When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land.

And John went through the whole district of the Jordan, proclaiming baptism upon repentance, for the forgiveness of sins.

And John said to the crowds that went to be baptized by him: "You brood of vipers! who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment?

"Let the man who has two coats," answered John, "share with him who has none; and the man who has food do the same."

Even tax-gatherers came to be baptized, and said to John: "Teacher, what are we to do?"

"Do not collect more than you have authority to demand," John answered.

And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not,

John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:

And so with many different exhortations John told his Good News to the people.

But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,

Did this most evil thing of all, and had John shut up in prison.

Now it came to pass, at the time when John was baptising all the people, that Jesus also was baptised, and as he prayed, the heaven was opened,

the son of John, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

So, He left the synagogue and entered Simon's [i.e., Peter's] house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was [in bed] stricken with a high fever. And they [i.e., Andrew, James and John, besides Peter. See Mark 1:29] begged Him [to do something] for her.

And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were working with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from this time forward you will be a fisher of men.

I came not to call saints, but sinners to repentance. Then they ask'd him, how comes it that John's disciples,

And they said unto Him, Why do the disciples of John frequently fast and pray, and likewise those of the pharisees; but thine eat and drink?

(to wit, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,

James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas,

And the disciples of John told him of all these things: so John called two of his disciples to him,

And John calling two certain persons of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that cometh, or are we to expect another?

And the men came to Him, and said, John the baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou He that was to come, or are we to expect another?

And Jesus answering said unto them, Go and tell John what ye have seen and heard: that the blind recover sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them,

When the messengers of John were departed, He began to speak unto the people concerning John, what went ye out into the wilderness to see?

John is the man about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending My messenger before thy face, and he shall make ready thy way before thee.'

for I tell you that among the sons of men there is not a greater prophet than John the baptist: (though the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he:)

---and all the people that heard him, even the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John;

But the Pharisees and the Students of the Law, having rejected John's baptism, frustrated God's purpose in regard to them.)

for John the baptist came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine, and ye say, he hath a demon:

And when He came to the house, He suffered none to go in but Peter, and James, and John, and the father and mother of the child.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all the things that were done by Him; and was perplexed, because it was said by some that John was risen from the dead;

because it was said by some, That John was risen from the dead; and by some that Elijah had appeared; by others, that one of the old prophets was risen again.

And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? and he wanted to see Him.

But He said to the apostles, "You men give them something to eat." But they replied, "We have only five loaves of [barley] bread [See John 6:9] and two [probably smoked] fish, unless we go and buy [more] food for all these people."

They answering said, John the baptist: but others say Elias: and others, that some ancient prophet is risen again.

About eight days after these discourses, He took Peter, and John, and James, and went up to a mountain to pray.

Now Peter and those with him [i.e., James and John] had been very sleepy, but became wide awake when they saw the splendor of Jesus and the two men standing with Him.

And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out demons in thy name, and we forbad him, because he followeth not thee with us.

"None of you must prevent him," Jesus said to John; "he who is not against you is for you."

And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, as Elias did?

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village [i.e., Bethany. See John 11:1], and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.

And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

But that person who disowns me in front of people [i.e., denies that I am the Christ, or that he is a disciple. See John 18:15-17, 25-27], will be disowned in front of God's angels.

The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

And he answering said, I will also ask you one thing and tell me, Was the baptism of John from heaven or of men?

The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men?

But if we say, Of men; we will be stoned by the people, for they are certain that John was a prophet.

for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.

So He sent Peter and John, saying to them, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover meal."

So Peter and John went on, and found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Then a certain one of them struck the head priest's slave and sheared off his right ear. [Note: It was Peter who struck this man, whose name was Malchus. See John 18:10].

Then Jesus called out, "Father, forgive these people [i.e., the ones responsible for crucifying Him], for they do not know [i.e., realize] what they are doing." Then the soldiers [See John 19:23] divided Jesus' clothing among them by gambling for them.

Then some of our companions [i.e., Peter and John. See John 20:2-9] went to the grave site and found things just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus [either]."

And look, I [am going to] send upon you apostles what my Father promised [i.e., the Holy Spirit. See John 14:26]; but you should wait in the city [of Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from above." [Note: This promise was fulfilled when the apostles were immersed in the Holy Spirit. See Acts 1:4 - 2:4].

