Knox Bible

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There was a man called Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and one of the rulers of the Jews,

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who came to see Jesus by night; Master, he said to him, we know that thou hast come from God to teach us; no one, unless God were with him, could do the miracles which thou doest.

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Jesus answered him, Believe me when I tell thee this; a man cannot see the kingdom of God without being born anew.✻

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Why, Nicodemus asked him, how is it possible that a man should be born when he is already old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and so come to birth?

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Jesus answered, Believe me, no man can enter into the kingdom of God unless birth comes to him from water, and from the Holy Spirit.

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What is born by natural birth is a thing of nature, what is born by spiritual birth is a thing of spirit.

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Do not be surprised, then, at my telling thee, You must be born anew.

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The wind breathes where it will, and thou canst hear the sound of it, but knowest nothing of the way it came or the way it goes; so it is, when a man is born by the breath of the Spirit.✻

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Nicodemus answered him, How can such things come to be?

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What, answered Jesus, can such things be strange to thee, who art one of the teachers of Israel?

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Believe me, we speak of what is known to us, and testify of what our eyes have seen, and still you will not accept our testimony.✻

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You cannot trust me when I tell you of what passes on earth; how will you be able to trust me when I tell you of what passes in heaven?

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No man has ever gone up into heaven; but there is one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man, who dwells in heaven.✻

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And this Son of Man must be lifted up, as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness;✻

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so that those who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life.

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God so loved the world, that he gave up his only-begotten Son, so that those who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life.

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When God sent his Son into the world, it was not to reject the world, but so that the world might find salvation through him.✻

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For the man who believes in him, there is no rejection; the man who does not believe is already rejected; he has not found faith in the name of God’s only-begotten Son.

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Rejection lies in this, that when the light came into the world men preferred darkness to light; preferred it, because their doings were evil.

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Anyone who acts shamefully hates the light, will not come into the light, for fear that his doings will be found out.

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Whereas the man whose life is true comes to the light, so that his deeds may be seen for what they are, deeds done in God.✻

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After this, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judaea, and there he remained with them, baptizing.

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John was still baptizing, too, in Aenon, near Salim, where there was abundance of water; men went to him there to be baptized.

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(It was only later that John was thrown into prison.)

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John’s disciples had had a dispute with the Jews, about purification,

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and now they came to John, and told him, Master, there was one with thee on the other side of Jordan, to whom thou didst then bear testimony. We find that he is baptizing now, and all are flocking to him.

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John answered, A man must be content to receive the gift which is given him from heaven, and nothing more.

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You yourselves are my witnesses that I told you, I am not the Christ; I have been sent to go before him.

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The bride is for the bridegroom; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices too, rejoices at hearing the bridegroom’s voice; and this joy is mine now in full measure.

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He must become more and more, I must become less and less.

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He who comes from above is above all men’s reach; the man who belongs to earth talks the language of earth, but one who comes from heaven must needs be beyond the reach of all;

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he bears witness of things he has seen and heard, and nobody accepts his witness.

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The man who does accept his witness has declared, once for all, that God cannot lie,

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since the words spoken by him whom God has sent are God’s own words; so boundless is the gift God makes of his Spirit.

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The Father loves his Son, and so has given everything into his hands;

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and he who believes in the Son possesses eternal life, whereas he who refuses to believe in the Son will never see life; God’s displeasure hangs over him continually.✻