1THERE WAS ONE of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish Council, 2who came to Jesus by night. 'Rabbi,' he said, 'we know that you are a teacher sent by God; no one could perform these signs of yours unless God were with him.' 3Jesus answered, 'In truth, in very truth I tell you, unless a man has been born over again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' 4'But how is it possible', said Nicodemus, 'for a man to be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?' 5Jesus answered, 'In truth I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born from water and spirit. 6Flesh can give birth only to flesh; it is spirit that gives birth to spirit. 7You ought not to be astonished, then, when I tell you that you must be born over again. 8The wind blows where it wills; you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from, or where it is going. So with everyone who is born from spirit.'
9Nicodemus replied, 'How is this possible?' 10'What!' said Jesus. 'Is this famous teacher of Israel ignorant of such things? 11In very truth I tell you, we speak of what we know, and testify to what we have seen, and yet you all reject our testimony. 12If you disbelieve me when I talk to you about things on earth, how are you to believe if I should talk about the things of heaven?
13'No one ever went up into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man whose home is in heaven. 14This Son of Man must be lifted up as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, 15so that everyone who has faith in him may in him possess eternal life.
16'God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not die but have eternal life. 17It was not to judge the world that God sent his Son into the world, but that through him the world might be saved.
18'The man who puts his faith in him does not come under judgement; but the unbeliever has already been judged in that he has not given his allegiance to God's only Son. 19Here lies the test: the light has come into the world, but men preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. 20Bad men all hate the light and avoid it, for fear their practices should be shown up. 21The honest man comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that God is in all he does.'
22AFTER THIS, Jesus went into Judaea with his disciples, stayed there with them, and baptized. 23John too was baptizing at Aenon, near to Salim, because water was plentiful in that region; and people were constantly coming for baptism. 24This was before John's imprisonment.
25Some of John's disciples had fallen into a dispute with Jews about purification; 26so they came to him and said, 'Rabbi, there was a man with you on the other side of the Jordan, to whom you bore your witness. Here he is, baptizing, and crowds are flocking to him.' 27John's answer was: 'A man can have only what God gives him. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, "I am not the Messiah; I have been sent as his forerunner." 29It is the bridegroom to whom the bride belongs. The bridegroom's friend, who stands by and listens to him, is overjoyed at hearing the bridegroom's voice. This joy, this perfect joy, is now mine. 30As he grows greater, I must grow less.'
31He who comes from above is above all others; he who is from the earth belongs to the earth and uses earthly speech. 32He who comes from heaven bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his witness. 33To accept his witness is to attest that God speaks true; 34for he whom God sent utters the words of God, so measureless is God's gift of the Spirit. 35The Father loves the Son and has entrusted him with all authority. 36He who puts his faith in the Son has hold of eternal life, but he who disobeys the Son shall not see that life; God's wrath rests upon him.
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