Undiluted Gospel of John
The Undiluted Gospel of John brings forth its full power and strength without later-added dilutions. Similar to removing soot from a classic painting with modern techniques, a combination of textual analysis and conservative scrutiny uncovers the spectacular and incredibly helpful original
Chapter 1
1In the beginning was perfection; its logic was with God and its truth was God. 2All this was in the beginning, with God. 3All things were made by Him; not one thing was made without Him. 4Life was in Him, and this life was the beacon of mankind. 5In the darkness shined the light, and the darkness could not snuff it out.
6There was a man named John who was sent by God. 7The man came as a witness, to bear witness to the Light, so that all men might believe because of him. 8John was not the Light, but a messenger of the Light. 9That was the true Light, which illuminates every person who comes into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, but the world did not recognize Him.
|- |11 |He came among his own, but his own accepted him not.
|12 |But many did accept him, and to those who also believed in him, to them he gave power to be the sons of God. |13 |Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
|14 |And the perfection was made flesh, and made his home among us; we beheld his glory, the glory as the only child of the Father, full of grace and truth.
|- |16 |And from His abundance, all of us have received, indeed, with grace for grace.
|17 |For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
|18 |Never has a man seen God; instead God is fully presented by His only son, who is in the heart of the Father. |- |19 |And this is the testimony John gave to the priests and Levites, who had been sent by the Jews from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
|20 |And John did not deny who he was, but confessed, and told them, he was not Christ.
|21
|And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
|And they asked him, "Then what are you? Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." They asked, "Are you another prophet?" And he answered, "No."
|The Greek construction indicates that John was denying being a prophet of any kind.
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|22
|Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
|So they said to him, "Who are you, what shall we tell the people who sent us. What have you to say for yourself?"
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|23
|He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
|He said, "I am the voice crying in the wilderness, 'Straighten out the path of the Lord,' just as the prophet Isaiah said."
|John's quotation is from the Septuagint (Greek translation of the OT), where it uses εá½Î¸ÏÏ to relate the force of the Hebrew, from the idea of snapping wrinkled clothing out to make it both smooth and straight.
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|25
|And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
|And so they asked him, "Why do you baptize people, if you are not Christ, nor Elijah, nor another prophet?"
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|26
|John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
|John answered them, "I baptize with water, but there is one among you who you do not know,"
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|27
|He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
|"and it is he, who is coming after me, who existed prior to me, whose shoe's laces I am not worthy to untie."
|John is making a startling statement that foreshadows Jesus' later words: "Before Abraham was, I Am."
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|28
|These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
|These things happened in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
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|29
|The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
|The next day, John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who lifts and carries away the sin of the world."
|Greek "αιÏÏν" means literally two ideas simultaneously: to bear a burden, and to carry that burden away. Here it is translated as "lifts and carries away," to preserve some sense of a burden; "who" is better than "which" here, since this refers to Jesus.
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|30
|This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
|This is the man I have spoken of when I said, "After me will come a man who existed prior to me, for he was before me.
|This is an even more emphatic statement of what he said in verse 27
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|31
|And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
|I did not know who he was, yet I have come to baptize with water so that He could be revealed to Israel."
|an enigmatic verse; more improvements welcome (see comment page)
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|32
|And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
|And John testified "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove out of heaven, and it stayed upon Jesus."
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|33
|And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
|"I did not recognize him at first, but he who sent me to baptize, he said to me, 'The man whom you will see the Spirit descend upon, and remain on, that man is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'"
|John did not know the exact identity of the one he was preaching about. All John knew of that man's identity was what the Holy Spirit had told him about the sign that would confirm the Messiah's identity.
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|34
|And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
|"I saw these things, and testify that this is the Son of God."
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|35
|Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
|The next day, John stood again with two of his disciples;
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|36
|And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
|and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, "Behold! The Lamb of God!"
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|37
|And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
|And the two disciples heard this, and they followed Jesus.
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38 |Jesus turned, and saw them following him, and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to him, "Rabbi, where do you live?" | |- |39 |He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. |He said to them, "Come and see." They came, and saw where he lived, and stayed with him that day, for it was 10 o'clock. | |- |40 |One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. |One of these two disciples, who had heard John speak, and followed Jesus, was Andrew, brother of Simon Peter. | |- |41 |He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah!" | |- |42 |Andrew brought Simon Peter to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, "You are Simon, son of Jonah: you shall be called Cephas, the rock." | |- |43 |The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. |The following day, Jesus went forth into Galilee, and finding Phillip, he said to him, "Follow me." | |- |44 |Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. |Phillip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. | |- |45 |Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. |Phillip found Nathaniel, and said to him, "We have found him, him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph." | |- |46 |And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. |Nathaniel said to Phillip, "Can any good thing come from Nazareth?" Phillip replied, "Come and see." | |- |47 |Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! |Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and said of him, "Look! An Israelite indeed, who is incapable of deceit." |Deceit is a more appropriate translation. |- |48 |Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. |Nathaniel said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered, saying "Before that Phillip called upon you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." |Something about Nathaniels experience under the fig tree was profound enough that he was surprised Jesus would know about it. Praying would make sense, as this would imply the divinity of Jesus, which Nathaniel somehow immediately recognizes by Jesus's response here. |- |49 |Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. |Nathaniel answered and said, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel." | |- |50 |Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. |Jesus replied to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' you believe? You shall see greater things than this." | |- |51 |And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. |And Jesus continued to Nathaniel, "Truly I tell you, you shall yet see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son, a human being." |