Trying something a little different from my usual way of translating. Felt like the Lord wanted me to post it here:
1
The Message was at the start, and the Message was facing God, and the Message was God. This Message was facing God at the start. Everything happened through Him, and not a single thing which has happened happened apart from Him. By means of Him was life, and that life was the light of human beings; and that life shines in the darkness, and the darkness didn’t seize it.
A person happened, having been sent out from God, his name is Yohanan. This person came for a testimony so that he would testify about the light, so that everyone would believe by means of him. That person was not the light, but existed so he would testify about the light. The light was real coming into the world, which light illuminates every human being. He was within the universe, and the universe happened by means of Him, and the universe didn’t recognize Him. He came into His own things, and His own people didn’t take Him to themselves. Yet as many as got Him, He gave to them the authority to become children of God, to those who put their trust into His name, they weren’t born from blood neither out of a biological drive nor out of a man’s wish, but from God.
And the Message became flesh and blood and camped out among us, and we watched the opinion everyone had of Him, a reputation like the One of a Kind at the side of the Father, full of charity and truth. Yohanan testifies about Him and had cried out saying, “This person was the one whom I said, ‘The person coming behind me has become in front of me, because He was first before me.’ Because from His sum we all also got charity in place of charity, because though the Torah was given through Moses, charity and truth happened through Yeshua the Christ. No one had seen God at any time, yet that one of a kind God who started off into the embrace of the Father has explained Him.
And this is the testimony of Yohanan, when the Iudaeans sent priests and Levites out from Hierosoluma so that they would question him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and didn’t deny it, and confessed that “I am not the Christ.”And they questioned him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he says, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet then?” And he answered, “No.” They say then to him, “Who are you? What are you saying about yourself then; so that we might give a response to those sending us?” He said, “I am a voice shouting in the desert, ‘Straighten the path of the Lord,’ just like Isaiah the Prophet said.” And they were on a mission from the Pharisees. And they questioned him and said to him, “What are you baptizing for then if you aren’t the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” Yohanan answered them saying, “I am baptizing with water, yet a person stood in the middle of you whom you don’t recognize; the one coming behind me of whom I’m not worthy so that I would untie His sandal straps.” These things happened in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan.
By the next day, he looks at Yeshua coming towards him and he says, “Look, God's sacrificial lamb who removes the Hamartia Disorder from the Universe. This guy is about whom I said, ‘a man comes behind me who has become in front of me, because he was first before me.’ And I didn’t see Him, but I came baptizing with water so that He would be made visible to Israel for this reason.” And Yohanan testified saying that, “I have watched the Spirit descending like a pigeon out of the sky upon Him and making its home there. This person is the one baptizing with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
Again on the next day, Yohanan was standing there as well as two from among his disciples, and having looked at Yeshua walking he says to them, “Look, the lamb of God.” And the two disciples heard him talking and followed Yeshua. And turning around, Yeshua, also having watched them following, says, “What are you looking for?” And these guys said to Him, “Rabbi (which is translated, “Teacher”), where do you make your home?” He says to them, “Come and see.” They then came and saw where He makes His home and they made their home at His side that day. It was like the tenth hour from dawn. Andreas, one of the two who heard at Yohanan’s side and followed Him, was the brother of Shimon Petros. This guy finds his own brother Shimon first and says to him, “We found the Messiah,” (which is translated, “the Christ”). He led him to Yeshua. Having looked at him, Yeshua said, “You are Shimon Bar-Yonah. You will be called ‘Kefa’ (which is translated, ‘Petros’).”
On the next day, He wished to come out into the Galilee and find Filippos. And Yeshua says to him, “Follow Me.” And Philip was from Bethsaida, from the town of Andreas and Petros. Filippos finds Nathanael and says to him, “We found the guy whom Moses and the prophets wrote about in the Torah, Yeshua Bar-Yosef from Nazareth.”And Nathanael said to him, “Is anything good capable of being from Nazareth?” Filippos says to him, “Come and look.” Yeshua saw Nathanael coming to Him and says about him, “Look, a real Israeli within whom there isn’t any deceit.” Nathanael says to Him, “Where do you know me from?” Yeshua responded and said to him, “Before Filippos’ calling to you I saw you being under the fig tree.” Nathanael responded to Him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God? You are the King of Israel?” Yeshua answered and said to him, “Do you believe it when I said to you I saw you underneath the fig tree? You will see bigger things than these.” And He says to him, “Amen, amen I’m telling you, you will see the sky having opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Adam.”
2
And on the third day a wedding happened in Kana of the Galilee, and the mother of Yeshua was there; and both Yeshua and His disciples were invited into the wedding. And with them running short on wine the mother of Yeshua says to Him, “They don’t have wine.” Yeshua says to her, “What do you want Me to do about it, woman? My hour hasn’t come yet.” His mother says to the servants, “Do whatever He may tell you.” And there were six stone water jars, in line with the cleansing of the Iudaeans, lying there holding up to two or three measurements [between 20 and 30 gallons] worth of water. Yeshua says to them, “Fill the water jars with water.” And they filled them up to the top. And He says to them, “Draw some right now and bring it to the person presiding over the banquet.” And they brought some. And as the person presiding over the banquet tasted the water having become wine and didn’t know where it is from (yet the servants who had drawn the water knew), the person presiding over the banquet shouts to the groom and says to him, “Every sentient being places the good wine first, and when they are intoxicated the lesser quality stuff. You have kept the good wine until now.” Yeshua did this first of the signs in Kana of the Galilee and made His reputation visible, and His disciples put their trust into Him.
