1:1–1:2In the beginning was the Word, and the Word resided with God, and the Word was God; he was there all along.

1:3–1:5Everything that exists is because of him, and not one thing exists that he didn't make. That which came into being in him was life, and this life was the light of people. This light is shining into the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.

1:6–1:7Along came someone named John, who was commissioned by God. His assignment was to serve as a witness to the Light so that everyone could believe through his testimony. He was not the Light himself, but only came as a witness to it.

1:8–1:14This was the true Light which illuminates every person coming into the world. But even though he came into the world he made, it didn't recognized him; he came to his own, but they didn't accept him. Yet to those who accepted him by putting their trust in him, he granted the privilege of becoming children of God. These were not children born of a woman, or the will of the flesh or a husband, but generated by God. The Word became flesh and made his home among us, and we observed his majesty— the majesty of the unique progeny of the Father, full of favor and truth.

1:15–1:18John testifies about him and has shouted out, "This is the one I was talking about when I said, 'The one coming after me is really in front of me, because he existed before me.'" It's because we all received limitless favor from him; it's because though the law was given through Moses, favor and truth came through Jesus the Anointed. Though no one has ever seen God, he is now explained by the only-born God who is in the inner sanctum of the Father.

1:19–1:21This is the testimony John gave when the Judeans in Jerusalem sent out priests and Levites to interrogate him:

"Who are you?"

And he didn't deny the truth: "I am not the Anointed."

So they asked him: "Then who are you— Elijah?"

And he says, "I am not."

"Are you The Prophet?"

And he answered, "No."

1:22–1:23So they said, "Then who are you? Tell us what you say about yourself, so we have something to report to those who sent us." He replied, "I am 'the voice of one shouting in the desert, "Straighten the road of the Master"', according to what the prophet Isaiah said."

1:24–1:28Now those who had been sent to him were Pharisees. And they asked him, "Then why are you immersing, if you are not the Anointed, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John replied, "I immerse with water, but you don't realize that the one coming after me has been standing among you. I am not even worthy to untie his shoes!" All this happened in Bethany, on the other side of the Jordan River where John was immersing.

1:29–1:31The next day John sees Jesus coming toward him and says, "Look! The Lamb of God, the one taking away the sin of the world! This is the one I was talking about when I said, 'After me will come a man who has surpassed me, because he preceded me.' And though I didn't even recognize him, it was for this very purpose I came immersing in water: that he may be made known to Israel."

1:32–1:34John continued his testimony: "For I have seen the Spirit come down from the sky like a dove and remain on him. And I had not recognized him, but the one who sent me to immerse in water told me, 'The one you see the Spirit land on is the one who immerses in the Holy Spirit.' I have seen this, so I testified that this is the God-Man."

1:35–1:39The next day John and two of his disciples were there again and, seeing Jesus walking around, John says "Look, the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this and became followers of Jesus. Now Jesus turned around and observed them following him and He says, "What are you looking for?" But they said to him, "Rabbi" (which is translated "teacher"), "where are you staying?" He says to them, "Come and you'll see." They came and saw where he was staying, and remained with him for the day. It was about 4 p.m.

1:40–1:42Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. The first thing he does is to find his own brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is translated "Anointed"). He led him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon, son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated "Peter").

1:43–1:46The next day Jesus decided to go into Galilee. He finds Philip and says to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the same city as Andrew and Peter.

Philip finds Nathaniel and says, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth."

And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

Philip replies, "Come and see."

1:47–1:51Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and says about him, "Look! A genuine Israelite, in whom there is no treachery."

Nathanael says to him, "How do you know me?"

Jesus replied, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."

Nathanael responded, "Rabbi, you are the God-Man! You are the King of Israel!"

And Jesus replied, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree; you will be seeing greater things than that!" He added, "Very truly I tell you all, you will be seeing the sky opened up and the Messengers of God ascending and descending to and from the Human."

Jn. 1:8–1:14 Notes:

The phrase "in the name of" refers to someone's position or rank and the honor that goes with it. So to put one's faith in Jesus' name does not ascribe some mystical power to the speaking of that name, but simply refers to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, the sacrificial Lamb, our King and Priest, and God Himself. So to "believe" in Jesus' name is to accept all that is true about him.

