John 1:15-34

¹⁵John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” ¹⁶For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. ¹⁷For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

¹⁹This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²²Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. ²⁷It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸These things took place 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 on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ³¹I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” ³²John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”