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

John was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.

John bore witness concerning him, and cried, saying, This is he of whom I said, He that is coming after me, is before me: because before me he was.

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites, that they should question him, Who art thou?

So they asked him, "Well then, are you Elijah?" John said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."

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

Now those who were sent [i.e., to question John] were Pharisees [i.e., a strict sect of the Jewish religion].

So they asked John, "Why then are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

John answered them, saying, I baptise with water: but in the midst of you hath stood a person, whom ye have not known;

These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptising.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming to him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world,

And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it rested upon him.

On the morrow John was again standing with two of his disciples;

When John's two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

One of the two, who had heard from John mention of Jesus, and had followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

One of the two that heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.

Then he took him to Jesus. Jesus looked him over and said, "You are Simon, son of John. From now on your name shall be Cephas" (which means Peter, or Rock).

Nathaniel replied to him, "Can anything worthwhile come from Nazareth?" [Note: Nazareth had a bad reputation and Jewish writings made no prediction of a prophet coming from that area. See John 7:52]. Philip answered him, "Come and see."

and said to him, "Everyone sets out the best wine first, and when people have had plenty to drink, he then sets out the poor quality [wine]. But you have kept the best wine until now." [Note: See Barnes Notes and The Gospel of John by Butler for evidence suggesting that this was not intoxicating wine].

Now John also was baptising at Enon, near to Salem, for there were many streams of water there: and they came, and were baptised.

For as yet John was not cast into prison.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews with regard to purification.

And they came to John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou gavest testimony, lo! this man baptiseth, and all men come to him.

John answered and said, A man cannot assume any thing, except it be given him from heaven.

AS soon then as the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptised more disciples than John

but whoever drinks the water I give him will never get thirsty [again]. For the water I will give him will become in him [i.e., in his spirit] a spring of water, bubbling up and producing never ending life." [See John 7:38].

I sent you [disciples] to harvest [a crop] that you did not work on; other people have done the work and you have reaped the results of their work." [Note: This is probably an allusion to the preliminary work of preaching done by John, the Immerser, with results occurring under the preaching of the apostles].

You sent to John, and he testified to the truth;

John was the lamp that kept on burning and shining [to show you the way], and you were willing for a while to rejoice in his light.

But I have greater testimony than John's; for the works which the Father has given me to finish, these works which I do, testify of me that the Father has sent me;

and went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John was at first baptizing, and remained there,

and many came unto him, and said -- 'John, indeed, did no sign, and all things, as many as John said about this one were true;'

One of Jesus' disciples, [the one] He loved [Note: Probably this was the apostle John] was reclining at the dinner table close to Jesus.

So, Simon Peter motioned [to John] and said, "Ask Jesus which one [of us] He is talking about."

So, John leaned over close to Jesus and asked Him, "Lord, who is it?"

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you.

Simon Peter followed along with another disciple. [Note: Some think this refers to the apostle John himself, but there is no strong evidence in favor of that conclusion]. Now that disciple was [well-] known to the head priest, so was able to enter his courtyard with Jesus

Now standing near Jesus' cross were His mother; His mother's sister [i.e., Salome, the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. See Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:40]; Mary the wife of Clopas [i.e., the mother of James and Joseph. See Matt. 27:55]; and Mary, from Magdala.

So, when Jesus saw His mother standing beside the disciple He loved [i.e., probably the apostle John], He said to her, "[My dear] woman, look, [here is] your son!"

So, she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved [i.e., probably the apostle John], and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have put Him."

John looking in sees the grave-clothes lying; and did not come in.

Jesus performed many other [miraculous] signs in front of His disciples which are not recorded in this book [i.e., in the Gospel of John].

Simon Peter; Thomas, called "The Twin;" Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee; the sons of Zebedee [i.e., James and John] and two other disciples of Jesus were [all] together [at the lake].

So, that disciple whom Jesus loved [i.e., probably the apostle John] said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer robe around him, (for he [had taken it off and] was wearing only his underclothing) and jumped into the lake.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" Peter told him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus told him, "Feed my lambs."

Then he asked him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter told him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."