The combined reference to blood, the flesh, and a man expresses normal physical procreation, in contrast to the spiritual procreation that can only be from God. Also note the aorist tense; that is, an event at a point in time (birth) and not a continuing process (growth).

Jn. 1:15–1:18 Notes:

The phrases about after and before speak of importance as well as time.

Jn. 1:29–1:31 Notes:

Note that there are several different Greek words that are all translated "sin". While all are violations of God's will, the differences are mainly in the cause, nature, or circumstances of the sin. Also, though "sin" is singular here, the meaning is not of one particular sin but the general condition of sinfulness. "The world" is not an entity that can sin, and if it referred to Adam, this would be a most unclear way to say so.

Jn. 1:35–1:39 Notes:

The translation of Hebrew words indicates that the author is not writing to Hebrew speakers.

Time of daylight began around 6 a.m. The Hebrews began each 24-hour day at sunset, divided into 12 hours of darkness and 12 of daylight.

Jn. 1:40–1:42 Notes:

Peter and Cephas mean "rock" (bigger than a pebble but smaller than a boulder).

Jn. 1:47–1:51 Notes:

"Messengers" is the meaning of the transliteration "angels". Also, the phrase "son of man" means a representative member of the class of beings "human", just as "a son of Israel" would be translated "Israelite". Jesus is referring to himself as the perfect model of humanity. Likewise, the phrase "son of God" means Jesus is of the "God" class and is rendered the God-Man .

Translation Notes

Format and Terminology

The text is arranged into paragraphs which roughly indicate units of thought. Even among scholars there is no unanimous agreement as to where a paragraph, sentence, or chapter should begin or end. But the usefulness of this format is in two primary areas: English readability and keeping verses in their context. The very word "verses" suggests something more akin to poetry or mysterious writings rather than letters written as any others, inspired though they were. Displaying such writings as individual verses also tends to foster "proof-texting".

Each paragraph begins with a verse range indication for cross-referencing with other translations or study tools. When a paragraph would be too long for English readability, it is broken up into several paragraphs but without a separate verse range indication for each. Paragraphs are also broken up to indicate conversations.

Some abbreviations used in the notes include OT or NT for the old and new Testaments, and LXX for the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT that the NT quotes from).

Figures of Speech

The writers of the NT were typically Hebrew thinkers recording Aramaic speech in Greek. Thus we need to be especially careful about interpreting any given expression and considering all the factors involved. All three languages would have their own expressions and colloquialisms, and at times a Hebrew idiom may be expressed in Greek words for example. One such expression is typically "And he spoke to them, saying…", and they are rendered simply as "And he said to them,…".

A similar consideration is for Greek word order. Since Greek is inflected (we get grammatical information from the word endings to tell us subject and predicate for example), word order does not affect meaning for the most part. It can, however, indicate emphasis. John 1:1 ends with "and God was the Word", but the order simply emphasizes the divinity of the Word.

Phrases that begin with "son of" often are a Hebrew expression for a member of a group. For example, "son of Israel" means an Israelite, "son of God" means one of the God class of beings, and "son of man" means one of the human class of beings. So when Jesus uses these expressions for himself, he is either emphasizing his divinity or his humanity, and when preceded by the definite article (the) becomes a title, rendered here as The Human or The God-Man.

Greek also tended to use the male gender of words as inclusive; that is, "sons" could be either male or female, while "daughters" were only female. Likewise, "brothers" could also include females. In both cases the male form was used if there was at least one male in the group. It is a term of inclusion, not exclusion. So if the Greek text is ambiguous, the English word "siblings" is used.

Third-Person Pronouns, Proper Names, and Titles

To distinguish between second person singular and plural, the plural is rendered "yous" in the interlinear, rather than "you(pl.)". It is rendered "you" or "you all" in the paragraphs, depending on whether the context clearly indicates whether more than one person is in view.

