1 T here was a man named Nicodemus. He was a proud religious law-keeper and a leader of the Jews.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 H e came to Jesus at night and said, “Teacher, we know You have come from God to teach us. No one can do these powerful works You do unless God is with Him.” Jesus Tells of the New Kind of Birth

the same came unto him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 J esus said to him, “For sure, I tell you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the holy nation of God.”

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 N icodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? How can he get into his mother’s body and be born the second time?”

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5 J esus answered, “For sure, I tell you, unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit of God, he cannot get into the holy nation of God.

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!

6 W hatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 “ Do not be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew.

8 T he wind blows where it wants to and you hear its sound. You do not know where it comes from or where it goes. It is the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit of God.”

The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9 N icodemus said to Him, “How can this be?”

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

10 J esus said, “Are you a teacher among the Jews and do not know these things?

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?

11 F or sure, I tell you, We are talking about things We know. We tell of what We have seen. Yet you do not take Our words to be true.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

12 I tell you about things of the earth and you do not believe them. How will you believe if I tell you things about heaven?

If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?

13 “ No one has gone up into heaven except the One Who came down from heaven. That One is the Son of Man Who is in heaven.

And no one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven.

14 A s Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;

15 T hen whoever puts his trust in Him will have life that lasts forever.

that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.

16 F or God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Whoever puts his trust in God’s Son will not be lost but will have life that lasts forever.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.

17 F or God did not send His Son into the world to say it is guilty. He sent His Son so the world might be saved from the punishment of sin by Him.

For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.

18 W hoever puts his trust in His Son is not guilty. Whoever does not put his trust in Him is guilty already. It is because he does not put his trust in the name of the only Son of God.

He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 “ The Light has come into the world. And the Light is the test by which men are guilty or not. People love darkness more than the Light because the things they do are sinful.

And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.

20 E veryone who sins hates the Light. He stays away from the Light because his sin would be found out.

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved.

21 T he man who does what is right comes to the Light. What he does will be seen because he has done what God wanted him to do.” Jesus Preaches in Judea

But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God.

22 A fter this, Jesus and His followers came into the country of Judea. He stayed with them there and baptized people. John the Baptist Tells More about Jesus

After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

23 J ohn was baptizing in the town of Aenon near Salim. There was much water there and people were coming to be baptized.

And John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

24 J ohn had not been put in prison yet.

For John was not yet cast into prison.

25 T hen some of the followers of John and a Jew started to argue about the religious washing of the Jewish worship.

There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purifying.

26 T hey came to John and said to him, “Teacher, the One with you on the other side of the Jordan River is baptizing also. He is the One you told of. Everyone is going to Him.”

And they came unto John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.

27 J ohn said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven.

28 Y ou heard the words that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.’

Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him.

29 T he man who has just been married has the bride. The friend of the man just married stands at his side and listens to him. He has joy when he hears the voice of the man just married. I am full of this joy.

He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, that standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is made full.

30 H e must become more important. I must become less important.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

31 “ He Who comes from above is above all. He who comes from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He Who comes from heaven is above all.

He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

32 H e tells of what He has seen and heard. But no one believes what He says.

What he hath seen and heard, of that he beareth witness; and no man receiveth his witness.

33 W hoever receives His words proves that God is true.

He that hath received his witness hath set his seal to this, that God is true.

34 H e was sent by God and He speaks God’s Word. God gives Him all of His Spirit.

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for he giveth not the Spirit by measure.

35 T he Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

36 H e who puts his trust in the Son has life that lasts forever. He who does not put his trust in the Son will not have life, but the anger of God is on him.”

He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.