Bible in 90 Days
A Question about Taxes(A)
20 So they watched for an opportunity to send out some spies. The spies were to act like sincere religious people. They wanted to catch him saying the wrong thing so that they could hand him over to the governor. 21 They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you’re right in what you say and teach. Besides, you don’t play favorites. Rather, you teach the way of God truthfully. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”
23 He saw through their scheme, so he said to them, 24 “Show me a coin. Whose face and name is this?”
They answered, “The emperor’s.”
25 He said to them, “Well, then give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and give God what belongs to God.”
26 They couldn’t make him say anything wrong in front of the people. His answer surprised them, so they said no more.
The Dead Come Back to Life(B)
27 Some Sadducees, who say that people will never come back to life, came to Jesus. They asked him, 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry his widow and have children for his brother.’ 29 There were seven brothers. The first got married and died without having children. 30 Then the second brother married the widow, 31 and so did the third. In the same way all seven brothers married the widow, died, and left no children. 32 Finally, the woman died. 33 Now, when the dead come back to life, whose wife will she be? The seven brothers had married her.”
34 Jesus said to them, “In this world people get married. 35 But people who are considered worthy to come back to life and live in the next world will neither marry 36 nor die anymore. They are the same as the angels. They are God’s children who have come back to life.
37 “Even Moses showed in the passage about the bush that the dead come back to life. He says that the Lord is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 38 He’s not the God of the dead but of the living. In God’s sight all people are living.”
39 Some experts in Moses’ Teachings responded, “Teacher, that was well said.” 40 From that time on, no one dared to ask him another question.
How Can David’s Son Be David’s Lord?(C)
41 Jesus said to them, “How can people say that the Messiah is David’s son? 42 David says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Take the honored position—the one next to me [God the Father] on the heavenly throne—
43 until I put your enemies under your control.” ’
44 David calls him Lord. So how can he be his son?”
Jesus Disapproves of the Example Set by the Experts in Moses’ Teachings(D)
45 While all the people were listening, Jesus said to the disciples, 46 “Beware of the experts in Moses’ Teachings! They like to walk around in long robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces, to have the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at dinners. 47 They rob widows by taking their houses and then say long prayers to make themselves look good. The experts in Moses’ Teachings will receive the most severe punishment.”
A Widow’s Contribution(E)
21 Looking up, Jesus saw people, especially the rich, dropping their gifts into the temple offering box. 2 He noticed a poor widow drop in two small coins. 3 He said, “I can guarantee this truth: This poor widow has given more than all the others. 4 All of these people have given what they could spare. But she, in her poverty, has given everything she had to live on.”
Jesus Teaches His Disciples(F)
5 Some ⌞of the disciples⌟ were talking about the temple complex. They noted that it was built with fine stones and decorated with beautiful gifts. So Jesus said, 6 “About these buildings that you see—the time will come when not one of these stones will be left on top of another. Each one will be torn down.”
7 The disciples asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? What will be the sign when all this will occur?”
8 Jesus said, “Be careful that you are not deceived. Many will come using my name. They will say, ‘I am he!’ and ‘The time is near.’ Don’t follow them!
9 “When you hear of wars and revolutions, don’t be terrified! These things must happen first, but the end will not come immediately.”
10 Then Jesus continued, “Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be terrible earthquakes, famines, and dreadful diseases in various places. Terrifying sights and miraculous signs will come from the sky.
12 “Before all these things happen, people will arrest and persecute you. They will hand you over to their synagogues and put you into their prisons. They will drag you in front of kings and governors because of my name. 13 It will be your opportunity to testify to them. 14 So make up your minds not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 I will give you words and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to oppose or prove wrong.
16 “Even parents, brothers, relatives, and friends will betray you and kill some of you. 17 Everyone will hate you because you are committed to me. 18 But not a hair on your head will be lost. 19 By your endurance you will save your life.
20 “When you see armies camped around Jerusalem, realize that the time is near for it to be destroyed. 21 Then those of you in Judea should flee to the mountains. Those of you in Jerusalem should leave it. Those of you in the fields shouldn’t go back into them. 22 This will be a time of vengeance. Everything that is written about it will come true.
23 “How horrible it will be for women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days. Indeed, the land will suffer very hard times, and its people will be punished. 24 Swords will cut them down, and they will be carried off into all nations as prisoners. Nations will trample Jerusalem until the times allowed for the nations ⌞to do this⌟ are over.
