1 In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.3 All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him.4 In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it. 6 There was a man named John who was sent by God.7 He came to tell people the truth about the Light so that through him all people could hear about the Light and believe.8 John was not the Light, but he came to tell people the truth about the Light.9 The true Light that gives light to all was coming into the world! 10 The Word was in the world, and the world was made by him, but the world did not know him.11 He came to the world that was his own, but his own people did not accept him.12 But to all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God.13 They did not become his children in any human way—by any human parents or human desire. They were born of God. 14 The Word became a human and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father—and he was full of grace and truth.15 John tells the truth about him and cries out, saying, "This is the One I told you about: 'The One who comes after me is greater than I am, because he was living before me.' " 16 Because he was full of grace and truth, from him we all received one gift after another.17 The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father, and he has shown us what God is like. 19 Here is the truth John told when the leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said, "I am not the Christ." 21 So they asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He answered, "No, I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" they asked. He answered, "No." 22 Then they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to tell those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 23 John told them in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
"I am the voice of one
calling out in the desert:
'Make the road straight for the Lord.' " — Isaiah 40:3 24 Some Pharisees who had been sent asked John:25 "If you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet, why do you baptize people?" 26 John answered, "I baptize with water, but there is one here with you that you don't know about.27 He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals." 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing people. 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!30 This is the One I was talking about when I said, 'A man will come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he was living before me.'
John 2 - New Century
1 Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there,2 and Jesus and his followers were also invited to the wedding.3 When all the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." 4 Jesus answered, "Dear woman, why come to me? My time has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you to do." 6 In that place there were six stone water jars that the Jews used in their washing ceremony. Each jar held about twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled the jars to the top. 8 Then he said to them, "Now take some out and give it to the master of the feast." So they took the water to the master. 9 When he tasted it, the water had become wine. He did not know where the wine came from, but the servants who had brought the water knew. The master of the wedding called the bridegroom10 and said to him, "People always serve the best wine first. Later, after the guests have been drinking awhile, they serve the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best wine till now." 11 So in Cana of Galilee Jesus did his first miracle. There he showed his glory, and his followers believed in him. 12 After this, Jesus went to the town of Capernaum with his mother, brothers, and followers. They stayed there for just a few days.13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast, Jesus went to Jerusalem.14 In the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves. He saw others sitting at tables, exchanging different kinds of money.15 Jesus made a whip out of cords and forced all of them, both the sheep and cattle, to leave the Temple. He turned over the tables and scattered the money of those who were exchanging it. 16 Then he said to those who were selling pigeons, "Take these things out of here! Don't make my Father's house a place for buying and selling!" 17 When this happened, the followers remembered what was written in the Scriptures: "My strong love for your Temple completely controls me." 18 Some of his people said to Jesus, "Show us a miracle to prove you have the right to do these things." 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will build it again in three days." 20 They answered, "It took forty-six years to build this Temple! Do you really believe you can build it again in three days?" 21 (But the temple Jesus meant was his own body.22 After Jesus was raised from the dead, his followers remembered that Jesus had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus had said.) 23 When Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, many people believed in him because they saw the miracles he did. 24 But Jesus did not believe in them because he knew them all. 25 He did not need anyone to tell him about people, because he knew what was in people's minds.
John 3 - New Century
1 There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees and an important Jewish leader.2 One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the miracles you do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot be in God's kingdom." 4 Nicodemus said, "But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother's womb again. So how can a person be born a second time?" 5 But Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God's kingdom. 6 Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.7 Don't be surprised when I tell you, 'You must all be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don't know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus asked, "How can this happen?" 10 Jesus said, "You are an important teacher in Israel, and you don't understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we talk about what we know, and we tell about what we have seen, but you don't accept what we tell you.12 I have told you about things here on earth, and you do not believe me. So you will not believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. 13 The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. 15 So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him. 16 "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him.18 People who believe in God's Son are not judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God's one and only Son.19 They are judged by this fact: The Light has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things.20 All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do. 21 But those who follow the true way come to the light, and it shows that the things they do were done through God." 22 After this, Jesus and his followers went into the area of Judea, where he stayed with his followers and baptized people.23 John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were going there to be baptized.24 (This was before John was put into prison.) 25 Some of John's followers had an argument with a Jew about religious washing.26 So they came to John and said, "Teacher, remember the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you spoke about so much? He is baptizing, and everyone is going to him." 27 John answered, "A man can get only what God gives him.28 You yourselves heard me say, 'I am not the Christ, but I am the one sent to prepare the way for him.'29 The bride belongs only to the bridegroom. But the friend who helps the bridegroom stands by and listens to him. He is thrilled that he gets to hear the bridegroom's voice. In the same way, I am really happy.30 He must become greater, and I must become less important.
