John 3:33

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true.

King James Version (1611)
He that hath receiued his testimonie, hath set to his seale, that God is true.

King James Version
He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

English Standard Version
Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.

New American Standard Bible
"The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true.

New Century Version
Whoever accepts what he says has proven that God is true.

Amplified Bible
"Whoever receives His testimony has set his seal [of approval] to this: God is true [and he knows that God cannot lie].

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.

Legacy Standard Bible
He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.

Berean Standard Bible
Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful.

Contemporary English Version
But everyone who does believe him has shown that God is truthful.

Complete Jewish Bible
Whoever does accept what he says puts his seal on the fact that God is true,

Darby Translation
He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true;

Easy-to-Read Version
Whoever accepts what he says has given proof that God speaks the truth.

Geneva Bible (1587)
He that hath receiued his testimonie, hath sealed that God is true.

George Lamsa Translation
He who accepts his testimony, has set his seal that God is true.

Good News Translation
But whoever accepts his message confirms by this that God is truthful.

Lexham English Bible
The one who accepts his testimony has attested that God is true.

Literal Translation
The one receiving His testimony has sealed that God is true.

American Standard Version
He that hath received his witness hath set his seal to this, that God is true.

Bible in Basic English
He who so takes his witness has made clear his faith that God is true.

Hebrew Names Version
He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.

International Standard Version
The person who has accepted his testimony has acknowledged that God is truthful.true">[fn]Romans 3:4; 1 John 5:10;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
But he who hath received his testimony, hath sealed that the true Aloha is he. [fn]

Murdock Translation
But he that receiveth his testimony, hath set his seal, that God is true.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He that hath receaued his testimonie, hath set to his seale, that God is true.

English Revised Version
He that hath received his witness hath set his seal to this, that God is true.

World English Bible
He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal, that God is true.

Weymouth's New Testament
Any man who has received His testimony has solemnly declared that God is true.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But he that takith his witnessyng, hath confermyd that God is sothefast.

Update Bible Version
He that has received his witness has set his seal to [this], that God is true.

Webster's Bible Translation
He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true.

New English Translation
The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful.

New King James Version
He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.

New Living Translation
Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true.

New Life Bible
Whoever receives His words proves that God is true.

New Revised Standard
Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
He that hath received his witness, hath set seal - that, God, is, true.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

Revised Standard Version
he who receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
How be it he that hath receaved hys testimonye hath set to his seale that God is true.

Young's Literal Translation
he who is receiving his testimony did seal that God is true;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But he that receaueth it, hath set to his seale, that God is true.

Mace New Testament (1729)
he that hath received his testimony, hath set his seal to this, that God is true.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Anyone who believes what he says knows God's truth.

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

hath set: Romans 3:3, Romans 3:4, Romans 4:18-21, 2 Corinthians 1:18, Titus 1:1, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:17, 1 John 5:9, 1 John 5:10

Reciprocal: Psalms 19:7 - testimony Psalms 81:8 - Hear Proverbs 4:10 - my Isaiah 8:16 - the testimony Jeremiah 32:10 - and sealed John 3:32 - and no John 7:28 - is true John 17:8 - received 1 Thessalonians 5:24 - Faithful

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He that hath received his testimony,.... For there was here and there one that did, who believed in him as the Messiah, and embraced his Gospel, and submitted to his ordinances, and truly and sincerely followed him: and for the encouragement of such, it is said,

hath set to his seal that God is true; faithful in fulfilling the promises he has made concerning the Messiah, and his coming: he firmly believes that God is true to every word of his, and will make good every promise; and this he seals, ratifies, and confirms by his embracing the testimony of Christ; whereas, on the contrary, he that believes not makes God a liar, than which, nothing can be more reproachful to him, 1 John 5:10. The Jews have a saying z that "the seal of the blessed God is truth". The Arabic version renders it, "he is already sealed, because God is true"; and the Ethiopic version, "God hath sealed him, because he is true"; namely, with his holy Spirit; see 2 Corinthians 1:22.

z T. Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol. 18. 1. & T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 64. 1. & Yoma, fol. 69. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He that hath received his testimony - Hath received and fully believed his doctrine. Hath yielded his heart to its influence.

Hath set to his seal - To “seal” an instrument is to make it sure; to acknowledge it as ours; to pledge our varacity that it is true and binding, as when a man seals a bond, a deed, or a will. Believing a doctrine, therefore, in the heart, is expressed by “sealing it,” or by believing it we express our firm conviction that it is true, and that God who has spoken it is true. We vouch for the veracity of God, and assume as our own the proposition that it is the truth of God.

God is true - Is faithful; is the author of the system of doctrines, and will fulfill all that he has promised. We learn here:

1.That to be a true believer is something more than to hold a mere speculative belief of the truth.

2.That to be a believer is to “pledge ourselves” for the truth, to seal it as our own, to adopt it, to choose it, and solemnly assent to it, as a man does in regard to an instrument of writing that is to convey his property, or that is to dispose of it when he dies.

1. Every Christian is a witness for God, and it is his business to show by his life that he believes that God is true to his threatenings and to his promises. See the notes at Isaiah 43:10.
2. It is a solemn act to become a Christian. It is a surrender of all to God, or giving away body, soul, and spirit to him, with a belief that he is true, and alone is able to save.
3. The man that does not do this - that is not willing to pledge his belief that God is true, sets to his seal that God is a liar and unworthy of confidence,1 John 5:10; 1 John 5:10.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 33. Hath set to his seal — That is hath hereby confirmed the truth of the testimony which he has borne; as a testator sets his seal to an instrument in order to confirm it, and such instrument is considered as fully confirmed by having the testator's seal affixed to it, so I, by taking up this testimony of Christ, and proclaiming it to the Jews, have fully confirmed it, as I know it to be a truth; which knowledge I have from the immediate inspiration of the Holy Spirit. See John 1:33-34.