John 3

1Now there was a man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee and one of the leaders of the Jewish people. 2He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, because no one can do such signs as you do unless God is with them.” 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless someone is born from above, they cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born once he has grown old? He cannot go back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” 5Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, they cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be surprised that I told you, ‘All of you must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it wants to. You hear its sound, yet you do not know where it has come from or where it is heading. That is how it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus asked him, “How can this be possible?” 10Jesus answered, “You are the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? 11Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, and still you people do not accept our testimony. 12If you do not believe when I tell you about things on earth, how will you believe when I tell you about things in heaven? 13No one has gone up into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man. 14Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, and in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in him.

16For God’s love for the world was such that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. 17For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. 18The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, for not having believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19And this is how the judgment falls: the light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, because the things they did were evil. 20For anyone who does what is wrong hates the light and will not come near it, so that what they do will not be exposed. 21But whoever practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may become plain that their deeds have been done in God.”

22After this, Jesus went with his disciples into the Judean countryside. There he stayed with them for a while and baptized people. 23John too was baptizing, at Aenon near Salim, where there was plenty of water, and people kept coming to be baptized. 24This was before John had been put in prison.

25Then a dispute broke out between some of John’s disciples and a Jewish man about ritual cleansing. 26They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the one you testified about: look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27John replied, “No one can receive anything at all unless it has been given them from heaven. 28You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ; rather, I have been sent ahead of him.’ 29It is the bridegroom who has the bride. But the bridegroom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices with great joy at the sound of the bridegroom’s voice. This, then, is my joy, and it has been made complete. 30He must grow greater, but I must grow less.

31The one who comes from above is greater than all. Whoever is from the earth is earthly and speaks from an earthly point of view. The one who comes from heaven is greater than all. 32What he has seen and heard is what he bears witness to, but no one accepts his testimony. 33Anyone who accepts his testimony has put their seal on this: God is true. 34For the one God sent speaks the words of God, since the Spirit he gives is not measured out. 35The Father loves the Son and has handed everything over to him. 36Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life, but anyone who refuses to obey the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on them.”