John 4 - New Century
1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more followers than John,2 although Jesus himself did not baptize people, but his followers did.3 Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard about him, so he left Judea and went back to Galilee.4 But on the way he had to go through the country of Samaria. 5 In Samaria Jesus came to the town called Sychar, which is near the field Jacob gave to his son Joseph.6 Jacob's well was there. Jesus was tired from his long trip, so he sat down beside the well. It was about twelve o'clock noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water, Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." 8 (This happened while Jesus' followers were in town buying some food.) 9 The woman said, "I am surprised that you ask me for a drink, since you are a Jewish man and I am a Samaritan woman." (Jewish people are not friends with Samaritans. ) 10 Jesus said, "If you only knew the free gift of God and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 11 The woman said, "Sir, where will you get this living water? The well is very deep, and you have nothing to get water with.12 Are you greater than Jacob, our father, who gave us this well and drank from it himself along with his sons and flocks?" 13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty again and will not have to come back here to get more water." 16 Jesus told her, "Go get your husband and come back here." 17 The woman answered, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right to say you have no husband. 18 Really you have had five husbands, and the man you live with now is not your husband. You told the truth." 19 The woman said, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that Jerusalem is the place where people must worship." 21 Jesus said, "Believe me, woman. The time is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain will you actually worship the Father. 22 You Samaritans worship something you don't understand. We understand what we worship, because salvation comes from the Jews.23 The time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, and that time is here already. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said, "I know that the Messiah is coming." (Messiah is the One called Christ.) "When the Messiah comes, he will explain everything to us." 26 Then Jesus said, "I am he—I, the one talking to you." 27 Just then his followers came back from town and were surprised to see him talking with a woman. But none of them asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She said to the people,29 "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Do you think he might be the Christ?"30 So the people left the town and went to see Jesus.
John 5 - New Century
1 Later Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special feast. 2 In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches, which is called Bethesda in the Hebrew language. This pool is near the Sheep Gate. 3 Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed [, and they waited for the water to move. 4 Sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had]. 5 A man was lying there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for such a long time, Jesus asked him, "Do you want to be well?" 7 The sick man answered, "Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. While I am coming to the water, someone else always gets in before me." 8 Then Jesus said, "Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk." 9 And immediately the man was well; he picked up his mat and began to walk. The day this happened was a Sabbath day.10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "Today is the Sabbath. It is against our law for you to carry your mat on the Sabbath day." 11 But he answered, "The man who made me well told me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' " 12 Then they asked him, "Who is the man who told you to pick up your mat and walk?" 13 But the man who had been healed did not know who it was, because there were many people in that place, and Jesus had left. 14 Later, Jesus found the man at the Temple and said to him, "See, you are well now. Stop sinning so that something worse does not happen to you." 15 Then the man left and told his people that Jesus was the one who had made him well. 16 Because Jesus was doing this on the Sabbath day, some evil people began to persecute him. 17 But Jesus said to them, "My Father never stops working, and so I keep working, too." 18 This made them try still harder to kill him. They said, "First Jesus was breaking the law about the Sabbath day. Now he says that God is his own Father, making himself equal with God!" 19 But Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing alone. The Son does only what he sees the Father doing, because the Son does whatever the Father does. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows the Son all the things he himself does. But the Father will show the Son even greater things than this so that you can all be amazed.21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those he wants to.22 In fact, the Father judges no one, but he has given the Son power to do all the judging 23 so that all people will honor the Son as much as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left death and entered life. 25 I tell you the truth, the time is coming and is already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will have life.26 Life comes from the Father himself, and he has allowed the Son to have life in himself as well. 27 And the Father has given the Son the approval to judge, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don't be surprised at this: A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice. 29 Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good will rise and have life forever, but those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty. 30 "I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told, so my judgment is fair. I don't try to please myself, but I try to please the One who sent me.
John 6 - New Century
1 After this, Jesus went across Lake Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias).2 Many people followed him because they saw the miracles he did to heal the sick.3 Jesus went up on a hill and sat down there with his followers.4 It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover Feast. 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?" 6 (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him, because Jesus already knew what he planned to do.) 7 Philip answered, "Someone would have to work almost a year to buy enough bread for each person to have only a little piece." 8 Another one of his followers, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said,9 "Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but that is not enough for so many people." 10 Jesus said, "Tell the people to sit down." There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, thanked God for them, and gave them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, Jesus said to his followers, "Gather the leftover pieces of fish and bread so that nothing is wasted." 13 So they gathered up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left from the five barley loaves. 14 When the people saw this miracle that Jesus did, they said, "He must truly be the Prophet who is coming into the world." 15 Jesus knew that the people planned to come and take him by force and make him their king, so he left and went into the hills alone. 16 That evening Jesus' followers went down to Lake Galilee.17 It was dark now, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The followers got into a boat and started across the lake to Capernaum.18 By now a strong wind was blowing, and the waves on the lake were getting bigger.19 When they had rowed the boat about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the water, coming toward the boat. The followers were afraid, 20 but Jesus said to them, "It is I. Do not be afraid." 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat. At once the boat came to land at the place where they wanted to go. 22 The next day the people who had stayed on the other side of the lake knew that Jesus had not gone in the boat with his followers but that they had left without him. And they knew that only one boat had been there.23 But then some boats came from Tiberias and landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.24 When the people saw that Jesus and his followers were not there now, they got into boats and went to Capernaum to find Jesus. 25 When the people found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Teacher, when did you come here?" 26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you aren't looking for me because you saw me do miracles. You are looking for me because you ate the bread and were satisfied. 27 Don't work for the food that spoils. Work for the food that stays good always and gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because on him God the Father has put his power." 28 The people asked Jesus, "What are the things God wants us to do?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent." 30 So the people asked, "What miracle will you do? If we see a miracle, we will believe you. What will you do?
