1 Now there was a man from the Pharisees {Pharisaion: religious party}, Nicodemus by name, a ruler over the Jews {Ioudaion: Judean people}.
2 This man went toward Him during the night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God {Theos, Source of Signs} as a teacher {didaskalos: Trusted Instructor}, for no one is able to do these signs that You do unless God is with Him."
3 Jesus {Iesous, Authoritative Speaker} replied to him, "I tell you for certain: unless anyone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God {Theos, Kingdom Ruler}."
4 Nicodemus says to Him {Iesous, Patient Listener}, “How is a person able to be born when he is old {geron: advanced in years}? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
5 Jesus {Iesous, Authoritative Speaker} answered, "I am telling you the truth: unless anyone is born from water and Spirit, he is not able to enter the kingdom of God {Theos, Sovereign King}."
6 What has been brought to birth out of the flesh {sarx: human, mortal realm} is flesh, and what has been brought to birth out of the Spirit {pneuma, Life-Giving Source} is spirit.
7 Do not wonder that I {Iesous, Authoritative Teacher} said to you: it is necessary for you to be born {gennethenai: a new birth} from above.
8 The wind {pneuma: free-moving air} blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know from where it comes or where it goes. So it is with everyone who has been born of the Spirit {pneuma: New-Birth Source}.
9 Nicodemus {Nikodemos: perplexed inquirer} answered and said to Him, "How can these things {tauta: these matters} come about?"
10 Jesus {Iesous, Truth-Revealing One} answered him and said, "You are the teacher {didaskalos: recognized guide} for Israel, yet these things remain unknown to you?"
11 Truly, truly {amen: solemn affirmation}, I say to you that what we know {oidamen: settled knowledge} we speak, and what we have seen we bear witness to, and you do not receive our testimony.
12 If I {Iesous, Authoritative Teacher} spoke to you about things on earth {epigeia: visible, created realities} and you do not believe, how will you believe if I should speak to you about heavenly things?
13 No one has made the ascent to heaven {ouranos: divine realm} except the One who descended from heaven, the Son of Man {huios tou anthropou: messianic figure}.
14 And just as Moses raised the serpent in the wilderness, so it is necessary for the Son of Man {huios tou anthropou, Human Representative} to be raised aloft {hypsothenai: raised for salvation}.
15 So that everyone who believes in Him {Iesous, Lifted-Up Son} may have eternal life {zoen aionion: Life Without End}.
16 For God {Theos, World-Loving Giver} loved the world in this way: He gave His only Son {monogenes: One-of-a-Kind}, so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life.
17 For God {Theos, Saving Initiator} did not send the Son into the world to judge {krine, issue a verdict} the world, but instead so that the world might be saved through Him.
18 The person who believes in Him does not face judgment {krino: forensic verdict}, but the person who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God {huios tou theou, Unique Son}.
19 This, then, is the judgment {krisis: decisive verdict}: the light has arrived in the world, and humans loved the darkness {skotos: moral obscurity} in preference to the light, for their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone who practices wickedness {phaula: morally corrupt acts} hates the light and does not approach the light, so that his deeds may not be exposed {elengchthe: brought under scrutiny}.
21 But the one who does the truth {aletheia: reliable reality} comes to the light, so that his works may be disclosed, because they have been done in God {Theos, Sustaining Presence}.
22 After these things Jesus {Iesous, Itinerant Teacher} and His disciples entered the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and was baptizing {ebaptizen: ritual immersion}.
23 John {Ioannes: water baptizer} was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and people were coming and were being baptized {baptizo: water immersion}.
24 For John {Ioannes: Baptizer and Herald} had not yet been imprisoned {phylake: Place of Confinement}.
25 Therefore, a dispute arose between some of John's {Ioannou: Baptizer} disciples and a Judean concerning purification {katharismou: Ritual Cleansing}.
26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi {rhabbi: honored teacher}, the one who was with you across the Jordan, the one to whom you have borne witness, look, this one is baptizing {baptizei: ritual immersion}, and everyone is making their way to him.”
27 John {Ioannes: Prophetic Witness} answered and said, "A person is not able to receive so much as one thing unless it has been bestowed {dedomenon: already given} on him from heaven."
28 You yourselves are testifying {martureo: public testimony} to me that I said, “I am not the Christ {Christos, Anointed Messiah}, but that I have been sent before Him.”
29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom {nymphios: wedding groom}; but the friend of the bridegroom, who is standing and listening to him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled {peplerotai: brought to fullness}.
30 It is necessary for Him {Iesous, Foremost One} to increase, but for me to decrease {elattousthai: become less}.
31 The one coming from above {anothen, heavenly source} is supreme over all; the one who is from the earth {ge, bounded realm} is from the earth and speaks from the earth; the one coming from heaven is supreme over all.
32 What He {Iesous, Heavenly Witness} has seen and heard, this He bears witness to; and no one receives His testimony {martyria: witness statement}.
33 The one who has received His {Iesous, Heaven-Sent Witness} testimony has authenticated it, showing that God {Theos, Truth Itself} is true.
34 For the one whom God {Theos, Sending Father} sent keeps speaking the words of God, for God gives the Spirit {pneuma: Unmeasured Gift} without limit.
35 The Father {Pater, Sovereign Giver} loves the Son {Huios, Royal Heir}, and has entrusted all things into His hand.
36 The one who believes in the Son {huios: Divine Son} has eternal life; but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life, instead the wrath of God {Theos, Righteous Judge} remains on him.