "I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said."

who is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal!"

This is the one about whom I said, 'After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.'

And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining -- this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'

I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God."

Gazing at Jesus as he walked by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"

Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, "What do you want?" So they said to him, "Rabbi" (which is translated Teacher), "where are you staying?"

He first found his own brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is translated Christ).

Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon, the son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, "Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"

Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

So then the Jewish leaders responded, "What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?"

came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him."

Jesus replied, "I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother's womb and be born a second time, can he?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.

So they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, about whom you testified -- see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!"

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly when he hears the bridegroom's voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete.

The one who comes from above is superior to all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is superior to all.

The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful.

So the Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you -- a Jew -- ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water to drink?" (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, "If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you, 'Give me some water to drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said to him, "you have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do you get this living water?

Surely you're not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock."

for you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. This you said truthfully!"

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you people say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem."

Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You people worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews.

But a time is coming -- and now is here -- when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers.

God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (the one called Christ); "whenever he comes, he will tell us everything."

Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.

For in this instance the saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.'

They said to the woman, "No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the world."

Now he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had made the water wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick.

Jesus did this as his second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool called Bethzatha in Aramaic, which has five covered walkways.

The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, someone else goes down there before me."

So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat."

They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Pick up your mat and walk'?"

So he told them, "My Father is working until now, and I too am working."

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.

so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming -- and is now here -- when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself,

and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

"Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

and will come out -- the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation.

I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.

"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

There is another who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true.

You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me,

"Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.

"Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for so many people?"

Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish, as much as they wanted.

When they were all satisfied, Jesus said to his disciples, "Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted."

Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus performed, they began to say to one another, "This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world."

But he said to them, "It is I. Do not be afraid."

Jesus replied, "This is the deed God requires -- to believe in the one whom he sent."

Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Then Jesus told them, "I tell you the solemn truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven.

For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

So they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread all the time!"

Now this is the will of the one who sent me -- that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up at the last day.

For this is the will of my Father -- for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

and they said, "Isn't this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

It is written in the prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me.

(Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God -- he has seen the Father.)

This is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person may eat from it and not die.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began to argue with one another, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

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

Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes me will live because of me.

This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ate, but then later died. The one who eats this bread will live forever."

Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, said, "This is a difficult saying! Who can understand it?"

The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

Jesus replied, "Didn't I choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is the devil?"

So the Jewish leaders were looking for him at the feast, asking, "Where is he?"

There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some were saying, "He is a good man," but others, "He deceives the common people."

So Jesus replied, "My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me.

If anyone wants to do God's will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.

The person who speaks on his own authority desires to receive honor for himself; the one who desires the honor of the one who sent him is a man of integrity, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

The crowd answered, "You're possessed by a demon! Who is trying to kill you?"

But if a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

Yet here he is, speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to him. Do the rulers really know that this man is the Christ?

Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "You both know me and know where I come from! And I have not come on my own initiative, but the one who sent me is true. You do not know him,

Then the Jewish leaders said to one another, "Where is he going to go that we cannot find him? He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?

On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and