They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the [promised] Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

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

And Jesus turned and saw them following Him, and asked them, “What do you want?” They answered Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”

One of the two who heard what John said and [as a result] followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

Jesus said to her, “[Dear] woman, what is that to you and to Me? My time [to act and to be revealed] has not yet come.”

Then the Jews retorted, “What sign (attesting miracle) can You show us as [proof of] your authority for doing these things?”

and He did not need anyone to testify concerning man [and human nature], for He Himself knew what was in man [in their hearts—in the very core of their being].

That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, we speak only of what we [absolutely] know and testify about what we have [actually] seen [as eyewitnesses]; and [still] you [reject our evidence and] do not accept our testimony.

But whoever practices truth [and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him].”

What He has [actually] seen and heard, of that He testifies; and yet no one accepts His testimony [as true].

You [Samaritans] do not know what you worship; we [Jews] do know what we worship, for salvation is from the Jews.

Just then His disciples came, and they were surprised to find Him talking with a woman. However, no one said, “What are You asking about?” or, “Why are You talking to her?”

Now many Samaritans from that city believed in Him and trusted Him [as Savior] because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.”

Many more believed in Him [with a deep, abiding trust] because of His word [His personal message to them];

and they told the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; for [now] we have heard Him for ourselves and know [with confident assurance] that this One is truly the Savior of [all] the world.”

Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives!” The man believed what Jesus said to him and started home.

So he asked them at what time he began to get better. They said, “Yesterday during the seventh hour the fever left him.”

So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way.

“I can do nothing on my own initiative or authority. Just as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just (fair, righteous, unbiased), because I do not seek My own will, but only the will of Him who sent Me.

And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form [His majesty and greatness—what He is like].

But He said this to test Philip, because He knew what He was about to do.

“There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many people?”

Then they asked Him, “What are we to do, so that we may habitually be doing the works of God?”

So they said to Him, “What sign (attesting miracle) will You do that we may see it and believe You? What [supernatural] work will You do [as proof]?

Then Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.

What then [will you think] if you see the Son of Man ascending to [the realm] where He was before?

But we know where this Man is from; whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.”

But many from the crowd believed in Him. And they kept saying, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs and exhibit more proofs than this Man?”

What does this statement of His mean, ‘You will look for Me, and will not [be able to] find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

Others said, “This is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)!” But others said, “Surely the Christ is not going to come out of Galilee, is He?

“Does our Law convict someone without first giving him a hearing and finding out what he is [accused of] doing?”

Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women [to death]. So what do You say [to do with her—what is Your sentence]?”

You judge according to human standards [just by what you see]. I do not judge anyone.

So they said to Him, “Who are You [anyway]?” Jesus replied, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning?

So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man [on the cross], you will know then [without any doubt] that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but I say these things just as My Father taught Me.

And He who sent Me is [always] with Me; He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone. What do You mean by saying, ‘You will be set free’?”

I tell the things that I have seen at My Father’s side [in His very presence]; so you also do the things that you heard from your father.”

Why do you misunderstand what I am saying? It is because [your spiritual ears are deaf and] you are unable to hear [the truth of] My word.

You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to practice the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths.

Accordingly they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “[It must be that] He is a prophet!”

So they said to him, “What did He [actually] do to you? How did He open your eyes?”

Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what He was talking about.

But if I am doing them, even if you do not believe Me or have faith in Me, [at least] believe the works [that I do—admit that they are the works of God], so that you may know and keep on knowing [clearly—without any doubt] that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father [that is, I am One with Him].”

So then, many of the Jews who had come to [be with] Mary and who were eyewitnesses to what Jesus had done, believed in Him.

But some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

So the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council [of the leaders in Israel], and said, “What are we doing? For this man performs many signs (attesting miracles).

So they were looking for Jesus as they stood in the temple [area], and saying among themselves, “What do you think? Will He not come to the feast at all?”

Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it.

“Now My soul is troubled and deeply distressed; what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour [of trial and agony]’? But it is for this [very] purpose that I have come to this hour [this time and place].

He said this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.

This was to fulfill what Isaiah the prophet said: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm (the power) of the Lord been shown (unveiled, revealed)?”

For I have never spoken on My own initiative or authority, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment regarding what to say and what to speak.

I know that His commandment is eternal life. So the things I speak, I speak [in accordance with His exact instruction,] just as the Father has told Me.”

Jesus replied to him, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but you will [fully] understand it later.”

So when He had washed their feet and put on His [outer] robe and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you?

You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right in doing so, for that is who I am.

For I gave you [this as] an example, so that you should do [in turn] as I did to you.

After [Judas had taken] the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly [without delay].”

But no one reclining at the table knew why He said this to him.

Some thought that, since Judas [as the treasurer of the group] had the money box, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he was to give something to the poor.

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not say on My own initiative or authority, but the Father, abiding continually in Me, does His works [His attesting miracles and acts of power].

but so that the world may know [without any doubt] that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father has commanded Me [and act in full agreement with Him]. Get up, let us go from here.

I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father.

This [is what] I command you: that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another.

He will glorify and honor Me, because He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is Mine and will disclose it to you.

All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you.

Some of His disciples said to one another, “What does He mean when He tells us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I am going to My Father’?”

So they were saying, “What does He mean when He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him, so He said to them, “Are you wondering among yourselves about what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?

This was to fulfill and verify the words He had spoken, “Of those whom You have given Me, I have not lost even one.”

Why question Me? Question those who have heard what I said to them. They know what I said.”

Jesus replied, “If I have said anything wrong, make a formal statement about the wrong; but if [I spoke] properly, why did you strike Me?”

So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

This was to fulfill the word which Jesus had spoken to indicate by what manner of death He was going to die.

Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and their chief priests have handed You over to me. What have You done [that is worthy of death]?”

Pilate said to Him [scornfully], “What is truth?”

And when he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].

He went into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus did not answer him.

Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written [and it remains written].”

Now He said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after saying this, He said to him, “Follow Me [walk the same path of life that I have walked]!”

So when Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man [what is in his future]?”

Jesus said to him, “If I want him to stay alive until I come [again], what is that to you? You follow Me!”

So this word went out among the brothers that this disciple (John) was not going to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not going to die, but only, “If I want him to stay alive until I come [again], what is that to you?”