John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’”

This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’

who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing,

For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”