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Tuesday, July 29th, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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THE MESSAGE

John 3:20

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Blindness;   Character;   Darkness;   Jesus, the Christ;   Judgment;   Light;   Sin;   Wicked (People);   Word of God;   Thompson Chain Reference - Concealment-Exposure;   Darkness;   Works;   The Topic Concordance - Condemnation;   Evil;   Hate;   Light;   Manifestation;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Blindness, Spiritual;   Character of the Wicked;   Light;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Nicodemus;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Darkness;   Hatred;   Light;   Persecution;   Propitiation;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Backsliding;   Light;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Episcopacy;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Faith;   Nicodemus;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Chambers of Imagery;   Jesus Christ;   Nicodemus;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Gospels;   John, Gospel of;   John, Theology of;   Logos;   Mss;   Nicodemus;   Scribes;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Death of Christ;   Deceit, Deception, Guile;   Discourse;   Hating, Hatred;   Holy Spirit;   Ignorance (2);   Incarnation (2);   Light;   Light and Darkness;   Love;   Obedience (2);   Property (2);   Reproof;   Righteous, Righteousness;   Sifting;   Sin;   Teaching of Jesus;   Truth (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - 30 To Do, Practise;   42 Evil Wicked;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Regeneration;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Tabernacle, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ephesians, Epistle to the;   Evidence;   Johannine Theology, the;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Nicodemus;  

Devotionals:

- My Utmost for His Highest - Devotion for July 18;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For everyone who does evil hates
King James Version (1611)
For euery one that doeth euill, hateth the light, neither commeth to the light, lest his deeds should be reproued.
King James Version
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
English Standard Version
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
New American Standard Bible
"For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed.
New Century Version
All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do.
Amplified Bible
"For every wrongdoer hates the Light, and does not come to the Light [but shrinks from it] for fear that his [sinful, worthless] activities will be exposed and condemned.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Legacy Standard Bible
For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed.
Berean Standard Bible
Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Contemporary English Version
People who do evil hate the light and won't come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done.
Complete Jewish Bible
For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won't be exposed.
Darby Translation
For every one that does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light that his works may not be shewn as they are;
Easy-to-Read Version
Everyone who does evil hates the light. They will not come to the light, because the light will show all the bad things they have done.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For euery man that euill doeth, hateth the light, neither commeth to light, least his deedes should be reprooued.
George Lamsa Translation
For every one who does detested things hates the light, and he does not come to the light, because his works cannot be covered.
Good News Translation
Those who do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light, because they do not want their evil deeds to be shown up.
Lexham English Bible
For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.
Literal Translation
For everyone practicing wickedness hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, that his works may not be exposed.
American Standard Version
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved.
Bible in Basic English
The light is hated by everyone whose acts are evil and he does not come to the light for fear that his acts will be seen.
Hebrew Names Version
For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, for fear that his works would be reproved.
International Standard Version
For everyone who practices wickedness hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his actions may not be exposed.exposed that they are evil">[fn]Job 1:24:13,17; Ephesians 5:13;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
For every one who doeth abominable things hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Murdock Translation
For every one that doeth abominable things, hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For euery one that euyll doeth, hateth the lyght: neither commeth to the light, lest his deedes shoulde be reproued.
English Revised Version
For every one that doeth ill hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved.
World English Bible
For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, for fear that his works would be reproved.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For every one that doth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Weymouth's New Testament
For every wrongdoer hates the light, and does not come to the light, for fear his actions should be exposed and condemned.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For ech man that doith yuele, hatith the liyt; and he cometh not to the liyt, that hise werkis be not repreued.
Update Bible Version
For every one that does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his works should be reproved.
Webster's Bible Translation
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
New English Translation
For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.
New King James Version
For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
New Living Translation
All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
New Life Bible
Everyone who sins hates the Light. He stays away from the Light because his sin would be found out.
New Revised Standard
For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, whosoever doth practise corrupt things, hateth the light, and cometh not unto the light, lest his works should be reproved;
Douay-Rheims Bible
For every one that doth evil hateth the light and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved.
Revised Standard Version
For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For every man that evyll doeth hateth the light: nether commeth to light lest his dedes shuld be reproved.
Young's Literal Translation
for every one who is doing wicked things hateth the light, and doth not come unto the light, that his works may not be detected;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Whosoeuer doth euell, hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, that his dedes shulde not be reproued.
Mace New Testament (1729)
for every one that doth evil, hateth the light, and shunneth the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Simplified Cowboy Version
Sorry people hate the light because they are afraid that people will see them for who they really are.

