John 1:15-30

15John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”

16From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and1 is at the Father’s side,2 has made Him known.

19And this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, “I am not the Christ.”

21“Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

22So they said to him, “Who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet:

24Then the Pharisees who had been sent 25asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26“I baptize with4 water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know. 27He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

28All this happened at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’