John 3:28

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’

King James Version (1611)
Ye your selues beare me witnesse, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

King James Version
Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

English Standard Version
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.'

New American Standard Bible
"You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent ahead of Him.'

New Century Version
You yourselves heard me say, ‘I am not the Christ, but I am the one sent to prepare the way for him.'

Amplified Bible
"You yourselves are my witnesses that I stated, 'I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),' but, 'I have [only] been sent ahead of Him [as His appointed forerunner and messenger to announce and proclaim His coming].'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent ahead of Him.'

Legacy Standard Bible
You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,' but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.'

Berean Standard Bible
You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.'

Contemporary English Version
You surely remember how I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am only the one sent ahead of him.

Complete Jewish Bible
You yourselves can confirm that I did not say I was the Messiah, but that I have been sent ahead of him.

Darby Translation
Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him.

Easy-to-Read Version
You yourselves heard me say, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only the one God sent to prepare the way for him.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
Yee your selues are my witnesses, that I sayde, I am not that Christ, but that I am sent before him.

George Lamsa Translation
You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but only a messenger to go before him.

Good News Translation
You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.'

Lexham English Bible
You yourselves testify about me that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I am sent before that one.'

Literal Translation
You yourselves witness to me that I said, I am not the Christ, but that having been sent, I am going before that One.

American Standard Version
Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him.

Bible in Basic English
You yourselves give witness that I said, I am not the Christ. What I said was, I am sent before the Christ.

Hebrew Names Version
You yourselves testify that I said, 'I am not the Messiah,' but, 'I have been sent before him.'

International Standard Version
You yourselves are mymy">[fn] witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Christ,[fn] but I have been sent ahead of him.'Malachi 3:1; Mark 1:2; Luke 1:17; John 1:20,27;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
You bear me witness that I said, I am not the Meshicha, but I am an apostle [fn] before him.

Murdock Translation
Ye are witnesses for me, that I said: I am not the Messiah, but am sent to go before him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Ye your selues are witnesses, howe that I sayde I am not Christe, but am sent before hym.

English Revised Version
Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him.

World English Bible
You yourselves testify about me, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before him.'

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I am sent before him.

Weymouth's New Testament
You yourselves can bear witness to my having said, `I am not the Christ,' but `I am His appointed forerunner.'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Ye you silf beren witnessyng to me, that Y seide, Y am not Crist, but that Y am sent bifore hym.

Update Bible Version
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Ye yourselves bear me testimony, that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

New English Translation
You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,' but rather, ‘I have been sent before him.'

New King James Version
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, "I am not the Christ,' but, "I have been sent before Him.'

New Living Translation
You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.'

New Life Bible
You heard the words that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.'

New Revised Standard
You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Ye yourselves, unto me, bear witness, that, I, said - I, am not the Christ; but - I am sent before, That One.

Douay-Rheims Bible
You yourselves do bear me witness that I said that I am not Christ, but that I am sent before him.

Revised Standard Version
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Ye youre selves are witnesses how that I sayde: I am not Christ but am sent before him.

Young's Literal Translation
ye yourselves do testify to me that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am having been sent before him;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Ye youreselues are my witnesses, how that I sayde, I am not Christ, but am sent before him.

Mace New Testament (1729)
you yourselves can bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but was only sent before him:

Simplified Cowboy Version
Don't forget that I told y'all that I ain't the Top Hand. I'm just bustin' a trail for him.

Contextual Overview

²²After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John's disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, "Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he's now competing with us. He's baptizing, too, and everyone's going to him instead of us." ²⁷John answered, "It's not possible for a person to succeed—I'm talking about eternal success—without heaven's help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his ‘best man'—that's me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start? "That's why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines. "The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth. "The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that." ³⁰Born from Above There 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." 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." "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?" Jesus 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. "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." Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?" Jesus 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? "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. "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. "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." After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John's disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, "Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he's now competing with us. He's baptizing, too, and everyone's going to him instead of us." John answered, "It's not possible for a person to succeed—I'm talking about eternal success—without heaven's help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his ‘best man'—that's me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start? "That's why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines. ³¹"The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth. ³⁴"The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I said: John 1:20, John 1:25, John 1:27

but: John 1:23, Malachi 3:1, Malachi 4:4, Malachi 4:5, Matthew 3:3, Matthew 3:11, Matthew 3:12, Mark 1:2, Mark 1:3, Luke 1:16, Luke 1:17, Luke 1:76, Luke 3:4-6

Reciprocal: Mark 1:7 - General Luke 3:15 - mused John 1:6 - a man John 1:8 - that light Acts 3:12 - or Acts 18:5 - was Christ Acts 19:4 - John 1 Corinthians 1:15 - I

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Ye yourselves bear me witness,.... In what they now said, and referred to, in describing Christ, as he to whom John bore witness; and he appeals to them for what he said in their presence, and before all the people in that testimony:

that I said I am not the Christ; see John 1:19; wherefore, if he, who is the Christ, is now come, and teaches, and baptizes, and has the greatest number of followers, it is not to be wondered at; and much less to be envied; but rather to be rejoiced at. For John, by repeating what he had before said, that he was not the Christ, suggests, that Jesus was; and therefore was superior to him in office, honour, and usefulness, who was only his harbinger and forerunner, as follows:

but I am sent before him; to prepare his way, to make straight his paths, to proclaim his coming, and kingdom, being at hand; and that the expectations of men may be raised, and they may be ready to receive him when come: and hereby the end of John's office, and ministry, had its accomplishment. The Ethiopic version adds, "to preach him".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bear me witness - You remember that at first I told you I was not the Messiah. As he had been “witness” to Jesus - as he came for no other end but to point him out to the Jews, they ought not to suppose that he was his superior. It was but reasonable to expect that Christ himself would be more successful than his forerunner. “I came, not to form a separate party, a special sect, but to prepare the way that he might be more successful, and that the people might be ready for his coming, and that he might have the success which he has actually met with. You should rejoice, therefore, at that success, and not envy it, for ‘his success’ is the best proof of the greatness of my word, and of its ‘success also.’”