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“Unless Someone Is Born of Water and the Spirit, He Cannot Enter the Kingdom of God”
1 Now there was a certain man who belonged to the Pharisee party, a member of the Jewish ruling council; Nicodemus was his name.
2 This man came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that it is because God himself has sent you that you are here as a teacher. No one could do these miraculous signs, after all, that you yourself are doing, unless God were with him.”
3 In response Jesus told him something very important: “Amen, amen, I solemnly tell ˢyou this: Unless someone is born again, he can have no part in the Kingdom of God.”
4 “How can a grown man possibly be born again?” asked Nicodemus. “He certainly can’t go back into his mother’s womb to be born again!”
5 Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I solemnly tell ˢyou this: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit,+ he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
6 That which is birthed by mere human means is mortal, but that which is birthed of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Don’t be shocked because I said to ˢyou, ‘ᵖYou must be born again,’ that is, from above.
8 The wind+ blows in indeed any direction it decides, and ˢyou can hear the sound it makes, but ˢyou don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. This is precisely how it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How are these things possible?” asked Nicodemus.
10 “ˢYou,” replied Jesus, “are a respected teacher in Israel, and yet these things ˢyou don’t understand?
11 Amen, amen, I solemnly tell ˢyou this: We declare what we comprehend, and bear solemn witness to what we have seen, and yet our testimony ᵖyou refuse to accept.
12 If ᵖyou don’t believe when I explain things to ᵖyou using the common, everyday happenings of life right here on the earth, how in the world will ᵖyou believe if I speak plainly to ᵖyou about the things of heaven?
13 Indeed, no one has direct knowledge of the things of heaven, except for one: The one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
14 And just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent on the pole in the wilderness, so it is God’s will for the Son of Man to be lifted up,
15 so that all who place their faith in him may share in the life of the coming age.”
16 Indeed, this is how God showed his great love to the world: He gave his matchless Son, so that all who place their faith in him may not be lost, but share in the life of the age to come.
17 God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn the world, you see, but to save the world through him.
18 If someone places his faith in the Son, he will surely be spared condemnation. Anyone who persists in unbelief, however, is doomed to be condemned, because he has refused to place his faith in the name of the matchless Son of God.
19 This, moreover, is the reason for their condemnation: The light has come into the world, yet mankind loved the darkness instead of the light, because their deeds were wicked.
20 All whose ways and deeds are evil, you see, hate the light and refuse to come to the light, because they don’t want the wicked things they do to be exposed.
21 It is those who live according to the truth, rather, who come to the light, so that it may be clear to everyone that their deeds have been accomplished how? Solely through union with God.
“The Father Loves the Son and Has Placed under His Authority the Whole Creation”
22 After these things, Jesus went with his disciples to the Judean countryside; there he spent some time with them, and was baptizing.
23 Now, John too was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, since water there was very plentiful; people were coming to him and being baptized.
24 (John had not yet been thrown into prison.)
25 As a result of this situation, John’s disciples raised a question and got into a debate with a certain Jew over an issue related to ceremonial cleansing.
26 So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, concerning whom you have given testimony—well, here he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him!”
27 In response John said some very significant things: “A man can receive not even one thing unless it is granted to him from heaven.
28 You yourselves heard me say with your own ears, ‘I am not the Messiah, but have been sent ahead of him.’
29 The bridegroom is the one to whom the bride belongs. The friend of the bridegroom, meanwhile, who stands by and listens for him, is full of great joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine, therefore, is complete.
30 As for him, it is God’s will for him to become greater. I, however, am appointed to become less.”
31 The one who comes from above is indeed higher than any mere man. The one who is from the earth is just that—from the earth—and speaks words of earthly origin. The one who comes from heaven is indeed higher than any mere man.
32 To that which he has directly seen and heard he bears solemn witness, and yet his testimony no one accepts.
33 If someone does accept his testimony, that person has attested that God is truthful.
34 The one whom God sent, you see, speaks the very words of God, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.
35 The Father loves the Son and has placed under his authority the whole creation.
36 If someone places his faith in the Son, he will share in the life of the coming age. If someone refuses to obey the Son, however, he will not experience life; indeed, upon him remains the wrath of God.