Final Witness of the Baptist. 22^* After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing.^q 23John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,^* because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, 24^{* r} for John had not yet been imprisoned. 25Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew^* about ceremonial washings. 26So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”^s 27John answered and said, “No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven.^t 28You yourselves can testify that I said [that] I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him.^u 29The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man,^* who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete.^v 30He must increase; I must decrease.”^w

The One from Heaven.^* 31The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven [is above all].^x 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.^y 33Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.^z 34For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift^* of the Spirit. 35The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.^a 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.^b

1^* Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2(although Jesus himself was not baptizing, just his disciples),^* 3he left Judea and returned to Galilee.

Paul in Athens.^* 16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he grew exasperated at the sight of the city full of idols. 17So he debated in the synagogue with the Jews and with the worshipers, and daily in the public square with whoever happened to be there. 18Even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers^* engaged him in discussion. Some asked, “What is this scavenger trying to say?” Others said, “He sounds like a promoter of foreign deities,” because he was preaching about ‘Jesus’ and ‘Resurrection.’ 19They took him and led him to the Areopagus^* and said, “May we learn what this new teaching is that you speak of?^g 20For you bring some strange notions to our ears; we should like to know what these things mean.” 21Now all the Athenians as well as the foreigners residing there used their time for nothing else but telling or hearing something new.

Nicodemus.^* 1^a Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.^* 2He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.”^b 3Jesus answered and said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born^* from above.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?”^c 5Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.^d 6What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.^e 7Do not be amazed that I told you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind^* blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”^f 9Nicodemus answered and said to him, “How can this happen?” 10Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? 11Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.^g 12If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?^h