25 “Miraculous signs will occur in the sun, moon, and stars. The nations of the earth will be deeply troubled and confused because of the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint as they fearfully wait for what will happen to the world. Indeed, the powers of the universe will be shaken.
27 “Then people will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 “When these things begin to happen, stand with confidence! The time when you will be set free is near.”
29 Then Jesus used this story as an illustration. “Look at the fig tree or any other tree. 30 As soon as leaves grow on them, you know without being told that summer is near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things happen, you know that God’s kingdom is near.
32 “I can guarantee this truth: This generation will not disappear until all this takes place. 33 The earth and the heavens will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
No One Knows When the Earth and the Heavens Will Disappear
34 “Make sure that you don’t become drunk, hung over, and worried about life. Then that day could suddenly catch you by surprise 35 like a trap that catches a bird. That day will surprise all people who live on the earth. 36 Be alert at all times. Pray so that you have the power to escape everything that is about to happen and to stand in front of the Son of Man.”
37 During the day Jesus would teach in the temple courtyard. But at night he would go to the Mount of Olives (as it was called) and spend the night there. 38 All of the people would get up early to hear him speak in the temple courtyard.
The Plot to Kill Jesus(G)
22 The Festival of Unleavened Bread, called Passover, was near. 2 The chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings were looking for some way to kill Jesus. However, they were afraid of the people.
3 Then Satan entered Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles. 4 Judas went to the chief priests and the temple guards and discussed with them how he could betray Jesus. 5 They were pleased and agreed to give him some money. 6 So Judas promised to do it. He kept looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them when there was no crowd.
The Passover(H)
7 The day came during the Festival of Unleavened Bread when the Passover lamb had to be killed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John and told them, “Go, prepare the Passover lamb for us to eat.”
9 They asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?”
10 He told them, “Go into the city, and you will meet a man carrying a jug of water. Follow him into the house he enters. 11 Tell the owner of the house that the teacher asks, ‘Where is the room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 12 He will take you upstairs and show you a large furnished room. Get things ready there.”
13 The disciples left. They found everything as Jesus had told them and prepared the Passover.
14 When it was time to eat the Passover meal, Jesus and the apostles were at the table. 15 Jesus said to them, “I’ve had a deep desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 I can guarantee that I won’t eat it again until it finds its fulfillment in God’s kingdom.” 17 Then he took a cup and spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He said, “Take this, and share it. 18 I can guarantee that from now on I won’t drink this wine until God’s kingdom comes.”
The Lord’s Supper(I)
19 Then Jesus took bread and spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He broke the bread, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given up for you. Do this to remember me.”
20 When supper was over, he did the same with the cup. He said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new promise [a] made with my blood.”
Jesus Knows Who Will Betray Him(J)
21 “The hand of the one who will betray me is with me on the table. 22 The Son of Man is going to die the way it has been planned for him. But how horrible it will be for that person who betrays him.”
23 So they began to discuss with each other who could do such a thing.
An Argument about Greatness
24 Then a quarrel broke out among the disciples. They argued about who should be considered the greatest.
25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of nations have power over their people, and those in authority call themselves friends of the people. 26 But you’re not going to be that way! Rather, the greatest among you must be like the youngest, and your leader must be like a servant. 27 Who’s the greatest, the person who sits at the table or the servant? Isn’t it really the person who sits at the table? But I’m among you as a servant.
28 “You have stood by me in the troubles that have tested me. 29 So as my Father has given me a kingdom, I’m giving it to you. 30 You will eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. You will also sit on thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial(K)
31 ⌞Then the Lord said,⌟ “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to have you apostles for himself. He wants to separate you from me as a farmer separates wheat from husks. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. So when you recover, strengthen the other disciples.”
33 But Peter said to him, “Lord, I’m ready to go to prison with you and to die with you.”
34 Jesus replied, “Peter, I can guarantee that the rooster won’t crow tonight until you say three times that you don’t know me.”
35 Then Jesus said to them, “When I sent you out without a wallet, traveling bag, or sandals, you didn’t lack anything, did you?”
“Not a thing!” they answered.
36 Then he said to them, “But now, the person who has a wallet and a traveling bag should take them along. The person who doesn’t have a sword should sell his coat and buy one. 37 I can guarantee that the Scripture passage which says, ‘He was counted with criminals,’ must find its fulfillment in me. Indeed, whatever is written about me will come true.”