John 7 - New Century
1 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because some evil people there wanted to kill him.2 It was time for the Feast of Shelters.3 So Jesus' brothers said to him, "You should leave here and go to Judea so your followers there can see the miracles you do.4 Anyone who wants to be well known does not hide what he does. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world."5 (Even Jesus' brothers did not believe in him.) 6 Jesus said to his brothers, "The right time for me has not yet come, but any time is right for you. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I tell it the evil things it does. 8 So you go to the feast. I will not go yet to this feast, because the right time for me has not yet come." 9 After saying this, Jesus stayed in Galilee. 10 But after Jesus' brothers had gone to the feast, Jesus went also. But he did not let people see him.11 At the feast some people were looking for him and saying, "Where is that man?" 12 Within the large crowd there, many people were whispering to each other about Jesus. Some said, "He is a good man." Others said, "No, he fools the people." 13 But no one was brave enough to talk about Jesus openly, because they were afraid of the elders. 14 When the feast was about half over, Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach.15 The people were amazed and said, "This man has never studied in school. How did he learn so much?" 16 Jesus answered, "The things I teach are not my own, but they come from him who sent me. 17 If people choose to do what God wants, they will know that my teaching comes from God and not from me. 18 Those who teach their own ideas are trying to get honor for themselves. But those who try to bring honor to the one who sent them speak the truth, and there is nothing false in them. 19 Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys that law. Why are you trying to kill me?" 20 The people answered, "A demon has come into you. We are not trying to kill you." 21 Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Moses gave you the law about circumcision. (But really Moses did not give you circumcision; it came from our ancestors.) And yet you circumcise a baby boy on a Sabbath day. 23 If a baby boy can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the law of Moses, why are you angry at me for healing a person's whole body on the Sabbath day? 24 Stop judging by the way things look, but judge by what is really right." 25 Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, "This is the man they are trying to kill.26 But he is teaching where everyone can see and hear him, and no one is trying to stop him. Maybe the leaders have decided he really is the Christ. 27 But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from." 28 Jesus, teaching in the Temple, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come by my own authority. I was sent by the One who is true, whom you don't know. 29 But I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me." 30 When Jesus said this, they tried to seize him. But no one was able to touch him, because it was not yet the right time.
John 8 - New Century
1 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.2 But early in the morning he went back to the Temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat and taught them.3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They forced her to stand before the people.4 They said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught having sexual relations with a man who is not her husband.5 The law of Moses commands that we stone to death every woman who does this. What do you say we should do?"6 They were asking this to trick Jesus so that they could have some charge against him. But Jesus bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger. 7 When they continued to ask Jesus their question, he raised up and said, "Anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her." 8 Then Jesus bent over again and wrote on the ground. 9 Those who heard Jesus began to leave one by one, first the older men and then the others. Jesus was left there alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus raised up again and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one judged you guilty?" 11 She answered, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "I also don't judge you guilty. You may go now, but don't sin anymore." ] 12 Later, Jesus talked to the people again, saying, "I am the light of the world. The person who follows me will never live in darkness but will have the light that gives life." 13 The Pharisees said to Jesus, "When you talk about yourself, you are the only one to say these things are true. We cannot accept what you say." 14 Jesus answered, "Yes, I am saying these things about myself, but they are true. I know where I came from and where I am going. But you don't know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards. I am not judging anyone. 16 But when I do judge, I judge truthfully, because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. 17 Your own law says that when two witnesses say the same thing, you must accept what they say. 18 I am one of the witnesses who speaks about myself, and the Father who sent me is the other witness." 19 They asked, "Where is your father?" Jesus answered, "You don't know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father, too." 20 Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the Temple, near where the money is kept. But no one arrested him, because the right time for him had not yet come. 21 Again, Jesus said to the people, "I will leave you, and you will look for me, but you will die in your sins. You cannot come where I am going." 22 So the Jews asked, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he said, 'You cannot come where I am going' ?" 23 Jesus said, "You people are from here below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don't belong to this world. 24 So I told you that you would die in your sins. Yes, you will die in your sins if you don't believe that I am he." 25 They asked, "Then who are you?" Jesus answered, "I am what I have told you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and decide about you. But I tell people only the things I have heard from the One who sent me, and he speaks the truth." 27 The people did not understand that he was talking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that I am he. You will know that these things I do are not by my own authority but that I say only what the Father has taught me. 29 The One who sent me is with me. I always do what is pleasing to him, so he has not left me alone." 30 While Jesus was saying these things, many people believed in him.