Also, pronouns are not capitalized, as no special treatement was given them in the Greek. But even though proper names are not capitalized in the Greek text either, this is retained for the translation because English always capitalizes them, even for names of pets. And if an ordinary word such as "father" is preceded by the definite article, it is capitalized to denote a title. Thus, "my father" is not capitalized but "the Father" is, unless the Greek reads "the father of me".

Pronouns and Gender

Grammatical gender refers to classifying nouns as masculine, feminine, or neuter, and has no relationship to biology. In various languages, a desk may be referred to in masculine terms, a ship in feminine terms, or a child in neuter terms. And in such languages the pronoun must match the noun; if the noun is neuter for example, so also must any pronouns associated with it. Again, there is no connection to biology in this, and no disrespect of God or people.

English, unlike Greek, does not have grammatical gender for its nouns, but only biological. And there is no acceptable personal pronoun for someone of unspecified biological gender, which leads to the controversy over the use of the plural pronoun "they". This problem is compounded when we choose English pronouns for members of the Trinity. No one disputes that Jesus was male, or that he referred to another member as his father (or the Father). But there are instances in the Greek NT where non-masculine pronouns are used.

For the sake of consistency and propriety, especially in English, it is better to use personal pronouns (he or she) when referring to people or God, and for lack of a suitable substitute, "they" when the text is not clear. Male pronouns are used for the members of the Trinity, even when the Greek may be feminine or neuter (either grammatically or contextually). However, no one should make the mistake of this being any kind of proof of God allegedly having biological gender. Jesus as human is the only member of the Trinity to have human flesh, and thus biological gender.

But what about the Holy Spirit? The pronoun in Hebrew is always feminine (she), while in Greek it is always neuter (it), and only masculine when referring to the Comforter for example. But while some will insist that only a prior belief in the Trinity requires us to understand the Holy Spirit as a person, there are enough scriptures to show his personhood without it. For example, the Spirit can be grieved (Eph. 4:30), and some were struck down dead for lying to him (Acts 5:3). The only real question, then, is whether it is more proper to use the masculine or the feminine pronoun.

Regardless of the translation choice for these pronouns, in no way is the honor of God impugned. God is spirit (John 4:24) and thus not flesh, or we make nonsense out of Col. 1:19 which tells us that the fullness of God took up residence in Jesus. If we insist upon assigning biological traits to that which is not biological, we come closer to pagan myth than scriptural fact. For this reason it is just as wrong to think of God as male as it is to think of God as female or an impersonal force. We use masculine terms in English, not because God is male, but because of the lack of a respectful neuter pronoun and the awkwardness of something like "he, she, or it" or dispensing with pronouns completely.

Faith/Belief/Trust

The phrase "believe in someone" carries the connotation of blind faith, as one might believe in the tooth fairy. The phrase "believe someone" means to mentally agree with something they said. But "to have faith in someone" or "to trust someone" adds the meaning of personal conviction, of mental assent plus emotional attachment and dedication. That is why the word "trust" was preferred in this translation, since the Koine Greek of the first century did not have our English concept of merely "believing in" someone's existance without additional contextual information, such as that used in James chapter two. It also avoids the connotation of "faith" as is seen in some Christian communities, who seem to view it almost as a force or power to be maniuplated.

Eternal

The Greek words translated "eternal" means a time of unknown duration, not necessarily an endless time. The extent of that duration can only be determined by context, if at all.

Cross or Stake?

The Greek word traditionally rendered "cross" referred to an upright stake or pole. But there is a separate word for the actual cross-piece, the board upon which the outstretched arms of the victim were nailed at the wrists. So the net result is the familiar "cross" shape. This translation uses separate words for the separate pieces.

Church

The Greek word ekklesia is rendered "Congregation" when referring to the body of believers, but uncapitalized when referring to some other gathering.

Greek Grammar

I have adopted the "simple is better" view found at a site called New Testament Greek. The site also included an online Greek NT without any of the added markings, which can influence interpretation. Unfortunately the site no longer exists. Other material has been gleaned from various sources, including New Testament Greek and NTGreek In Session, which is more formal and takes a more classical approach. Please use these references for in-depth grammatical study; what follows is just a quick reference.