38 The disciples said, “Lord, look! Here are two swords!”
Then Jesus said to them, “That’s enough!”
Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane(L)
39 Jesus went out ⌞of the city⌟ to the Mount of Olives as he usually did. His disciples followed him. 40 When he arrived, he said to them, “Pray that you won’t be tempted.”
41 Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, 42 “Father, if it is your will, take this cup ⌞of suffering⌟ away from me. However, your will must be done, not mine.”
43 Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. 44 So he prayed very hard in anguish. His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.[b]
45 When Jesus ended his prayer, he got up and went to the disciples. He found them asleep and overcome with sadness. 46 He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up, and pray that you won’t be tempted.”
Jesus Is Arrested(M)
47 While he was still speaking to the disciples, a crowd arrived. The man called Judas, one of the twelve apostles, was leading them. He came close to Jesus to kiss him.
48 Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you intend to betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 The men who were with Jesus saw what was going to happen. So they asked him, “Lord, should we use our swords to fight?” 50 One of the disciples cut off the right ear of the chief priest’s servant.
51 But Jesus said, “Stop! That’s enough of this.” Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple guards, and leaders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal? 53 I was with you in the temple courtyard every day and you didn’t try to arrest me. But this is your time, when darkness rules.”
54 So they arrested Jesus and led him away to the chief priest’s house.
Peter Denies Jesus(N)
Peter followed at a distance.
55 Some men had lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard. As they sat together, Peter sat among them. 56 A female servant saw him as he sat facing the glow of the fire. She stared at him and said, “This man was with Jesus.”
57 But Peter denied it by saying, “I don’t know him, woman.”
58 A little later someone else saw Peter and said, “You are one of them.”
But Peter said, “Not me!”
59 About an hour later another person insisted, “It’s obvious that this man was with him. He’s a Galilean!”
60 But Peter said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Just then, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 Then the Lord turned and looked directly at Peter. Peter remembered what the Lord had said: “Before a rooster crows today, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” 62 Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.
The Trial in Front of the Jewish Council(O)
63 The men who were guarding Jesus made fun of him as they beat him. 64 They blindfolded him and said to him, “Tell us who hit you.” 65 They also insulted him in many other ways.
66 In the morning the council of the people’s leaders, the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings, gathered together. They brought Jesus in front of their highest court and asked him, 67 “Tell us, are you the Messiah?”
Jesus said to them, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. 68 And if I ask you, you won’t answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne.”
70 Then all of them said, “So you’re the Son of God?”
Jesus answered them, “You’re right to say that I am.”
71 Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We’ve heard him say it ourselves.”
Pilate Questions Jesus(P)
23 Then the entire assembly stood up and took him to Pilate.
2 They began to accuse Jesus by saying, “We found that he stirs up trouble among our people: He keeps them from paying taxes to the emperor, and he says that he is Christ, a king.”
3 Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Yes, I am,” Jesus answered.
4 Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I can’t find this man guilty of any crime.”
Pilate Sends Jesus to Herod
5 The priests and the crowd became more forceful. They said, “He stirs up the people throughout Judea with his teachings. He started in Galilee and has come here.”
6 When Pilate heard that, he asked if the man was from Galilee. 7 When Pilate found out that he was, he sent Jesus to Herod. Herod ruled Galilee and was in Jerusalem at that time.
8 Herod was very pleased to see Jesus. For a long time he had wanted to see him. He had heard about Jesus and hoped to see him perform some kind of miracle. 9 Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus wouldn’t answer him. 10 Meanwhile, the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings stood there and shouted their accusations against Jesus.
11 Herod and his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt and made fun of him. They put a colorful robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. 12 So Herod and Pilate became friends that day. They had been enemies before this.
13 Then Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people. 14 He told them, “You brought me this man as someone who turns the people against the government. I’ve questioned him in front of you and haven’t found this man guilty of the crimes of which you accuse him. 15 Neither could Herod. So he sent this man back to us. This man hasn’t done anything to deserve the death penalty. 16 So I’m going to have him whipped and set free.” [c]
The Crowd Rejects Jesus(Q)
18 The whole crowd then shouted, “Take him away! Free Barabbas for us.” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for his involvement in a riot that had taken place in the city and for murder.)