John 9 - New Century
1 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind.2 His followers asked him, "Teacher, whose sin caused this man to be born blind—his own sin or his parents' sin?" 3 Jesus answered, "It is not this man's sin or his parents' sin that made him blind. This man was born blind so that God's power could be shown in him. 4 While it is daytime, we must continue doing the work of the One who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 After Jesus said this, he spit on the ground and made some mud with it and put the mud on the man's eyes. 7 Then he told the man, "Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam." (Siloam means Sent.) So the man went, washed, and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors and some people who had earlier seen this man begging said, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some said, "He is the one," but others said, "No, he only looks like him." The man himself said, "I am the man." 10 They asked, "How did you get your sight?" 11 He answered, "The man named Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. Then he told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." 12 They asked him, "Where is this man?" "I don't know," he answered. 13 Then the people took to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.14 The day Jesus had made mud and healed his eyes was a Sabbath day.15 So now the Pharisees asked the man, "How did you get your sight?" He answered, "He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and now I see." 16 So some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man does not keep the Sabbath day, so he is not from God." But others said, "A man who is a sinner can't do miracles like these." So they could not agree with each other. 17 They asked the man again, "What do you say about him, since it was your eyes he opened?" The man answered, "He is a prophet." 18 These leaders did not believe that he had been blind and could now see again. So they sent for the man's parents19 and asked them, "Is this your son who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?" 20 His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.21 But we don't know how he can now see. We don't know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself." 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the elders, who had already decided that anyone who said Jesus was the Christ would be avoided. 23 That is why his parents said, "He is old enough. Ask him." 24 So for the second time, they called the man who had been blind. They said, "You should give God the glory by telling the truth. We know that this man is a sinner." 25 He answered, "I don't know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I see." 26 They asked, "What did he do to you? How did he make you see again?" 27 He answered, "I already told you, and you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his followers, too?" 28 Then they insulted him and said, "You are his follower, but we are followers of Moses.29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we don't even know where this man comes from." 30 The man answered, "This is a very strange thing. You don't know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
John 10 - New Century
1 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the person who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.3 The one who guards the door opens it for him. And the sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.4 When he brings all his sheep out, he goes ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger. They will run away from him because they don't know his voice." 6 Jesus told the people this story, but they did not understand what it meant. 7 So Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the door for the sheep. 8 All the people who came before me were thieves and robbers. The sheep did not listen to them.9 I am the door, and the person who enters through me will be saved and will be able to come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness. 11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. 12 The worker who is paid to keep the sheep is different from the shepherd who owns them. When the worker sees a wolf coming, he runs away and leaves the sheep alone. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 The man runs away because he is only a paid worker and does not really care about the sheep. 14 "I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I give my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not in this flock, and I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.17 The Father loves me because I give my life so that I can take it back again. 18 No one takes it away from me; I give my own life freely. I have the right to give my life, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father commanded me to do." 19 Again the leaders did not agree with each other because of these words of Jesus.20 Many of them said, "A demon has come into him and made him crazy. Why listen to him?" 21 But others said, "A man who is crazy with a demon does not say things like this. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" 22 The time came for the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,23 and Jesus was walking in the Temple in Solomon's Porch.24 Some people gathered around him and said, "How long will you make us wonder about you? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered, "I told you already, but you did not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name show who I am. 26 But you don't believe, because you are not my sheep.27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.28 I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand.29 My Father gave my sheep to me. He is greater than all, and no person can steal my sheep out of my Father's hand. 30 The Father and I are one."
