In the Beginning the Word was; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God.

He was in the Beginning with God;

That which came into being in him was Life; and the Life was the Light of Man;

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

He was not the Light, but he came to bear witness to the Light.

That was the True Light which enlightens every man coming into the world.

He was in the world; and through him the world came into being--yet the world did not know him.

(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");

For the Law was given through Moses, love and truth came through Jesus Christ.

When the Jews sent some Priests and Levites to John from Jerusalem, to ask--"Who are you?", his statement was this:

And their next question was: "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor yet 'the Prophet'?"

John's answer was--"I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know;

All this took place at Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was then baptizing.

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.'

The next day, when John was standing with two of his disciples,

"Come, and you shall see," he replied. So they went, and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was then about four in the afternoon.

One of the two, who heard what John said and followed Jesus, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

Philip was from Bethsaida, and a fellow-townsman of Andrew and Peter.

Two days after this there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there.

Jesus himself, too, with his disciples, was invited to the wedding.

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

"Destroy this temple," was his answer, "and I will raise it in three days."

But Jesus was speaking of his body as a temple.

While Jesus was in Jerusalem, during the Passover Festival, many came to trust in him, when they saw the signs of his mission that he was giving.

And because he did not need that others should tell him what men were; for he could of himself read what was in men.

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who was a leading man among the Jews.

John, also, was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there were many streams there; and people were constantly coming and being baptized.

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.

Now, when the Master heard that the Pharisees had been told that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John

(Though it was not Jesus himself, but his disciples, who baptized),

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.

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

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.

When this man heard that Jesus had returned from Judea to Galilee, he went to him, and begged him to come down and cure his son; for he was at the point of death.

And, while he was on his way down, his servants met him, and told him that his child was living.

So he asked them at what time the boy began to get better. "It was yesterday, about one o'clock," they said, "that the fever left him."

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.

This was the second occasion on which Jesus gave a sign of his mission on coming from Judea to Galilee.

Sometime after this there was a Jewish Festival; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

One man who was there had been afflicted for thirty-eight years.

The man was cured immediately, and took up his mat and began to walk about.

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."

"Who was it," they asked, "that said to you 'Take up your mat and walk about'?"

But the man who had been restored did not know who it was; for Jesus had moved away, because there was a crowd there.

The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him.

And that was why the Jews began to persecute Jesus--because he did things of this kind on the Sabbath.

This made the Jews all the more eager to kill him, because not only was he doing away with the Sabbath, but he actually called God his own Father--putting himself on an equality with God.

He was the 'Lamp that was burning' and shining, and you were ready to rejoice, for a time, in his light.

For, had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for it was of me that Moses wrote;

It was near the time of the Jewish Festival of the Passover.

Looking up, and noticing that a great crowd was coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip: "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?"

"Make the people sit down," said Jesus. It was a grassy spot; so the men, who numbered about five thousand, sat down,

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

The Sea, too, was getting rough, for a strong wind was blowing.

So, on the next day, when the people saw that Jesus was not there, or his disciples either, they themselves got into the boats, and went to Capernaum to look for him.

All this Jesus said in a Synagogue, when he was teaching in Capernaum.

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

Yet there are some of you who do not believe in me." For Jesus knew from the first who they were that did not believe in him, and who it was that would betray him;

He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who was about to betray him, though he was one of the Twelve.

When the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near,

Was not it Moses who gave you the Law? Yet not one of you obeys it! Why are you seeking to put me to death?"

"There was one thing I did," replied Jesus, "at which you are all still wondering.

Therefore, Jesus, as he was teaching in the Temple Courts, raised his voice and said: "Yes; you know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own authority, but he who sent me may be trusted; and him you do not know.

So they sought to arrest him; but no one touched him, for his time was not come yet.

On the last and greatest day of the Festival, Jesus, who was standing by, exclaimed: "If any one thirsts, let him come to me, and drink.

So there was a sharp division among the people on account of Jesus.

While he was speaking in this way, many came to believe in him.

"We are descendants of Abraham," was their answer, "and have never yet been in slavery to any one. What do you mean by saying 'you will be set free'?"

"Our father is Abraham," was their answer. "If you are Abraham's children," replied Jesus, "do what Abraham did.

As for you, you are children of your Father the Devil, and you are determined to do what your father loves to do. He was a murderer from the first, and did not stand by the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he does what is natural to him; because he is a liar, and the father of lying.

Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; and he did see it, and was glad."

"In truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "before Abraham existed I was."

"Rabbi," asked his disciples, "who was it that sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

"Neither the man nor the parents," replied Jesus; "but he was born blind that the work of God should be made plain in him.

"Go," he said, "and wash your eyes in the Bath of Siloam" (a word which means 'Messenger'). So the man went and washed his eyes, and returned able to see.

"The man whom they call Jesus," he answered, "made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me 'Go to Siloam and wash your eyes.' So I went and washed my eyes, and gained my sight."

Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and gave him his sight.

So there was a difference of opinion among them, and they again questioned the man; "What do you yourself say about him, for it is to you that he has given sight?"

"Is this your son," they asked, "who you say was born blind? If so, how is it that he can see now?"

"We know that this is our son," answered the parents, "and that he was born blind;

But how it is that he can see now we do not know; nor do we know who it was that gave him his sight. Ask him--he is old enough- -he will tell you about himself."

This was why his parents said 'He is old enough; ask him.'

"I know nothing about his being a bad man," he replied; "one thing I do know, that although I was blind, now I can see."

Since the world began, such a thing was never heard of as any one's giving sight to a person born blind.

And Jesus added: "It was to put men to the test that I came into this world, in order that those that cannot see should see, and that those that can see should become blind."

This was the allegory that Jesus told them, but they did not understand of what he was speaking.

Soon after this the Festival of the Re-dedication was held at Jerusalem.

It was winter; and Jesus was walking in the Temple Courts, in the Colonnade of Solomon,

"John gave no sign of his mission," they said; "but everything that he said about this man was true."

Now a man named Lazarus, of Bethany, was lying ill; he belonged to the same village as Mary and her sister Martha.

This Mary, whose brother Lazarus was ill, was the Mary who anointed the Master with perfume, and wiped his feet with her hair.

Yet, when he heard of the illness of Lazarus, he still stayed two days in the place where he was.

But Jesus meant that he was dead; they, however, supposed that he was speaking of natural sleep.

And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may learn to believe in me. But let us go to him."

At this, Thomas, who was called 'The Twin,' said to his fellow-disciples: "Let us go too, so that we may die with him."

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat quietly at home.

"Yes Master," she answered; "I have learned to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, 'who was to come' into the world."

Jesus had not then come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

So the Jews, who were in the house with Mary, condoling with her, when they saw her get up quickly and go out, followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.