20 But because Pilate wanted to free Jesus, he spoke to the people again.
21 They began yelling, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 A third time Pilate spoke to them. He asked, “Why? What has he done wrong? I haven’t found this man deserving of the death penalty. So I’m going to have him whipped and set free.”
23 But the crowd pressured Pilate. They shouted that Jesus had to be crucified, and they finally won. 24 Pilate decided to give in to their demand. 25 He freed Barabbas, who had been put in prison for rioting and murdering, because that’s what they wanted. But he let them do what they wanted to Jesus.
Jesus Is Led Away to Be Crucified
26 As the soldiers led Jesus away, they grabbed a man named Simon, who was from the city of Cyrene. Simon was coming into Jerusalem. They laid the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
27 A large crowd followed Jesus. The women in the crowd cried and sang funeral songs for him. 28 Jesus turned to them and said, “You women of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me! Rather, cry for yourselves and your children! 29 The time is coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the women who couldn’t get pregnant, who couldn’t give birth, and who couldn’t nurse a child.’ 30 Then people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ 31 If people do this to a green tree, what will happen to a dry one?”
32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be executed with him.
The Crucifixion(R)
33 When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified him. The criminals were also crucified, one on his right and the other on his left.
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.” [d]
Meanwhile, the soldiers divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice.
35 The people stood there watching. But the rulers were making sarcastic remarks. They said, “He saved others. If he’s the Messiah that God has chosen, let him save himself!” 36 The soldiers also made fun of him. They would go up to him, offer him some vinegar, 37 and say, “If you’re the king of the Jews, save yourself!”
38 A written notice was placed above him. It said, “This is the king of the Jews.”
Criminals Talk to Jesus
39 One of the criminals hanging there insulted Jesus by saying, “So you’re really the Messiah, are you? Well, save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal scolded him: “Don’t you fear God at all? Can’t you see that you’re condemned in the same way that he is? 41 Our punishment is fair. We’re getting what we deserve. But this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”
43 Jesus said to him, “I can guarantee this truth: Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus Dies on the Cross(S)
44 Around noon darkness came over the entire land and lasted until three in the afternoon. 45 The sun had stopped shining. The curtain in the temple was split in two.
46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” After he said this, he died.
47 When an army officer saw what had happened, he praised God and said, “Certainly, this man was innocent!” 48 Crowds had gathered to see the sight. But when all of them saw what had happened, they cried and returned to the city. 49 All his friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance and watched everything.
Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb(T)
50 There was a good man who had God’s approval. His name was Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish council, 51 but he had not agreed with what they had done. He was from the Jewish city of Arimathea, and he was waiting for God’s kingdom.
52 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 After he took it down from the cross, he wrapped it in linen. Then he laid the body in a tomb cut in rock, a tomb in which no one had ever been buried. 54 It was Friday, and the day of rest—a holy day, was just beginning.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed closely behind Joseph. They observed the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went back to the city and prepared spices and perfumes. But on the day of rest—a holy day, they rested according to the commandment.
Jesus Comes Back to Life(U)
24 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb. They were carrying the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. 3 When they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were puzzled about this, two men in clothes that were as bright as lightning suddenly stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed to the ground.
The men asked the women, “Why are you looking among the dead for the living one? 6 He’s not here. He has been brought back to life! Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee. 7 He said, ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful people, be crucified, and come back to life on the third day.’ ” 8 Then the women remembered what Jesus had told them.
9 The women left the tomb and went back to the city. They told everything to the eleven apostles and all the others. 10 The women were Mary from Magdala, Joanna, and Mary (the mother of James). There were also other women with them. They told the apostles everything.
11 The apostles thought that the women’s story didn’t make any sense, and they didn’t believe them.
12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down to look inside and saw only the strips of linen. Then he went away, wondering what had happened.
Jesus Appears to Disciples on a Road to Emmaus
13 On the same day, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village called Emmaus. It was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about everything that had happened.
15 While they were talking, Jesus approached them and began walking with them. 16 Although they saw him, they didn’t recognize him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing?”
They stopped and looked very sad. 18 One of them, Cleopas, replied, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has happened recently?”
19 “What happened?” he asked.
They said to him, “We were discussing what happened to Jesus from Nazareth. He was a powerful prophet in what he did and said in the sight of God and all the people. 20 Our chief priests and rulers had him condemned to death and crucified. 21 We were hoping that he was the one who would free Israel. What’s more, this is now the third day since everything happened. 22 Some of the women from our group startled us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 and didn’t find his body. They told us that they had seen angels who said that he’s alive. 24 Some of our men went to the tomb and found it empty, as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”
25 Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are! You’re so slow to believe everything the prophets said! 26 Didn’t the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then he began with Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets to explain to them what was said about him throughout the Scriptures.