Contextual Overview

1There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it." 3 Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom." 4 "How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above' talk?" 5Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit. 7"So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above'—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone ‘born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God." 9 Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?" 10Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God? 13"No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. 16"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. 19"This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

every: John 7:7, 1 Kings 22:8, Job 24:13-17, Psalms 50:17, Proverbs 1:29, Proverbs 4:18, Proverbs 5:12, Proverbs 15:12, Amos 5:10, Amos 5:11, Luke 11:45, James 1:23-25

reproved: or, discovered, Ephesians 5:12, Ephesians 5:13

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:10 - quick raw flesh 2 Samuel 13:9 - And Amnon 1 Kings 3:20 - midnight Nehemiah 6:10 - in the night Job 21:14 - for we Job 24:16 - they know Psalms 14:1 - abominable Psalms 25:12 - him Psalms 104:22 - General Proverbs 1:22 - fools Proverbs 2:13 - walk Proverbs 8:36 - he Proverbs 10:21 - fools Proverbs 15:10 - grievous Proverbs 16:30 - shutteth Proverbs 17:16 - seeing Proverbs 21:16 - wandereth Isaiah 5:13 - because Isaiah 6:10 - lest Jeremiah 9:6 - refuse Ezekiel 8:12 - in the Hosea 5:4 - They will not frame their doings Hosea 14:9 - but Zechariah 7:12 - lest Matthew 9:34 - General Matthew 13:13 - General Matthew 13:19 - and understandeth Matthew 24:39 - General Luke 2:34 - set Luke 20:7 - that John 1:5 - General John 5:44 - can John 8:45 - General John 15:18 - General Philippians 1:10 - ye 2 Timothy 3:7 - learning 2 Timothy 3:16 - for reproof Hebrews 3:10 - err 2 Peter 3:5 - they willingly 1 John 1:6 - walk 3 John 1:11 - he that doeth evil

Cross-References

Genesis 2:23
The Man said, "Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man." Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.
Genesis 35:18
With her last breath, for she was now dying, she named him Ben-oni (Son-of-My-Pain), but his father named him Ben-jamin (Son-of-Good-Fortune).
Exodus 2:10
After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh's daughter who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, "I pulled him out of the water."
1 Samuel 1:20
Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, "I asked God for him."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For every one that doth evil, hateth the light,.... Every man, the series of whose life and conversation is evil, hates Christ and his Gospel, cause they make manifest his evil deeds, convict him of them, and rebuke him for them:

neither cometh to the light; to hear Christ preach, or preached; to attend on the Gospel ministration and means of grace:

lest his deeds should be reproved; or discovered, and made manifest, and he be brought to shame, and laid under blame, and advised to part with them, which he cares not to do; see Ephesians 5:11.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That doeth evil - Every wicked person.

Hateth the light - This is true of all wicked men. They choose to practice their deeds of wickedness in darkness. They are afraid of the light, because they could be easily detected. Hence, most crimes are committed in the night. So with the sinner against God. He hates the gospel, for it condemns his conduct, and his conscience would trouble him if it were enlightened.

His deeds should be reproved - To “reprove” here means not only to “detect” or make manifest, but also includes the idea of “condemnation” when his deeds are detected. The gospel would make his wickedness manifest, and his conscience would condemn him. We learn from this verse:

1.That one design of the gospel is “to reprove” men. It convicts them of sin in order that it may afford consolation.

2.That men by nature “hate” the gospel. No man who is a sinner loves it; and no man by nature is disposed to come to it, any more than an adulterer or thief is disposed to come to the daylight, and do his deeds of wickedness there.

  1. The reason why the gospel, is hated is that men are sinners. “Christ is hated because sin is loved.”
  2. The sinner must be convicted or convinced of sin. If it be not in this world, it will be in the next. There is no escape for him; and the only way to avoid condemnation in the world to come is to come humbly and acknowledge sin here, and seek for pardon.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse John 3:20. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light — He who doth vile or abominable things: alluding to the subject mentioned in the preceding verse.

The word φαυλος, evil or vile, is supposed by some to come from the Hebrew פלס phalas, to roll, and so cover oneself in dust or ashes, which was practised in token of humiliation and grief, not only by the more eastern nations, see Job 42:6, but also by the Greeks and Trojans, as appears from Homer, Iliad xviii. l. 26; xxii. l. 414; xxiv. l. 640; compare Virgil, AEn. x. l. 844; and Ovid, Metam. lib. viii. l. 528. From the above Hebrew word, it is likely that the Saxon ful, the English foul, the Latin vilis, and the English vile, are derived. See Parkhurst under φαυλος.

Lest his deeds should be reproved. — Or discovered. To manifest or discover, is one sense of the original word, ελεγχω, in the best Greek writers; and it is evidently its meaning in this place.


 
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