Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named ^aNicodemus, a ^bruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to ¹Jesus at night and said to Him, “^aRabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these ^2bsigns that You do unless ^cGod is with him.” 3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone ^ais born ¹again he cannot see ^bthe kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of ^awater and the Spirit, he cannot enter ^bthe kingdom of God. 6 ^aThat which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born ¹again.’ 8 ^aThe wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “You are ^athe teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^awe speak of what we know and ^btestify of what we have seen, and ^cyou people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 ^aNo one has ascended into heaven, except ^bHe who descended from heaven: ^cthe Son of Man. 14 And just as ^aMoses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must ^bthe Son of Man ^cbe lifted up, 15 so that everyone who ¹believes will ^ahave eternal life in Him.

16 “For God so ^aloved the world, that He ^bgave His ^conly Son, so that everyone who ^dbelieves in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God ^adid not send the Son into the world ^bto judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. 18 ^aThe one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ^bthe only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that ^athe Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for ^btheir deeds were evil. 20 ^aFor everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. 21 But the one who ^apractices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed ¹as having been performed in God.”

22 After these things Jesus and His ^adisciples came into the land of Judea; and there He was spending time with them and ^bbaptizing. 23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and being baptized— 24 for ^aJohn had not yet been thrown into prison.

25 Then a matter of dispute developed on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about ^1apurification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “^aRabbi, He who was with you ^bbeyond the Jordan, to whom you ^chave testified—behold, He is baptizing and all the people are coming to Him.” 27 John replied, “^aA person can receive not even one thing unless it ^bhas been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves ¹are my witnesses that I said, ‘^aI am not the ²Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is ^athe groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this ^bjoy of mine has been made full. 30 He must ¹increase, but I must ²decrease.

31 “^aHe who comes from above is above all; ^bthe one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. ^cHe who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of this He ^atestifies; and ^bno one accepts His testimony. 33 The one who has accepted His testimony ^ahas certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God ^asent speaks the words of God; ^bfor He does not give the Spirit ¹sparingly. 35 ^aThe Father loves the Son and ^bhas entrusted all things to His hand. 36 The one who ^abelieves in the Son has eternal life; but the one who ^bdoes not ¹obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named ^aNicodemus, a ^bruler (member of the Sanhedrin) among the Jews, 2 who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, “^aRabbi (Teacher) , we know without any doubt that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these ^bsigns these wonders, these attesting miracles that You do unless ^cGod is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person ^ais born again reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified, he cannot ever see and experience ^bthe kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of ^awater and the Spirit he cannot ever enter ^bthe kingdom of God. Ezek 36:25-27 6 ^aThat which is born of the flesh is flesh the physical is merely physical, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be surprised that I have told you, ‘You must be born again reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified.’ 8 ^aThe wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be possible?” 10 Jesus replied, “You are ^athe great and well-known teacher of Israel, and yet you do not know nor understand these things from Scripture? 11 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, ^awe speak only of what we absolutely know and ^btestify about what we have actually seen as eyewitnesses; and still ^cyou reject our evidence and do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things that is, things that happen right here on earth and you do not believe, how will you believe and trust Me if I tell you heavenly things? 13 ^aNo one has gone up into heaven, but there is ^bOne who came down from heaven, ^cthe Son of Man Himself—whose home is in heaven. 14 Just as ^aMoses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert on a pole, so must ^bthe Son of Man ^cbe lifted up on the cross, Num 21:9 15 so that whoever believes will ^ain Him have eternal life after physical death, and will actually live forever.

16 “For God so greatly ^aloved and dearly prized the world, that He even ^bgave His One and ^1conly begotten Son, so that whoever ^dbelieves and trusts in Him as Savior shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God ^adid not send the Son into the world ^bto judge and condemn the world that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 ^aWhoever believes and has decided to trust in Him as personal Savior and Lord is not judged for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation; but the one who does not believe and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord is judged already that one has been convicted and sentenced, because ¹he has not believed and trusted in the name of ^bthe One and only begotten Son of God the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him. 19 This is the judgment that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged, the basis for the sentence: ^athe Light has come into the world, and people loved the ¹darkness rather than the Light, for ^btheir deeds were evil. Is 5:20 20 ^aFor every wrongdoer hates the Light, and does not come to the Light but shrinks from it for fear that his sinful, worthless activities will be exposed and condemned. 21 But whoever ^apractices truth and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him.”

