Jesus
Teaches
Nicodemus
1
Now there
was a
Pharisee,
a man
named
Nicodemus
who was a
member of
the Jewish
ruling
council.
2 He came
to Jesus
at night
and said,
“Rabbi, we
know that
you are a
teacher
who has
come from
God. For
no one
could
perform
the signs
you are
doing if
God were
not with
him.”
3 Jesus
replied,
“Very
truly I
tell you,
no one can
see the
kingdom of
God unless
they are
born
again.”
4 “How can
someone be
born when
they are
old?”
Nicodemus
asked.
“Surely
they
cannot
enter a
second
time into
their
mother’s
womb to be
born!”
5 Jesus
answered,
“Very
truly I
tell you,
no one can
enter the
kingdom of
God unless
they are
born of
water and
the
Spirit.
6 Flesh
gives
birth to
flesh, but
the Spirit
gives
birth to
spirit.
7 You
should not
be
surprised
at my
saying,
‘You must
be born
again.’
8 The wind
blows
wherever
it
pleases.
You hear
its sound,
but you
cannot
tell where
it comes
from or
where it
is going.
So it is
with
everyone
born of
the
Spirit.”
9 “How can
this be?”
Nicodemus
asked.
10 “You
are
Israel’s
teacher,”
said
Jesus,
“and do
you not
understand
these
things?
11 Very
truly I
tell you,
we speak
of what we
know, and
we testify
to what we
have seen,
but still
you people
do not
accept our
testimony.
12 I have
spoken to
you of
earthly
things and
you do not
believe;
how then
will you
believe if
I speak of
heavenly
things?
13 No one
has ever
gone into
heaven
except the
one who
came from
heaven—the
Son of
Man.
14 Just as
Moses
lifted up
the snake
in the
wilderness,
so the Son
of Man
must be
lifted up,
15 that
everyone
who
believes
may have
eternal
life in
him.”
16 For God
so loved
the world
that he
gave his
one and
only Son,
that
whoever
believes
in him
shall not
perish but
have
eternal
life.
17 For
God did
not send
his Son
into the
world to
condemn
the world,
but to
save the
world
through
him.
18 Whoever
believes
in him is
not
condemned,
but
whoever
does not
believe
stands
condemned
already
because
they have
not
believed
in the
name of
God’s one
and only
Son.
19 This is
the
verdict:
Light has
come into
the world,
but people
loved
darkness
instead of
light
because
their
deeds were
evil.
20 Everyone
who does
evil hates
the light,
and will
not come
into the
light for
fear that
their
deeds will
be
exposed.
21 But
whoever
lives by
the truth
comes into
the light,
so that it
may be
seen
plainly
that what
they have
done has
been done
in the
sight of
God.
John
Testifies
Again
About
Jesus
22 After
this,
Jesus and
his
disciples
went out
into the
Judean
countryside,
where he
spent some
time with
them, and
baptized.
23 Now
John also
was
baptizing
at Aenon
near
Salim,
because
there was
plenty of
water, and
people
were
coming and
being
baptized.
24 (This
was before
John was
put in
prison.)
25 An
argument
developed
between
some of
John’s
disciples
and a
certain
Jew over
the matter
of
ceremonial
washing.
26 They
came to
John and
said to
him,
“Rabbi,
that 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.”
27 To this
John
replied,
“A person
can
receive
only what
is given
them from
heaven.
28 You
yourselves
can
testify
that I
said, ‘I
am not the
Messiah
but am
sent ahead
of him.’
29 The
bride
belongs to
the
bridegroom.
The friend
who
attends
the
bridegroom
waits and
listens
for him,
and is
full of
joy when
he hears
the
bridegroom’s
voice.
That joy
is mine,
and it is
now
complete.
30 He must
become
greater; I
must
become
less.”
31 The one
who comes
from above
is above
all; the
one who is
from the
earth
belongs to
the earth,
and speaks
as one
from the
earth. The
one who
comes from
heaven is
above all.
32 He
testifies
to what he
has seen
and heard,
but no one
accepts
his
testimony.
33 Whoever
has
accepted
it has
certified
that God
is
truthful.
34 For the
one whom
God has
sent
speaks the
words of
God, for
God gives
the Spirit
without
limit.
35 The
Father
loves the
Son and
has placed
everything
in his
hands.
36 Whoever
believes
in the Son
has
eternal
life, but
whoever
rejects
the Son
will not
see life,
for God’s
wrath
remains on
them.