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.

13and picked up the mantle which had fallen from Elijah. Then he went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan. 14Wielding the mantle which had fallen from Elijah, he struck the water and said, “The LORD, the God of Elijah—where is he now?”^* He struck the water: it divided, and he crossed over.

Elisha’s Journey. 15The guild prophets in Jericho, who were on the other side, saw him and said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They went to meet him, bowing to the ground before him.^d 16They said, “Among your servants are fifty brave men. Let them go in search of your master. Perhaps the spirit of the LORD has lifted him up and left him on some mountain or in some valley.” He answered, “Do not send them.”^e 17But they kept urging him, until he was embarrassed and said, “Send them.” So they sent the fifty men, who searched for three days without finding him.^f 18When they returned to Elisha in Jericho, where he was staying, he said to them, “Did I not tell you not to go?”

19^g The inhabitants of the city complained to Elisha, “The site of the city is fine indeed, as my lord can see, but the water is bad and the land sterile.” 20Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt into it.” When they had brought it to him, 21he went out to the spring and threw salt into it, saying, “Thus says the LORD: I have purified this water. Never again shall death or sterility come from it.” 22And the water has stayed pure even to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.

23^* From there Elisha went up to Bethel. While he was on the way, some little boys came out of the city and jeered at him: “Go away, baldy; go away, baldy!” 24The prophet turned and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the children to pieces.

25From there he went to Mount Carmel, and returned to Samaria from there.

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