⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, ^[a](A)preaching a baptism of repentance for the ^(B)forgiveness of sins.

⁸ I baptized you ^[a]with water; but He will baptize you ^[b]with the Holy Spirit.”

^16 (A)John responded to them all, saying, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but He is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the straps of His sandals; He will baptize you ^[a]with the Holy Spirit and fire.

²⁶ John answered them, saying, “^(A)I baptize ^[a]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is ^(B)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the ^(C)strap of His sandal.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany ^(D)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, ^(E)the Lamb of God who ^(F)takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘^(G)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be ^[b]my superior, ^(H)because He existed before me.’ ³¹ And I did not recognize ^[c]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing ^[d]in water.” ³² And John ^(I)testified, saying, “^(J)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ And I did not recognize ^[e]Him, but He who sent me to baptize ^[f]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, ^(K)this is the One who baptizes ^[g]in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is ^(L)the ^[h]Son of God.”

Jesus’ Public Ministry; First Converts

³⁵ Again ^(M)the next day John was standing ^[i]with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, ^(N)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “^(O)Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹ He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day; it was about the ^[j]tenth hour. ^40 (P)One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the ^(Q)Messiah” (which translated means ^[k]Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^[l](R)John; you shall be called ^(S)Cephas” (which is translated ^[m](T)Peter).

^43 (U)The next day He ^[n]decided to go to ^(V)Galilee, and He *found ^(W)Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “^(X)Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(Y)Philip was from ^(Z)Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ^45 (AA)Philip *found ^(AB)Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(AC)Moses wrote in the Law, and ^(AD)the prophets also wrote: Jesus ^(AE)the son of Joseph, from ^(AF)Nazareth!” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “^(AG)Can anything good be from Nazareth?” ^(AH)Philip *said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Here is truly an ^(AI)Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before ^(AJ)Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “^(AK)Rabbi, You are ^(AL)the Son of God; You are the ^(AM)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see ^(AN)heaven opened and ^(AO)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(AP)the Son of Man.”