3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee ¹  named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, ²  3:2 came to Jesus ³  at night ⁴  and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs ⁵  that you do unless God is with him.” 3:3 Jesus replied, ⁶  “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁷  unless a person is born from above, ⁸  he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁹  3:4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” ¹⁰ 

3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹¹  unless a person is born of water and spirit, ¹²  he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, ¹³  and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 3:7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all ¹⁴  be born from above.’ ¹⁵  3:8 The wind ¹⁶  blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ¹⁷ 

3:9 Nicodemus replied, ¹⁸  “How can these things be?” ¹⁹  3:10 Jesus answered, ²⁰  “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? ²¹  3:11 I tell you the solemn truth, ²²  we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but ²³  you people ²⁴  do not accept our testimony. ²⁵  3:12 If I have told you people ²⁶  about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ²⁷  3:13 No one ²⁸  has ascended ²⁹  into heaven except the one who descended from heaven – the Son of Man. ³⁰  3:14 Just as ³¹  Moses lifted up the serpent ³²  in the wilderness, ³³  so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ³⁴  3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” ³⁵ 

3:16 For this is the way ³⁶  God loved the world: He gave his one and only ³⁷  Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish ³⁸  but have eternal life. ³⁹  3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, ⁴⁰  but that the world should be saved through him. 3:18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. ⁴¹  The one who does not believe has been condemned ⁴²  already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only ⁴³  Son of God. 3:19 Now this is the basis for judging: ⁴⁴  that the light has come into the world and people ⁴⁵  loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 3:20 For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. 3:21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God. ⁴⁶ 

3:22 After this, ⁴⁷  Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing. 3:23 John ⁴⁸  was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, ⁴⁹  because water was plentiful there, and people were coming ⁵⁰  to him ⁵¹  and being baptized. 3:24 (For John had not yet been thrown into prison.) ⁵² 

3:25 Now a dispute came about between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew ⁵³  concerning ceremonial washing. ⁵⁴  3:26 So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, ⁵⁵  about whom you testified – see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!”

3:27 John replied, ⁵⁶  “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. 3:28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ ⁵⁷  but rather, ‘I have been sent before him.’ 3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly ⁵⁸  when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. ⁵⁹  3:30 He must become more important while I become less important.” ⁶⁰ 

3:31 The one who comes from above is superior to all. ⁶¹  The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. ⁶²  The one who comes from heaven ⁶³  is superior to all. ⁶⁴  3:32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 3:33 The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful. ⁶⁵  3:34 For the one whom God has sent ⁶⁶  speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly. ⁶⁷  3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority. ⁶⁸  3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects ⁶⁹  the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath ⁷⁰  remains ⁷¹  on him.

6:1 When humankind ¹  began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born ²  to them, ³  6:2 the sons of God ⁴  saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. 6:3 So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in ⁵  humankind indefinitely, ⁶  since ⁷  they ⁸  are mortal. ⁹  They ¹⁰  will remain for 120 more years.” ¹¹ 

6:4 The Nephilim ¹²  were on the earth in those days (and also after this) ¹³  when the sons of God were having sexual relations with ¹⁴  the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. ¹⁵  They were the mighty heroes ¹⁶  of old, the famous men. ¹⁷ 

6:5 But the Lord saw ¹⁸  that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination ¹⁹  of the thoughts ²⁰  of their minds ²¹  was only evil ²²  all the time. ²³  6:6 The Lord regretted ²⁴  that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. ²⁵  6:7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, ²⁶  including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

6:8 But ²⁷  Noah found favor ²⁸  in the sight of ²⁹  the Lord.

6:9 This is the account of Noah. ³⁰ 

Noah was a godly man; he was blameless ³¹ 

among his contemporaries. ³²  He ³³  walked with ³⁴  God. 6:10 Noah had ³⁵  three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6:11 The earth was ruined ³⁶  in the sight of ³⁷  God; the earth was filled with violence. ³⁸  6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed ³⁹  it was ruined, ⁴⁰  for all living creatures ⁴¹  on the earth were sinful. ⁴²  6:13 So God said ⁴³  to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, ⁴⁴  for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy ⁴⁵  them and the earth. 6:14 Make ⁴⁶  for yourself an ark of cypress ⁴⁷  wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover ⁴⁸  it with pitch inside and out. 6:15 This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ⁴⁹  6:16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches ⁵⁰  from the top. ⁵¹  Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks. 6:17 I am about to bring ⁵²  floodwaters ⁵³  on the earth to destroy ⁵⁴  from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. ⁵⁵  Everything that is on the earth will die, 6:18 but I will confirm ⁵⁶  my covenant with you. You will enter ⁵⁷  the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 6:19 You must bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature from all flesh, ⁵⁸  male and female, to keep them alive ⁵⁹  with you. 6:20 Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. ⁶⁰  6:21 And you must take ⁶¹  for yourself every kind of food ⁶²  that is eaten, ⁶³  and gather it together. ⁶⁴  It will be food for you and for them.

6:22 And Noah did all ⁶⁵  that God commanded him – he did indeed. ⁶⁶