Alphabet and Pronunciation

There are several views on pronunciation, but please read the article Here for discussion on pronunciation errors that have been carried into modern times, as well as the chart Here. I used to prefer a pronunciation that aided with spelling, but have now decided to use the modern pronunciation which has the advantage of being understandable by current speakers of Greek. In any case, what I have below is my attempt to convey the modern pronunciation. The key is for when you are typing in a Greek font.

There is an excellent audio pronunciation guide for "ethnic" or modern Greek Here, and you can hear a native speaker of Greek pronounce the alphabet Here.

key	letter	spelled	pronounced (modern Greek)
A	Αα	αλφα	ahl' fa
B	Ββ	βητα	vee' ta
G	Γγ	γαμμα	dghah' ma (before long or short E sound: y as in yet; before others, no English equivalent-- try gh w/vocal)
D	Δδ	δελτα	thel' ta (voiced; that is, th as in then)
E	Εε	εψιλον	ep' see lun
Z	Ζζ	ζητα	zee' ta
H	Ηη	ητα	ee' ta
U	Θθ	θητα	thee' ta (unvoced; that is, th as in think)
I	Ιι	ιωτα	yoh' ta
K	Κκ	καππα	cop' pa
L	Λλ	λαμβδα	lahm' the
M	Μμ	μυ	mee
N	Νν	νυ	nee
J	Ξξ	ξι	ksee
O	Οο	ομικρον	oh' mee krhun
P	Ππ	πι	pee
R	Ρρ	ρω	rhoh
S,W	Σσς	σιγμα	seeg' ma (ς only at end of word)
T	Ττ	ταυ	toff
Y	Υυ	υψιλον	eep' see lun
F	Φφ	φι	fee
X	Χχ	χι	before long or short E sound: khee (almost sounds like s); otherwise more throaty
C	Ψψ	ψι	psee
V	Ωω	ωμεγα	owe may' gah

Diphthongs (vowel combinations)

ια	ah
αι	ay (as in pay)
ιε	yeh
ιο	yoh
οι	ee
υι	ee
ει	ee
ου	oo
αυ	av (as in lava) or off*
ευ	ev or ef*
ηυ	iv or if*

*(1st is as pronunced before vowel or β,γ,δ,ζ,λ,μ,ν,ρ; 2nd as before all other consonants)

γ-nasal (sound changes when γ precedes γ, κ, or χ)

γγ	finger
γκ	tank
γχ	ankh

Declension

Declension refers to the paradigm (pattern) of changes in endings for a word depending upon its case. In Greek there are three types of declensions:

1st (n1)	stems end with a or e
2nd (n2)	stems end with o
3rd (n3)	stems end with consonants

The stem is the "root" or base of a word.

Within a declension there are three different paradigms, according to gender:

a	masculine
b	feminine
c	neuter

In this way, any particular delcension can be designated like so:

n-2a	noun, 2nd declension masculine

Declensions are also divided into two colums by number: singular and plural. Here are the paradigm charts:

n-1a (-η -α )	article	-Singular	article	-Plural
nominative (subj.)	ὁ	-ης	οἱ	-αι
accusative (d.o.)	τον	-ην	τους	-ας
genitive (poss.)	του	-ου	των	-ων
dative (i.o.)	τω	-η	τοις	-αις
vocative (dir. addr.)		-α

	Singular				Plural
n-1b (-η -α )	article	-η	vowel-a	cons.-a	article	—all
nominative (subj.)	ἡ	-η	-α	-α	αἱ	-αι
accusative (d.o.)	την	-ην	-αν	-αν	τας	-ας
genitive (poss.)	της	-ης	-ας	-ης	των	-ων
dative (i.o.)	τη	-η	-α	-η	ταις	-αις

n-2a (-o )	article	-Singular	article	-Plural
nominative (subj.)	ὁ	-ος	οἱ	-οι
accusative (d.o.)	τον	-ον	τους	-ους
genitive (poss.)	του	-ου	των	-ων
dative (i.o.)	τω	-ω	τοις	-οις
vocative (dir. addr.)		-ε		-ι

n-2b (-o )	article	-Singular	article	-Plural
nominative (subj.)	ἡ	-ος	αἱ	-οι
accusative (d.o.)	την	-ον	τας	-ους
genitive (poss.)	της	-ου	των	-ων
dative (i.o.)	τη	-ω	ταις	-οις
vocative (dir. addr.)		-ε

n-2c (-o )	article	-Singular	article	-Plural
nominative (subj.)	το	-ον	τα	-α
accusative (d.o.)	το	-ον	τα	-α
genitive (poss.)	του	-ου	των	-ων
dative (i.o.)	τω	-ω	τοις	-οις

