Jesus teaches Nicodemus
1 Now there was an individual from among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Judeans. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said, “Rabbi, we perceive that you are a teacher from God, for no one could do the miracles you do unless God were with them.”
3 Jesus answered, “I tell you very truly that if anyone is not born from above, they are unable to recognize the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus says, “How can an old person be born again? Surely no one is able to enter their mother’s womb a second time and be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you very truly, if anyone is not born of both water and the Spirit, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is generated by the flesh is flesh, and that which is generated by the spirit is spirit. 7 You should not be puzzled about my telling you that you have to be born from above. 8 The wind blows wherever it chooses and you hear the sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So it is with everyone generated by the Spirit.”
9 “How can this happen?” asked Nicodemas.
10 Jesus replied, “How can you be a teacher of Israel and not know these things? 11 I tell you very truly that we speak of what we understand, and we testify of what we have seen, but none of you are accepting our testimony. 12 If I have spoken to you of earthly things and none of you believe, how will any of you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 And no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from there: the Human.
14 “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so also must the Human be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life. 16 Likewise, since God loved the world, he also gave his unique Son so that everyone who would trust in him would not be destroyed but have eternal life. 17 For God did not dispatch his son into the world to pass judgment on it, but to save it through him. 18 The one putting trust in him is not condemned, but the one not trusting is condemned already for rejecting the name of the only God-Man.
19 “Now this is the verdict: the Light has come into the world, but people preferred the shadows to the Light, because their actions were evil. 20 For everyone who practices evil hates the Light and does not come toward it or their actions would be exposed. 21 Yet the one with the truth comes toward the Light so their actions can be revealed, since they were performed to honor God.”
The Forerunner testifies about Jesus again
22 After this Jesus and his disciples came into the region of Judea, and he stayed with them and immersed people. 23 Now John was also immersing in Aenon near Salim, for there was plenty of water, and people came along to be immersed. 24 (This was before John was thrown into prison.)
25 Then there was a dispute between John’s disciples and a Judean about cleansing. 26 So they came to John and said, “Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the one you testified about… Look! He is immersing and everyone is going to him.”
27 John replied, “No one can receive anything without it being given from heaven. 28 You yourselves have testified that I said I am not Christ but only the one commissioned to precede him. 29 It is the bridegroom who has the bride, yet the bridegroom’s friend, who has been waiting, is overjoyed to hear his voice. This is the joy I have, and it is now complete. 30 That One must become greater, while it is my place to become lesser.
31 “The one coming from above is above all. The one of the earth is of the earth and speaks from the earth, but the one coming from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. 33 But the one accepting it certifies that God is true. 34 For the one that God commissions speaks God’s declarations, because God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given everything into his hand. 36 The one putting trust in the Son has eternal life, yet the one hostile to the Son shall not see life; only the rage of God is left to that one.”