American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
For while we were yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly.
But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth hath eternal life.
And it came to pass when Jesus had finished these words, he departed from Galilee, and came into the borders of Judæa beyond the Jordan;
and great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there.
And there came unto him {Many authorities, some ancient insert the.}Pharisees, trying him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
And he answered and said, Have ye not read, {Genesis 1:27; verse 2.}that he who {Some ancient authorities read created.}made them from the beginning made them male and female,
and said, {Genesis 2:24.}For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?
So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
They say unto him, {Deuteronomy 24:1-4.}Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away?
He saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath not been so.
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, {Some ancient authorities read saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adulteress: as in chapter 5:32.}except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: {The following words, to the end of the verse, are omitted by some ancient authorities.}and he that marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery.
The disciples say unto him, If the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.
But he said unto them, Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.
For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should lay his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
But Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for {Or, of such is}to such belongeth the kingdom of heaven.
And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.
And behold, one came to him and said, {Some ancient authorities read Good Teacher. See Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18.}Teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
And he said unto him, {Some ancient authorities read Why callest thou me good? None is good save one, even God. See Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19.}Why askest thou me concerning that which is good? One there is who is good: but if thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments.
He saith unto him, Which? And Jesus said, {Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20.}Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Honor thy father and thy mother; and, {Leviticus 19:18.}Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
The young man saith unto him, All these things have I observed: what lack I yet?
Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sorrowful; for he was one that had great possessions.
And Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And when the disciples heard it, they were astonished exceedingly, saying, Who then can be saved?
And Jesus looking upon them said to them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Then answered Peter and said unto him, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee; what then shall we have?
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, {Many ancient authorities add or wife: as in Luke 18:29.}or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive {Some ancient authorities read manifold.}a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.
But many shall be last that are first; and first that are last.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
the same came unto him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born {Or, from above See verse 31, chapter 19:11; James 1:17; 3:15,17}anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born {Or, from above See verse 31, chapter 19:11; James 1:17; 3:15,17}anew.
{Or, The Spirit breatheth}The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?
And no one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, {Many ancient authorities omit who is in heaven.}who is in heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;
that whosoever {Or, believeth in him may have}believeth may in him have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.
He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
For every one that {Or, practiseth}doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be {Or, convicted}reproved.
But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, {Or, because}that they have been wrought in God.
After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.
And John also was baptizing in Ænon near to Salim, because there {Greek: were many waters}was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.
For John was not yet cast into prison.
There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purifying.
And they came unto John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven.
Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him.
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, that standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is made full.
He must increase, but I must decrease.
He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh: {Some ancient authorities read he that cometh from heaven beareth witness of what he hath seen and heard.}he that cometh from heaven is above all.
What he hath seen and heard, of that he beareth witness; and no man receiveth his witness.
He that hath received his witness hath set his seal to this, that God is true.
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for he giveth not the Spirit by measure.
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that {Or, believeth not}obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
which also {Or, in the antitype}after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the {Or, inquiry Or, appeal}interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;
For we know that if the earthly house of our {Or, bodily frame Compare Wisd. 9:15}tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven:
if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
For indeed we that are in this {Or, bodily frame Compare Wisd. 9:15}tabernacle do groan, {Or, being burdened, in that we would not be unclothed, but would be clothed upon.}being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life.
Now he that wrought us for this very thing is God, who gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord
(for we walk by faith, not by {Greek: appearance.}sight);
we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
Wherefore also we {Greek: are ambitious. See Romans 15:20 margin.}make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.
For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done {Greek: though.}in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.
We are not again commending ourselves unto you, but speak as giving you occasion of glorying on our behalf, that ye may have wherewith to answer them that glory in appearance, and not in heart.
For whether we {Or, were}are beside ourselves, it is unto God; or whether we are of sober mind, it is unto you.
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died;
and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again.
Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more.
Wherefore if any man is in Christ, {Or, there is a new creation}he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.
But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation;
to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having {Or, placed in us}committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.
Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.