22 After these things Jesus and His ^adisciples went into the land of Judea, and there He spent time with them and ^bbaptized. John 4:1, 2 23 Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for ^aJohn had not yet been thrown into prison.

25 Therefore there arose a controversy between John’s disciples and a Jew in regard to ^1apurification (ceremonial washing) . 26 So they came to John and said to him, “^aRabbi (Teacher) , the Man who was with you ^bon the other side of the Jordan at the Jordan River crossing—and to whom you ^chave testified—look, He is baptizing too, and everyone is going to Him!” 27 John replied, “^aA man can receive nothing he can claim nothing at all unless it ^bhas been granted to him from heaven for there is no other source than the sovereign will of God. 28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I stated, ‘^aI am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) ,’ but, ‘I have only been sent ahead of Him as His appointed forerunner and messenger to announce and proclaim His coming.’ Mal 3:1 29 He who has the bride is ^athe bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this ^bpleasure and joy of mine is now complete. Song 5:1 30 He must increase in prominence, but I must decrease. Is 9:7

31 “^aHe who comes from heaven above is above all others; ^bhe who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks about things of the earth his viewpoint and experience are earthly. ^cHe who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has actually seen and heard, of that He ^atestifies; and yet ^bno one accepts His testimony as true. 33 Whoever receives His testimony ^ahas set his seal of approval to this: God is true and he knows that God cannot lie. 34 For He whom God has ^asent speaks the words of God proclaiming the Father’s own message; ^bfor God gives the gift of the Spirit without measure generously and boundlessly! Deut 18:18 35 ^aThe Father loves the Son and ^bhas given and entrusted all things into His hand. Dan 7:14 36 He who ^abelieves and trusts in the Son and accepts Him as Savior has eternal life that is, already possesses it; but he who does not ^bbelieve the Son and chooses to reject Him, disobeying Him and denying Him as Savior will not see eternal life, but instead the wrath of God hangs over him continually.” Heb 3:18

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named ^aNicodemus, a ^bruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “^aRabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these ^1bsigns that You do unless ^cGod is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one ^ais born ¹again he cannot see ^bthe kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of ^awater and the Spirit he cannot enter into ^bthe kingdom of God. 6 ^aThat which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born ¹again.’ 8 ^aThe wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you ^athe teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^awe speak of what we know and ^btestify of what we have seen, and ^cyou do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 ^aNo one has ascended into heaven, but ^bHe who descended from heaven: ^cthe Son of Man. 14 As ^aMoses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must ^bthe Son of Man ^cbe lifted up; 15 so that whoever ¹believes will ^ain Him have eternal life.

16 “For God so ^aloved the world, that He ^bgave His ^1conly begotten Son, that whoever ^dbelieves in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God ^adid not send the Son into the world ^bto judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 ^aHe who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ^bthe ¹only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that ^athe Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for ^btheir deeds were evil. 20 ^aFor everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who ^apractices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

22 After these things Jesus and His ^adisciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and ^bbaptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for ^aJohn had not yet been thrown into prison.

25 Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about ^apurification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “^aRabbi, He who was with you ^bbeyond the Jordan, to whom you ^chave testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” 27 John answered and said, “^aA man can receive nothing unless it ^bhas been given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves ¹are my witnesses that I said, ‘^aI am not the ²Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is ^athe bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this ^bjoy of mine has been made full. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

31 “^aHe who comes from above is above all, ^bhe who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. ^cHe who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of that He ^atestifies; and ^bno one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony ^ahas set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For He whom God has ^asent speaks the words of God; ^1bfor He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 ^aThe Father loves the Son and ^bhas given all things into His hand. 36 He who ^abelieves in the Son has eternal life; but he who ^bdoes not ¹obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”