28 When they came near the village where they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29 They urged him, “Stay with us! It’s getting late, and the day is almost over.” So he went to stay with them.
30 While he was at the table with them, he took bread and blessed it. He broke the bread and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he vanished from their sight.
32 They said to each other, “Weren’t we excited when he talked with us on the road and opened up the meaning of the Scriptures for us?”
33 That same hour they went back to Jerusalem. They found the eleven apostles and those who were with them gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has really come back to life and has appeared to Simon.”
35 Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road and how they had recognized Jesus when he broke the bread.
Jesus Appears to the Apostles(V)
36 While they were talking about what had happened, Jesus stood among them. He said to them, “Peace be with you!” 37 They were terrified, and thought they were seeing a ghost.
38 He asked them, “Why are you afraid? Why do you have doubts? 39 Look at my hands and feet, and see that it’s really me. Touch me, and see for yourselves. Ghosts don’t have flesh and bones, but you can see that I do.” 40 As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet.
41 The disciples were overcome with joy and amazement because this seemed too good to be true. Then Jesus asked them, “Do you have anything to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish. 43 He took it and ate it while they watched him.
44 Then he said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you. I told you that everything written about me in Moses’ Teachings, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 He said to them, “Scripture says that the Messiah would suffer and that he would come back to life on the third day. 47 Scripture also says that by the authority of Jesus people would be told to turn to God and change the way they think and act so that their sins will be forgiven. This would be told to people from all nations, beginning in the city of Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses to these things.
49 “I’m sending you what my Father promised. Wait here in the city until you receive power from heaven.”
50 Then Jesus took them to a place near Bethany. There he raised his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken to heaven.
52 The disciples worshiped him and were overjoyed as they went back to Jerusalem. 53 They were always in the temple, where they praised God.
The Word Becomes Human
1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was already with God in the beginning.
3 Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.
4 He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.
5 The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.
6 God sent a man named John to be his messenger. 7 John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message. 8 John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.
9 The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He went to his own people, and his own people didn’t accept him. 12 However, he gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in him. 13 These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way—from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire ⌞to have a child⌟. They were born from God.
14 The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness [e] and truth.
15 (John declared the truth about him when he said loudly, “This is the person about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.’ ”)
16 Each of us has received one gift after another because of all that the Word is. 17 Laws were given through Moses, but kindness and truth came into existence through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. God’s only Son, the one who is closest to the Father’s heart, has made him known.
John Prepares the Way(W)
19 This was John’s answer when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 John didn’t refuse to answer. He told them clearly, “I’m not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Well, are you Elijah?”
John answered, “No, I’m not.”
Then they asked, “Are you the prophet?”
John replied, “No.”
22 So they asked him, “Who are you? Tell us so that we can take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John said, “I’m a voice crying out in the desert, ‘Make the way for the Lord straight,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Some of those who had been sent were Pharisees. 25 They asked John, “Why do you baptize if you’re not the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet?”
26 John answered them, “I baptize with water. Someone you don’t know is standing among you. 27 He’s the one who comes after me. I am not worthy to untie his sandal strap.”
28 This happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
John Identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God
29 John saw Jesus coming toward him the next day and said, “Look! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 30 He is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘A man who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.’ 31 I didn’t know who he was. However, I came to baptize with water to show him to the people of Israel.”
32 John said, “I saw the Spirit come down as a dove from heaven and stay on him. 33 I didn’t know who he was. But God, who sent me to baptize with water, had told me, ‘When you see the Spirit come down and stay on someone, you’ll know that person is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen this and have declared that this is the Son of God.”
Calling of the First Disciples
35 The next day John was standing with two of his disciples. 36 John saw Jesus walk by. John said, “Look! This is the Lamb of God.” 37 When the two disciples heard John say this, they followed Jesus.
38 Jesus turned around and saw them following him. He asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 Jesus told them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went to see where he was staying and spent the rest of that day with him. It was about ten o’clock in the morning.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two disciples who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 Andrew at once found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). 42 Andrew brought Simon to Jesus.
Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon, son of John. Your name will be Cephas” (which means “Peter”).