After this, He went down into K’fer-Nahum and His mother and brothers and His disciples, and didn’t stay put there for many days.
And the Passover of the Iudaeans was close, and Yeshua journeyed upwards into Hierosoluma. And He found sitting within the Temple those selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, as well as those exchanging currency. And having made a flagellum out of small ropes, He threw everyone out of the Temple along with the sheep and the cattle, and with those exchanging currency He poured out the coins and overturned the tables, and to those selling the pigeons He said, “Take these things away from here! Don’t make the house of My Father the home of a trading exchange!” His disciples were reminded that it had been written, “Jealousy for Your house consumes Me.” The Iudaeans responded then and said to Him, “What sign from God are you going to show us because You are doing these things?” Yeshua responded and said to them, “Undo this shrine and within three days I will raise it.” The Iudaeans then said, “It took forty six years to construct this shrine, and You would raise it within three days?” Yet that One was talking about His bodily shrine. When He was then raised from the dead, His disciples were reminded that He was saying this, and they believed the Scripture and the message which Yeshua said.
And as He was among the people of Hierosoluma at the Passover during the holy day, many put their trust into His name watching His signs from God which he was doing. Yet Yeshua Himself didn’t trust Himself to them because of Him knowing everyone, and because He didn’t have a need for anyone to testify about the human being, because He recognized what was inside the human being.
3
And a person was from the Pharisees—Nikodemos is his name, a chieftain of the Jewish people—this guy came to Him by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher having come from God, because no one can do these signs from God which you are doing should God not be with him.” Yeshua responded and said to him, “Amen amen I am telling you if someone hasn’t been born again from above, he can’t see the kingdom of God.” Nikodemos says to Him, “How is it possible for a human being to be born again being old and infirm? He can’t go into the belly of his mother a second time, is it?” Yeshua answered, “Amen amen I tell you, if someone isn’t born from water and wind, he can’t come into the kingdom of God. What has been born from the biological is biological, and what has been born from the wind is wind. Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘There is a need for you to be born again from above.’ The wind blows where it wills and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from, or where it’s going. So is every person having been born from the wind.” Nikodemos responded and said to Him, “How is it possible for these things to happen?” Yeshua answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you don’t recognize these things? Amen amen I tell you that We talk what We know and We testify what We have seen, and you folks don’t accept Our testimony. If I told you folks about the things upon the earth and you don’t believe it, how would you folks believe it if I should tell you about the things occurring in the heavenly realm? And no one has gone up into the heavenly realm if not the person coming down from the heavenly realm, the Son of Adam who started off in the heavenly realm. And just like Moses raised the snake in the desert high, so there is a need for the Son of Adam to be raised high, so that every single person who puts their trust into Him would possess the life of the Eternal One. Because God cared about and had compassion on the universe in this way, as He also gave His One of a Kind Son, so that every single person who puts their trust into Him would not be destroyed but would have the life of the Eternal One. Because God hadn’t send out His Son into the universe so that He would judge the universe, but so that the universe would be rescued through Him. The person putting his trust into Him isn’t judged, yet the one not placing his trust into Him has already decided for himself, because he hasn’t put his trust into the name of the One of a Kind Son of God. And this is the decision, that the light had come into the universe and the sentient beings loved the darkness more than the light because the things they achieved were deranged. Because every person bringing about foul things hates the light and doesn’t come towards the light, so that the things they achieve won’t be brought into the light; yet the person engaging with the truth comes towards the light, so that the things he achieves would be made visible that they are having been accomplished by means of God.”
With these things Yeshua and His disciples came into the country of Iudaea and passed the time there with them and He baptized them. And Yohanan was also baptizing in an Ayin [wellspring] close to Salim, because there was a lot of water there, and they were beside them and were baptizing, because Yohanan hadn’t yet been thrown into prison. An investigative debate happened then out of the disciples of Yohanan with those of the Iudaeans about cleansing. And they came to Yohanan and said to him, “Rabbi, the guy who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, about whom you had testified; look, this guy is baptizing and everyone is coming to Him.” Yohanan answered and said, “A human being can’t accept anything at all if it hasn’t been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear witness to me that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but that, ‘I have been sent out ahead of that one.’ The one possessing the bride is the groom, and the friend of the groom, having stood and hearing him, rejoices with joy because of the sound of the groom. This joy of mine then has been filled to the top. There is a need for that One to grow, and for me to shrink.
“The person coming from above is above everything. The person who is from the earth is from the earth and talks from the earth. The person who comes from heaven is above everything. What He has seen and heard, this is what He bears witness to, and no one accepts His witness. The person who does accept His witness He stamps with a seal because God is honest. Because the person whom God sent out talks the speech of God, because He doesn’t just measure out the Spirit to Him [like He does with the prophets]. The Father loves the Son and has given everything into His hand. The person who puts his trust into the Son possesses the life of the Eternal One, yet the person unconvinced by the Son doesn’t see that life, but the mood God is in stays put against him.”
No comments:
Post a Comment