There is a special paradigm for the article (Greek has only one, "the"):

	Singular			Plural
article	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative (subj.)	ὁ	ἡ	το	ὁι	ἁἱ	τα
accusative (d.o.)	τον	την	το	τους	τας	τα
genitive (poss.)	του	της	του	των	των	των
dative (i.o.)	τω	τη	τω	τοις	ταις	τοις

The lexical form (dictionary entry) of a word is always the nom-masc-sing form. So, for example, the lexical form of the article by itself would be ὁ. (But if the article is not by itself, i.e. it appears before a noun, it is parsed according to the noun only, and not the other two genders.) To parse a word is to break it down into its grammatical components: case, gender, number, and lexical form.

Personal Pronouns (I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they)

singular	1st p. m--f--n	2nd p. m--f--n	3rd p. masc.	3rd p. fem.	3rd p. neut.
nominative (subj.)	εγω	συ	αυτ-ος	αυτ-η	αυτ-ο
accusative (d.o.)	εμε	σε	αυτ-ον	αυτ-ην	αυτ-ο
genitive (poss.)	εμου	σου	αυτ-ου	αυτ-ης	αυτ-ου
dative (i.o.)	εμοι	σοι	αυτ-οω	αυτ-η	αυτ-ω

plural	1st p. m--f--n	2nd p. m--f--n	3rd p. masc.	3rd p. fem.	3rd p. neut.
nominative (subj.)	ἡμεις	ὑμεις	αυτ-οι	αυτ-αι	αυτ-α
accusative (d.o.)	ἡμας	ὑμας	αυτ-ους	αυτ-ας	αυτ-ο
genitive (poss.)	ἡμων	ὑμων	αυτ-ων	αυτ-ων	αυτ-ων
dative (i.o.)	ἡμιν	ὑμιν	αυτ-οις	αυτ-αις	αυτ-οις

Reflexive Pronouns (myself, yourself, him-her-itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves)

singular	1st p. masc.	1st p. fem.	2nd p. masc.	2nd p. fem.	3rd p. masc.	3rd p. fem.	3rd p. neut.
nominative (subj.)
accusative (d.o.)	εμαυτ-ον	-ην	σεαυτ-ον	-ην	ἑαυτ-ον	-ην	-ο
genitive (poss.)	εμαυτ-ου	-ης	σεαυτ-ου	-ης	ἑαυτ-ου	-ης	-ου
dative (i.o.)	εμαυτ-ω	-η	σεαυτ-ω	-η	ἑαυτ-ω	-η	-ω

plural	3rd p. masc.	3rd p. fem.	3rd p. neut.
nominative (subj.)
accusative (d.o.)	ἑαυτ-ους	-ας	-α
genitive (poss.)	ἑαυτ-ων	-ων	-ων
dative (i.o.)	ἑαυτ-οις	-αις	-οις

Punctuation

Some words can also be used as a substitute for punctuation, since Greek uses very little or none in the form of characters. For example, the word και can be used as a comma, a dash, or a period. The word λεγον can introduce a quote: Jesus said to them, saying come with me would be translated Jesus said to them, "Come with me".

Also, the "h" sound is not a separate letter but simply a rough breathing mark over a vowel (to the left for capitals), and is shaped like a reverse apostrophe: υἱος. The only other mark is a dieresis, which is two dots over a vowel (such as in προϊστημι,) to indicate that it is to be pronounced separately, that is, not as part of a diphthong. It may or may not also add the "h" sound; we can't tell from the word itself.

ευαγγελιον κατα ιωαννηThe Good News according to John