43 The next day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me!” 44 (Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.)
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the man whom Moses wrote about in his teachings and whom the prophets wrote about. He is Jesus, son of Joseph, from the city of Nazareth.”
46 Nathanael said to Philip, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip told him, “Come and see!”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and remarked, “Here is a true Israelite who is sincere.”
48 Nathanael asked Jesus, “How do you know anything about me?”
Jesus answered him, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Nathanael said to Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!”
50 Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 Jesus said to Nathanael, “I can guarantee this truth: You will see the sky open and God’s angels going up and coming down to the Son of Man.”
Jesus Changes Water into Wine
2 Three days later a wedding took place in the city of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had been invited too.
3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They’re out of wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Why did you come to me? My time has not yet come.”
5 His mother told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Six stone water jars were there. They were used for Jewish purification rituals. Each jar held 18 to 27 gallons.
7 Jesus told the servers, “Fill the jars with water.” The servers filled the jars to the brim. 8 Jesus said to them, “Pour some, and take it to the person in charge.” The servers did as they were told.
9 The person in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it had come from, although the servers who had poured the water knew. The person in charge called the groom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the best wine first. When people are drunk, the host serves cheap wine. But you have saved the best wine for now.”
11 Cana in Galilee was the place where Jesus began to perform miracles. He made his glory public there, and his disciples believed in him.
12 After this, Jesus, his mother, brothers, and disciples went to the city of Capernaum and stayed there for a few days.
Jesus Throws Merchants and Moneychangers out of the Temple Courtyard
13 The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 He found those who were selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons in the temple courtyard. He also found moneychangers sitting there. 15 He made a whip from small ropes and threw everyone with their sheep and cattle out of the temple courtyard. He dumped the moneychangers’ coins and knocked over their tables.
16 He told those who sold pigeons, “Pick up this stuff, and get it out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”
17 His disciples remembered that Scripture said, “Devotion for your house will consume me.”
18 The Jews reacted by asking Jesus, “What miracle can you show us to justify what you’re doing?”
19 Jesus replied, “Tear down this temple, and I’ll rebuild it in three days.”
20 The Jews said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple. Do you really think you’re going to rebuild it in three days?”
21 But the temple Jesus spoke about was his own body. 22 After he came back to life, his disciples remembered that he had said this. So they believed the Scripture and this statement that Jesus had made.
23 While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, many people believed in him because they saw the miracles that he performed. 24 Jesus, however, was wary of these believers. He understood people 25 and didn’t need anyone to tell him about human nature. He knew what people were really like.
A Conversation with Nicodemus
3 Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish council. 2 He came to Jesus one night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that God has sent you as a teacher. No one can perform the miracles you perform unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus replied to Nicodemus, “I can guarantee this truth: No one can see God’s kingdom without being born from above.” [f]
4 Nicodemus asked him, “How can anyone be born when he’s an old man? He can’t go back inside his mother a second time to be born, can he?”
5 Jesus answered Nicodemus, “I can guarantee this truth: No one can enter God’s kingdom without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh and blood give birth to flesh and blood, but the Spirit gives birth to things that are spiritual. 7 Don’t be surprised when I tell you that all of you must be born from above. 8 The wind [g] blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it’s going. That’s the way it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus replied, “How can that be?”
10 Jesus told Nicodemus, “You’re a well-known teacher of Israel. Can’t you understand this? 11 I can guarantee this truth: We know what we’re talking about, and we confirm what we’ve seen. Yet, you don’t accept our message. 12 If you don’t believe me when I tell you about things on earth, how will you believe me when I tell you about things in heaven? 13 No one has gone to heaven except the Son of Man, who came from heaven.
14 “As Moses lifted up the snake ⌞on a pole⌟ in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. 15 Then everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.”
16 God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. 18 Those who believe in him won’t be condemned. But those who don’t believe are already condemned because they don’t believe in God’s only Son.
19 This is why people are condemned: The light came into the world. Yet, people loved the dark rather than the light because their actions were evil. 20 People who do what is wrong hate the light and don’t come to the light. They don’t want their actions to be exposed. 21 But people who do what is true come to the light so that the things they do for God may be clearly seen.
John the Baptizer Talks about Christ
22 Later, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them and baptized people. 23 John was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim. Water was plentiful there. (People came to John to be baptized, 24 since John had not yet been put in prison.)
