John the Baptist; baptism and temptation (Luke) · John's testimony and the first disciples · Cana, Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman

Luke 4:1–13 WEB

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness ²for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry. ³The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” ⁴Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” ⁵The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶The devil said to him, “I will give you all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I want. ⁷If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours.” ⁸Jesus answered him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’” ⁹He led him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you;’ ¹¹and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.’” ¹²Jesus answering, said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” ¹³When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until another time.

John 1:19–3:36 WEB

^1:19This is John’s testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰He declared, and didn’t deny, but he declared, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²²They said therefore to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” ²⁴The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don’t know. ²⁷He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.” ²⁸These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ²⁹The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ ³¹I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water, that he would be revealed to Israel.” ³²John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. ³³I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” ³⁵Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. ⁴⁰One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter). ⁴³On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered him, “Because I told you, ‘I saw you underneath the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these!” ⁵¹He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

^2:1The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. ²Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the wedding. ³When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.” ⁶Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece. ⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. ⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast.” So they took it. ⁹When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn’t know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!” ¹¹This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. ¹²After this, he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days. ¹³The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. ¹⁵He made a whip of cords and drove all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money and overthrew their tables. ¹⁶To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!” ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.” ¹⁸The Jews therefore answered him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! Will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹But he spoke of the temple of his body. ²²When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. ²³Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did. ²⁴But Jesus didn’t entrust himself to them, because he knew everyone, ²⁵and because he didn’t need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.

^3:1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ²He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” ³Jesus answered him, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.” ⁴Nicodemus said to 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?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must all be born anew.’ ⁸The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things? ¹¹Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness. ¹²If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. ¹⁴As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. ¹⁸He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. ¹⁹This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. ²¹But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.” ²²After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them and baptized. ²³John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came and were baptized; ²⁴for John was not yet thrown into prison. ²⁵Therefore a dispute arose on the part of John’s disciples with some Jews about purification. ²⁶They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he baptizes, and everyone is coming to him.” ²⁷John answered, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’ ²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore my joy is made full. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease. ³¹“He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. ³²What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness. ³³He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. ³⁴For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. ³⁶One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”