John 11 - New Century
1 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived.2 Mary was the woman who later put perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. Mary's brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick.3 So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." 4 When Jesus heard this, he said, "This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God, to bring glory to the Son of God." 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.6 But when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7 Then Jesus said to his followers, "Let's go back to Judea." 8 The followers said, "But Teacher, some people there tried to stone you to death only a short time ago. Now you want to go back there?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the daylight, he will not stumble, because he can see by this world's light. 10 But if anyone walks at night, he stumbles because there is no light to help him see." 11 After Jesus said this, he added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him." 12 The followers said, "But Lord, if he is only asleep, he will be all right." 13 Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead, but his followers thought he meant Lazarus was really sleeping. 14 So then Jesus said plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes I was not there so that you may believe. But let's go to him now." 16 Then Thomas (the one called Didymus) said to the other followers, "Let us also go so that we can die with him." 17 When Jesus arrived, he learned that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days.18 Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem.19 Many of the Jews had come there to comfort Martha and Mary about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed home.21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.22 But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask." 23 Jesus said, "Your brother will rise and live again." 24 Martha answered, "I know that he will rise and live again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will have life even if they die. 26 And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Martha, do you believe this?" 27 Martha answered, "Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the One coming to the world." 28 After Martha said this, she went back and talked to her sister Mary alone. Martha said, "The Teacher is here and he is asking for you."29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus.30 Jesus had not yet come into the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
John 12 - New Century
1 Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from the dead.)2 There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus.3 Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus' feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house. 4 Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' followers who would later turn against him, was there. Judas said, 5 "This perfume was worth an entire year's wages. Why wasn't it sold and the money given to the poor?" 6 But Judas did not really care about the poor; he said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole from it. 7 Jesus answered, "Leave her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today, the day for me to be prepared for burial. 8 You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me." 9 A large crowd of people heard that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there to see not only Jesus but Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead.10 So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus, too. 11 Because of Lazarus many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus. 12 The next day a great crowd who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast heard that Jesus was coming there. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus, shouting,
"Praise God!
God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord!
God bless the King of Israel!" — Psalm 118:25–26 14 Jesus found a colt and sat on it. This was as the Scripture says,
15 "Don't be afraid, people of Jerusalem!
Your king is coming,
sitting on the colt of a donkey." — Zechariah 9:9 16 The followers of Jesus did not understand this at first. But after Jesus was raised to glory, they remembered that this had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. 17 There had been many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from the dead and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did.18 Many people went out to meet Jesus, because they had heard about this miracle.19 So the Pharisees said to each other, "You can see that nothing is going right for us. Look! The whole world is following him." 20 There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast.21 They went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."22 Philip told Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip told Jesus. 23 Jesus said to them, "The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. 24 I tell you the truth, a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to make many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed.25 Those who love their lives will lose them, but those who hate their lives in this world will keep true life forever. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me. 27 "Now I am very troubled. Should I say, 'Father, save me from this time'? No, I came to this time so I could suffer. 28 Father, bring glory to your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have brought glory to it, and I will do it again." 29 The crowd standing there, who heard the voice, said it was thunder. But others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 30 Jesus said, "That voice was for your sake, not mine.
John 13 - New Century
1 It was almost time for the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that it was time for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. He had always loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them all the way to the end. 2 Jesus and his followers were at the evening meal. The devil had already persuaded Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to turn against Jesus.3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him power over everything and that he had come from God and was going back to God.4 So during the meal Jesus stood up and took off his outer clothing. Taking a towel, he wrapped it around his waist.5 Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered, "You don't understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later." 8 Peter said, "No, you will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "If I don't wash your feet, you are not one of my people." 9 Simon Peter answered, "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but wash my hands and my head, too!" 10 Jesus said, "After a person has had a bath, his whole body is clean. He needs only to wash his feet. And you men are clean, but not all of you." 11 Jesus knew who would turn against him, and that is why he said, "Not all of you are clean." 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and sat down again. He asked, "Do you understand what I have just done for you? 13 You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because that is what I am.14 If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other's feet.15 I did this as an example so that you should do as I have done for you.16 I tell you the truth, a servant is not greater than his master. A messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. 18 "I am not talking about all of you. I know those I have chosen. But this is to bring about what the Scripture said: 'The man who ate at my table has turned against me.' 19 I am telling you this now before it happens so that when it happens, you will believe that I am he. 20 I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send also accepts me. And whoever accepts me also accepts the One who sent me." 21 After Jesus said this, he was very troubled. He said openly, "I tell you the truth, one of you will turn against me." 22 The followers all looked at each other, because they did not know whom Jesus was talking about.23 One of the followers sitting next to Jesus was the follower Jesus loved.24 Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus whom he was talking about. 25 That follower leaned closer to Jesus and asked, "Lord, who is it?" 26 Jesus answered, "I will dip this bread into the dish. The man I give it to is the man who will turn against me." So Jesus took a piece of bread, dipped it, and gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered him. Jesus said to him, "The thing that you will do—do it quickly." 28 No one at the table understood why Jesus said this to Judas.29 Since he was the one who kept the money box, some of the followers thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast or to give something to the poor. 30 Judas took the bread Jesus gave him and immediately went out. It was night.