25 Some of John’s disciples had an argument with a Jew about purification ceremonies. 26 So they went to John and asked him, “Rabbi, do you remember the man you spoke so favorably about when he was with you on the other side of the Jordan River? Well, he’s baptizing, and everyone is going to him!”
27 John answered, “People can’t receive anything unless it has been given to them from heaven. 28 You are witnesses that I said, ‘I’m not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’
29 “The groom is the person to whom the bride belongs. The best man, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed when the groom speaks. This is the joy that I feel. 30 He must increase in importance, while I must decrease in importance.
31 “The person who comes from above is superior to everyone. I, a person from the earth, know nothing but what is on earth, and that’s all I can talk about. The person who comes from heaven is superior to everyone 32 and tells what he has seen and heard. Yet, no one accepts what he says. 33 I have accepted what that person said, and I have affirmed that God is truthful. 34 The man whom God has sent speaks God’s message. After all, God gives him the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves his Son and has put everything in his power. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God’s constant anger.”
A Samaritan Woman Meets Jesus at a Well
4 Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John. 2 (Actually, Jesus was not baptizing people. His disciples were.) 3 So he left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 He arrived at a city in Samaria called Sychar. Sychar was near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s Well was there. Jesus sat down by the well because he was tired from traveling. The time was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman went to get some water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” 8 (His disciples had gone into the city to buy some food.)
9 The Samaritan woman asked him, “How can a Jewish man like you ask a Samaritan woman like me for a drink of water?” (Jews, of course, don’t associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus replied to her, “If you only knew what God’s gift is and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him for a drink. He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have anything to use to get water, and the well is deep. So where are you going to get this living water? 12 You’re not more important than our ancestor Jacob, are you? He gave us this well. He and his sons and his animals drank water from it.”
13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water that I will give them will never become thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give them will become in them a spring that gushes up to eternal life.”
15 The woman told Jesus, “Sir, give me this water! Then I won’t get thirsty or have to come here to get water.”
16 Jesus told her, “Go to your husband, and bring him here.”
17 The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.”
Jesus told her, “You’re right when you say that you don’t have a husband. 18 You’ve had five husbands, and the man you have now isn’t your husband. You’ve told the truth.”
19 The woman said to Jesus, “I see that you’re a prophet! 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that people must worship in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus told her, “Believe me. A time is coming when you Samaritans won’t be worshiping the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You don’t know what you’re worshiping. We ⌞Jews⌟ know what we’re worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews. 23 Indeed, the time is coming, and it is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The Father is looking for people like that to worship him. 24 God is a spirit. Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything.” (Messiah is the one called Christ.)
26 Jesus told her, “I am he, and I am speaking to you now.”
27 At that time his disciples returned. They were surprised that he was talking to a woman. But none of them asked him, “What do you want from her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back into the city. She told the people, 29 “Come with me, and meet a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could he be the Messiah?” 30 The people left the city and went to meet Jesus.
31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, have something to eat.”
32 Jesus told them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The disciples asked each other, “Did someone bring him something to eat?”
34 Jesus told them, “My food is to do what the one who sent me wants me to do and to finish the work he has given me.
35 “Don’t you say, ‘In four more months the harvest will be here’? I’m telling you to look and see that the fields are ready to be harvested. 36 The person who harvests the crop is already getting paid. He is gathering grain for eternal life. So the person who plants the grain and the person who harvests it are happy together. 37 In this respect the saying is true: ‘One person plants, and another person harvests.’ 38 I have sent you to harvest a crop you have not worked for. Other people have done the hard work, and you have followed them in their work.”
39 Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman who said, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans went to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them. He stayed in Samaria for two days. 41 Many more Samaritans believed because of what Jesus said. 42 They told the woman, “Our faith is no longer based on what you’ve said. We have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the savior of the world.”
A Believing Official(X)
43 After spending two days in Samaria, Jesus left for Galilee. 44 Jesus had said that a prophet is not honored in his own country. 45 But when Jesus arrived in Galilee, the people of Galilee welcomed him. They had seen everything he had done at the festival in Jerusalem, since they, too, had attended the festival.
46 Jesus returned to the city of Cana in Galilee, where he had changed water into wine. A government official was in Cana. His son was sick in Capernaum. 47 The official heard that Jesus had returned from Judea to Galilee. So he went to Jesus and asked him to go to Capernaum with him to heal his son who was about to die.
