1 H abía un hombre de los fariseos, llamado Nicodemo, prominente entre los judíos.

Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews,

2 E ste vino a Jesús de noche y le dijo: Rabí, sabemos que has venido de Dios como maestro, porque nadie puede hacer las señales que tú haces si Dios no está con él.

Who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that You have come from God a Teacher; for no one can do these signs (these wonderworks, these miracles—and produce the proofs) that You do unless God is with him.

3 R espondió Jesús y le dijo: En verdad, en verdad te digo que el que no nace de nuevo no puede ver el reino de Dios.

Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God.

4 N icodemo le dijo: ¿Cómo puede un hombre nacer siendo ya viejo? ¿Acaso puede entrar por segunda vez en el vientre de su madre y nacer?

Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb again and be born?

5 J esús respondió: En verdad, en verdad te digo que el que no nace de agua y del Espíritu no puede entrar en el reino de Dios.

Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and '> even] the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

6 L o que es nacido de la carne, carne es, y lo que es nacido del Espíritu, espíritu es.

What is born of the flesh is flesh; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 N o te asombres de que te haya dicho: “Os es necesario nacer de nuevo.”

Marvel not at My telling you, You must all be born anew (from above).

8 E l viento sopla donde quiere, y oyes su sonido, pero no sabes de dónde viene ni adónde va; así es todo aquel que es nacido del Espíritu.

The wind blows (breathes) where it wills; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

9 R espondió Nicodemo y le dijo: ¿Cómo puede ser esto?

Nicodemus answered by asking, How can all this be possible?

10 J esús respondió y le dijo: Tú eres maestro de Israel, ¿y no entiendes estas cosas?

Jesus replied, Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet do not know nor understand these things?

11 E n verdad, en verdad te digo que hablamos lo que sabemos y damos testimonio de lo que hemos visto, pero vosotros no recibís nuestro testimonio.

I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, We speak only of what we know; we have actually seen what we are testifying to. And still you do not receive our testimony.

12 S i os he hablado de las cosas terrenales, y no creéis, ¿cómo creeréis si os hablo de las celestiales?

If I have told you of things that happen right here on the earth and yet none of you believes Me, how can you believe (trust Me, adhere to Me, rely on Me) if I tell you of heavenly things?

13 N adie ha subido al cielo, sino el que bajó del cielo, es decir, el Hijo del Hombre que está en el cielo.

And yet no one has ever gone up to heaven, but there is One Who has come down from heaven—the Son of Man, Who is (dwells, has His home) in heaven.

14 Y como Moisés levantó la serpiente en el desierto, así es necesario que sea levantado el Hijo del Hombre,

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 p ara que todo aquel que cree, tenga en El vida eterna. El amor de Dios

In order that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life and live forever!

16 P orque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que dio a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo aquel que cree en El, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna.

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He gave up His only begotten ( unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

17 P orque Dios no envió a su Hijo al mundo para juzgar al mundo, sino para que el mundo sea salvo por El.

For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

18 E l que cree en El no es condenado; pero el que no cree, ya ha sido condenado, porque no ha creído en el nombre del unigénito Hijo de Dios.

He who believes in Him is not judged; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 Y este es el juicio: que la luz vino al mundo, y los hombres amaron más las tinieblas que la luz, pues sus acciones eran malas.

The judgment (indictment, the test by which men are judged, the ground for the sentence) lies in this: the Light has come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than and more than the Light, for their works (deeds) were evil.

20 P orque todo el que hace lo malo odia la luz, y no viene a la luz para que sus acciones no sean expuestas.

For every wrongdoer hates (loathes, detests) the Light, and will not come out into the Light but shrinks from it, lest his works (his deeds, his activities, his conduct) be exposed and reproved.

21 P ero el que practica la verdad viene a la luz, para que sus acciones sean manifestadas que han sido hechas en Dios. Testimonio final de Juan el Bautista

But he who practices truth comes out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—wrought with God.

22 D espués de esto vino Jesús con sus discípulos a la tierra de Judea, y estaba allí con ellos, y bautizaba.

After this, Jesus and His disciples went into the land (the countryside) of Judea, where He remained with them, and baptized.

23 J uan también bautizaba en Enón, cerca de Salim, porque allí había mucha agua; y muchos venían y eran bautizados.

But John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, for there was an abundance of water there, and the people kept coming and being baptized.

24 P orque Juan todavía no había sido metido en la cárcel.

For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

25 S urgió entonces una discusión entre los discípulos de Juan y un judío acerca de la purificación.

Therefore there arose a controversy between some of John’s disciples and a Jew in regard to purification.

26 Y vinieron a Juan y le dijeron: Rabí, mira, el que estaba contigo al otro lado del Jordán, de quien diste testimonio, está bautizando y todos van a El.

So they came to John and reported to him, Rabbi, the Man Who was with you on the other side of the Jordan '> at the Jordan crossing]—and to Whom you yourself have borne testimony—notice, here He is baptizing too, and everybody is flocking to Him!

27 R espondió Juan y dijo: Un hombre no puede recibir nada si no le es dado del cielo.

John answered, A man can receive nothing '> take unto himself nothing] except as it has been granted to him from heaven.

28 V osotros mismos me sois testigos de que dije: “Yo no soy el Cristo, sino que he sido enviado delante de El.”

You yourselves are my witnesses that I stated, I am not the Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), but I have been sent before Him.

29 E l que tiene la novia es el novio, pero el amigo del novio, que está allí y le oye, se alegra en gran manera con la voz del novio. Y por eso, este gozo mío se ha completado.

He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the groomsman who stands by and listens to him rejoices greatly and heartily on account of the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my pleasure and joy, and it is now complete.

30 E s necesario que El crezca, y que yo disminuya.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

31 E l que procede de arriba está por encima de todos; el que es de la tierra, procede de la tierra y habla de la tierra. El que procede del cielo está sobre todos.

He Who comes from above (heaven) is above all; he who comes from the earth belongs to the earth, and talks the language of earth. He Who comes from heaven is above all others.

32 L o que El ha visto y oído, de eso da testimonio; y nadie recibe su testimonio.

It is to what He has seen and heard that He bears testimony, and yet no one accepts His testimony.

33 E l que ha recibido su testimonio ha certificado esto: que Dios es veraz.

Whoever receives His testimony has set his seal of approval to this: God is true..

34 P orque aquel a quien Dios ha enviado habla las palabras de Dios, pues El da el Espíritu sin medida.

For since He Whom God has sent speaks the words of God, God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the gift God makes of His Spirit!

35 E l Padre ama al Hijo y ha entregado todas las cosas en su mano.

The Father loves the Son and has given (entrusted, committed) everything into His hand.

36 E l que cree en el Hijo tiene vida eterna; pero el que no obedece al Hijo no verá la vida, sino que la ira de Dios permanece sobre él.

And he who believes in (has faith in, clings to, relies on) the Son has (now possesses) eternal life. But whoever disobeys (is unbelieving toward, refuses to trust in, disregards, is not subject to) the Son will never see (experience) life, but the wrath of God abides on him.