John 14 - New Century
1 Jesus said, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father's house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you.3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going." 5 Thomas said to Jesus, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. So how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father, too. But now you do know him, and you have seen him." 8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need." 9 Jesus answered, "I have been with you a long time now. Do you still not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you don't come from me, but the Father lives in me and does his own work.11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done.12 I tell you the truth, whoever believes in me will do the same things that I do. Those who believe will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.13 And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you so that the Father's glory will be shown through the Son. 14 If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it. 15 "If you love me, you will obey my commands. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he lives with you and he will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you all alone like orphans; I will come back to you. 19 In a little while the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live, too.20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and that you are in me and I am in you. 21 Those who know my commands and obey them are the ones who love me, and my Father will love those who love me. I will love them and will show myself to them." 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you plan to show yourself to us and not to the rest of the world?" 23 Jesus answered, "If people love me, they will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is not really mine; it is from my Father, who sent me. 25 "I have told you all these things while I am with you. 26 But the Helper will teach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name. 27 "I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, 'I am going, but I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you should be happy that I am going back to the Father, because he is greater than I am.29 I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it happens, you will believe.30 I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me.
John 15 - New Century
1 "I am the true vine; my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that does not produce fruit. And he trims and cleans every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce even more fruit.3 You are already clean because of the words I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in me. 5 "I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without me they can do nothing. 6 If any do not remain in me, they are like a branch that is thrown away and then dies. People pick up dead branches, throw them into the fire, and burn them.7 If you remain in me and follow my teachings, you can ask anything you want, and it will be given to you.8 You should produce much fruit and show that you are my followers, which brings glory to my Father.9 I loved you as the Father loved me. Now remain in my love.10 I have obeyed my Father's commands, and I remain in his love. In the same way, if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. 11 I have told you these things so that you can have the same joy I have and so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy. 12 "This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends.14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.16 You did not choose me; I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and produce fruit, fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other. 18 "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it loves its own. But I have chosen you out of the world, so you don't belong to it. That is why the world hates you.20 Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If people did wrong to me, they will do wrong to you, too. And if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours, too.21 They will do all this to you on account of me, because they do not know the One who sent me.22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.23 Whoever hates me also hates my Father.24 I did works among them that no one else has ever done. If I had not done these works, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen what I have done, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this happened so that what is written in their law would be true: 'They hated me for no reason.' 26 "I will send you the Helper from the Father; he is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me, 27 and you also must tell people about me, because you have been with me from the beginning.
John 16 - New Century
1 "I have told you these things to keep you from giving up. 2 People will put you out of their synagogues. Yes, the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are offering service to God.3 They will do this because they have not known the Father and they have not known me. 4 I have told you these things now so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. "I did not tell you these things at the beginning, because I was with you then. 5 Now I am going back to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'6 Your hearts are filled with sadness because I have told you these things.7 But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Helper to you. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come.8 When the Helper comes, he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment.9 He will prove to them that sin is not believing in me.10 He will prove to them that being right with God comes from my going to the Father and not being seen anymore. 11 And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged. 12 "I have many more things to say to you, but they are too much for you now. 13 But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words, but he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come.14 The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me, because he will take what I have to say and tell it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take what I have to say and tell it to you. 16 "After a little while you will not see me, and then after a little while you will see me again." 17 Some of the followers said to each other, "What does Jesus mean when he says, 'After a little while you will not see me, and then after a little while you will see me again'? And what does he mean when he says, 'Because I am going to the Father' ?" 18 They also asked, "What does he mean by 'a little while' ? We don't understand what he is saying." 19 Jesus saw that the followers wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, "Are you asking each other what I meant when I said, 'After a little while you will not see me, and then after a little while you will see me again'? 20 I tell you the truth, you will cry and be sad, but the world will be happy. You will be sad, but your sadness will become joy.21 When a woman gives birth to a baby, she has pain, because her time has come. But when her baby is born, she forgets the pain, because she is so happy that a child has been born into the world.22 It is the same with you. Now you are sad, but I will see you again and you will be happy, and no one will take away your joy.23 In that day you will not ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy. 25 "I have told you these things indirectly in stories. But the time will come when I will not use stories like that to tell you things; I will speak to you in plain words about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask the Father for things in my name. I mean, I will not need to ask the Father for you.27 The Father himself loves you. He loves you because you loved me and believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father." 29 Then the followers of Jesus said, "You are speaking clearly to us now and are not using stories that are hard to understand.30 We can see now that you know all things. You can answer a person's question even before it is asked. This makes us believe you came from God."