48 Jesus told the official, “If people don’t see miracles and amazing things, they won’t believe.”
49 The official said to him, “Sir, come with me before my little boy dies.”
50 Jesus told him, “Go home. Your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus told him and left.
51 While the official was on his way to Capernaum, his servants met him and told him that his boy was alive. 52 The official asked them at what time his son got better. His servants told him, “The fever left him yesterday evening at seven o’clock.” 53 Then the boy’s father realized that it was the same time that Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So the official and his entire family became believers.
54 This was the second miracle that Jesus performed after he had come back from Judea to Galilee.
Jesus Cures a Man at the Bethesda Pool
5 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for a Jewish festival.
2 Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It had five porches. 3 Under these porches a large number of sick people—people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed—used to lie.[h] 5 One man, who had been sick for 38 years, was lying there. 6 Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time. So Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?”
7 The sick man answered Jesus, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.”
8 Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.” 9 The man immediately became well, picked up his cot, and walked.
That happened on a day of rest—a holy day. 10 So the Jews told the man who had been healed, “This is a day of rest—a holy day. You’re not allowed to carry your cot today.”
11 The man replied, “The man who made me well told me to pick up my cot and walk.”
12 The Jews asked him, “Who is the man who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 But the man who had been healed didn’t know who Jesus was. (Jesus had withdrawn from the crowd.)
14 Later, Jesus met the man in the temple courtyard and told him, “You’re well now. Stop sinning so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”
15 The man went back to the Jews and told them that Jesus was the man who had made him well.
The Son Is Equal to the Father
16 The Jews began to persecute Jesus because he kept healing people on the day of rest—a holy day. 17 Jesus replied to them, “My Father is working right now, and so am I.”
18 His reply made the Jews more intent on killing him. Not only did he break the laws about the day of rest—a holy day, but also he made himself equal to God when he said repeatedly that God was his Father.
19 Jesus said to the Jews, “I can guarantee this truth: The Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing. Indeed, the Son does exactly what the Father does. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. The Father will show him even greater things to do than these things so that you will be amazed. 21 In the same way that the Father brings back the dead and gives them life, the Son gives life to anyone he chooses.
22 “The Father doesn’t judge anyone. He has entrusted judgment entirely to the Son 23 so that everyone will honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him. 24 I can guarantee this truth: Those who listen to what I say and believe in the one who sent me will have eternal life. They won’t be judged because they have already passed from death to life.
25 “I can guarantee this truth: A time is coming (and is now here) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who respond to it will live. 26 The Father is the source of life, and he has enabled the Son to be the source of life too.
27 “He has also given the Son authority to pass judgment because he is the Son of Man.[i] 28 Don’t be surprised at what I’ve just said. A time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice, 29 and they will come out of their tombs. Those who have done good will come back to life and live. But those who have done evil will come back to life and will be judged. 30 I can’t do anything on my own. As I listen ⌞to the Father⌟, I make my judgments. My judgments are right because I don’t try to do what I want but what the one who sent me wants.
31 “If I testify on my own behalf, what I say isn’t true. 32 Someone else testifies on my behalf, and I know that what he says about me is true. 33 You sent people to John ⌞the Baptizer⌟, and he testified to the truth. 34 But I don’t depend on human testimony. I’m telling you this to save you. 35 John was a lamp that gave off brilliant light. For a time you enjoyed the pleasure of his light. 36 But I have something that testifies more favorably on my behalf than John’s testimony. The tasks that the Father gave me to carry out, these tasks which I perform, testify on my behalf. They prove that the Father has sent me. 37 The Father who sent me testifies on my behalf. You have never heard his voice, and you have never seen his form. 38 So you don’t have the Father’s message within you, because you don’t believe in the person he has sent. 39 You study the Scriptures in detail because you think you have the source of eternal life in them. These Scriptures testify on my behalf. 40 Yet, you don’t want to come to me to get ⌞eternal⌟ life.
41 “I don’t accept praise from humans. 42 But I know what kind of people you are. You don’t have any love for God. 43 I have come with the authority my Father has given me, but you don’t accept me. If someone else comes with his own authority, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe when you accept each other’s praise and don’t look for the praise that comes from the only God?
45 “Don’t think that I will accuse you in the presence of the Father. Moses, the one you trust, is already accusing you. 46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me. Moses wrote about me. 47 If you don’t believe what Moses wrote, how will you ever believe what I say?”
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