John 17 - New Century
1 After Jesus said these things, he looked toward heaven and prayed, "Father, the time has come. Give glory to your Son so that the Son can give glory to you. 2 You gave the Son power over all people so that the Son could give eternal life to all those you gave him.3 And this is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, the One you sent.4 Having finished the work you gave me to do, I brought you glory on earth. 5 And now, Father, give me glory with you; give me the glory I had with you before the world was made. 6 "I showed what you are like to those you gave me from the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your teaching. 7 Now they know that everything you gave me comes from you.8 I gave them the teachings you gave me, and they accepted them. They knew that I truly came from you, and they believed that you sent me.9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for people in the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours.10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And my glory is shown through them.11 I am coming to you; I will not stay in the world any longer. But they are still in the world. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they will be one, just as you and I are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me. I protected them, and only one of them, the one worthy of destruction, was lost so that the Scripture would come true. 13 "I am coming to you now. But I pray these things while I am still in the world so that these followers can have all of my joy in them. 14 I have given them your teaching. And the world has hated them, because they don't belong to the world, just as I don't belong to the world.15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them safe from the Evil One.16 They don't belong to the world, just as I don't belong to the world.17 Make them ready for your service through your truth; your teaching is truth.18 I have sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world. 19 For their sake, I am making myself ready to serve so that they can be ready for their service of the truth. 20 "I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching. 21 Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me.22 I have given these people the glory that you gave me so that they can be one, just as you and I are one. 23 I will be in them and you will be in me so that they will be completely one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you loved them just as much as you loved me. 24 "Father, I want these people that you gave me to be with me where I am. I want them to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the world was made. 25 Father, you are the One who is good. The world does not know you, but I know you, and these people know you sent me. 26 I showed them what you are like, and I will show them again. Then they will have the same love that you have for me, and I will live in them."
John 18 - New Century
1 When Jesus finished praying, he went with his followers across the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and Jesus and his followers went into it. 2 Judas knew where this place was, because Jesus met there often with his followers. Judas was the one who turned against Jesus.3 So Judas came there with a group of soldiers and some guards from the leading priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons. 4 Knowing everything that would happen to him, Jesus went out and asked, "Who is it you are looking for?" 5 They answered, "Jesus from Nazareth." "I am he," Jesus said. (Judas, the one who turned against Jesus, was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, "I am he," they moved back and fell to the ground. 7 Jesus asked them again, "Who is it you are looking for?" They said, "Jesus of Nazareth." 8 "I told you that I am he," Jesus said. "So if you are looking for me, let the others go." 9 This happened so that the words Jesus said before would come true: "I have not lost any of the ones you gave me." 10 Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11 Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back. Shouldn't I drink the cup the Father gave me?" 12 Then the soldiers with their commander and the guards arrested Jesus. They tied him13 and led him first to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.14 Caiaphas was the one who told the Jews that it would be better if one man died for all the people. 15 Simon Peter and another one of Jesus' followers went along after Jesus. This follower knew the high priest, so he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard.16 But Peter waited outside near the door. The follower who knew the high priest came back outside, spoke to the girl at the door, and brought Peter inside.17 The girl at the door said to Peter, "Aren't you also one of that man's followers?" Peter answered, "No, I am not!" 18 It was cold, so the servants and guards had built a fire and were standing around it, warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. 19 The high priest asked Jesus questions about his followers and his teaching. 20 Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly to everyone. I have always taught in synagogues and in the Temple, where all the Jews come together. I never said anything in secret. 21 So why do you question me? Ask the people who heard my teaching. They know what I said." 22 When Jesus said this, one of the guards standing there hit him. The guard said, "Is that the way you answer the high priest?" 23 Jesus answered him, "If I said something wrong, then show what it was. But if what I said is true, why do you hit me?" 24 Then Annas sent Jesus, who was still tied, to Caiaphas the high priest. 25 As Simon Peter was standing and warming himself, they said to him, "Aren't you one of that man's followers?" Peter said it was not true; he said, "No, I am not." 26 One of the servants of the high priest was there. This servant was a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off. The servant said, "Didn't I see you with him in the garden?" 27 Again Peter said it wasn't true. At once a rooster crowed. 28 Early in the morning they led Jesus from Caiaphas's house to the Roman governor's palace. They would not go inside the palace, because they did not want to make themselves unclean; they wanted to eat the Passover meal.29 So Pilate went outside to them and asked, "What charges do you bring against this man?" 30 They answered, "If he were not a criminal, we wouldn't have brought him to you."
John 19 - New Century
1 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped.2 The soldiers made a crown from some thorny branches and put it on Jesus' head and put a purple robe around him.3 Then they came to him many times and said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and hit him in the face. 4 Again Pilate came out and said to them, "Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing against him."5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!" 6 When the leading priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" But Pilate answered, "Crucify him yourselves, because I find nothing against him." 7 The leaders answered, "We have a law that says he should die, because he said he is the Son of God." 8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid.9 He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, "Where do you come from?" But Jesus did not answer him.10 Pilate said, "You refuse to speak to me? Don't you know I have power to set you free and power to have you crucified?" 11 Jesus answered, "The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. The man who turned me in to you is guilty of a greater sin." 12 After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go. But some in the crowd cried out, "Anyone who makes himself king is against Caesar. If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar." 13 When Pilate heard what they were saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the Hebrew language the name is Gabbatha.) 14 It was about noon on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the crowd, "Here is your king!" 15 They shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Do you want me to crucify your king?" The leading priests answered, "The only king we have is Caesar." 16 So Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. The soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to a place called The Place of the Skull, which in the Hebrew language is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified Jesus. They also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle.19 Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.20 The sign was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the people read the sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. 21 The leading priests said to Pilate, "Don't write, 'The King of the Jews.' But write, 'This man said, "I am the King of the Jews." ' " 22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." 23 After the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, with each soldier getting one part. They also took his long shirt, which was all one piece of cloth, woven from top to bottom. 24 So the soldiers said to each other, "We should not tear this into parts. Let's throw lots to see who will get it." This happened so that this Scripture would come true:
"They divided my clothes among them,
and they threw lots for my clothing." — Psalm 22:18
So the soldiers did this. 25 Standing near his cross were Jesus' mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the follower he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son." 27 Then he said to the follower, "Here is your mother." From that time on, the follower took her to live in his home. 28 After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, "I am thirsty." 29 There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' mouth. 30 When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and died.
John 20 - New Century
1 Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb while it was still dark. When she saw that the large stone had been moved away from the tomb,2 she ran to Simon Peter and the follower whom Jesus loved. Mary said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him." 3 So Peter and the other follower started for the tomb.4 They were both running, but the other follower ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first.5 He bent down and looked in and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in.6 Then following him, Simon Peter arrived and went into the tomb and saw the strips of linen lying there.7 He also saw the cloth that had been around Jesus' head, which was folded up and laid in a different place from the strips of linen.8 Then the other follower, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. He saw and believed.9 (They did not yet understand from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead.) 10 Then the followers went back home.11 But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she bent down and looked inside the tomb.12 She saw two angels dressed in white, sitting where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" She answered, "They have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they have put him."14 When Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. 15 Jesus asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said to him, "Did you take him away, sir? Tell me where you put him, and I will get him." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." Mary turned toward Jesus and said in the Hebrew language, "Rabboni." (This means "Teacher.") 17 Jesus said to her, "Don't hold on to me, because I have not yet gone up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going back to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " 18 Mary Magdalene went and said to the followers, "I saw the Lord!" And she told them what Jesus had said to her. 19 When it was evening on the first day of the week, Jesus' followers were together. The doors were locked, because they were afraid of the elders. Then Jesus came and stood right in the middle of them and said, "Peace be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. His followers were thrilled when they saw the Lord. 21 Then Jesus said again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, I now send you." 22 After he said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you don't forgive them, they are not forgiven." 24 Thomas (called Didymus), who was one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.25 The other followers kept telling Thomas, "We saw the Lord." But Thomas said, "I will not believe it until I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side." 26 A week later the followers were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came in and stood right in the middle of them. He said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand here in my side. Stop being an unbeliever and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you see me. Those who believe without seeing me will be truly blessed." 30 Jesus did many other miracles in the presence of his followers that are not written in this book.
John 21 - New Century
1 Later, Jesus showed himself to his followers again—this time at Lake Galilee. This is how he showed himself:2 Some of the followers were together: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the two sons of Zebedee, and two other followers.3 Simon Peter said, "I am going out to fish." The others said, "We will go with you." So they went out and got into the boat. They fished that night but caught nothing. 4 Early the next morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the followers did not know it was Jesus. 5 Then he said to them, "Friends, did you catch any fish?" They answered, "No." 6 He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they did, and they caught so many fish they could not pull the net back into the boat. 7 The follower whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Peter heard him say this, he wrapped his coat around himself. (Peter had taken his clothes off.) Then he jumped into the water.8 The other followers went to shore in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were not very far from shore, only about a hundred yards.9 When the followers stepped out of the boat and onto the shore, they saw a fire of hot coals. There were fish on the fire, and there was bread. 10 Then Jesus said, "Bring some of the fish you just caught." 11 Simon Peter went into the boat and pulled the net to the shore. It was full of big fish, one hundred fifty-three in all, but even though there were so many, the net did not tear. 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and eat." None of the followers dared ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, along with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus showed himself to his followers after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." 16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." 17 A third time he said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" Peter said, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!" He said to him, "Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger, you tied your own belt and went where you wanted. But when you are old, you will put out your hands and someone else will tie you and take you where you don't want to go." 19 (Jesus said this to show how Peter would die to give glory to God.) Then Jesus said to Peter, "Follow me!" 20 Peter turned and saw that the follower Jesus loved was walking behind them. (This was the follower who had leaned against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who will turn against you?")21 When Peter saw him behind them, he asked Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to live until I come back, that is not your business. You follow me." 23 So a story spread among the followers that this one would not die. But Jesus did not say he would not die. He only said, "If I want him to live until I come back, that is not your business." 24 That follower is the one who is telling these things and who has now written them down. We know that what he says is true. 25 There are many other things Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not be big enough for all the books that would be written.
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