14. And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as that metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert.
15. Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life.
16. God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.
17. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!
18. No one who has faith in God's Son will be condemned. But everyone who doesn't have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God's only Son.
19. The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light.
20. People who do evil hate the light and won't come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done.
21. But everyone who lives by the truth will come to the light, because they want others to know that God is really the one doing what they do.
22. Later, Jesus and his disciples went to Judea, where he stayed with them for a while and was baptizing people.
23-24. John had not yet been put in jail. He was at Aenon near Salim, where there was a lot of water, and people were coming there for John to baptize them.
25. John's followers got into an argument with a Jewish man about a ceremony of washing.
26. They went to John and said, “Rabbi, you spoke about a man when you were with him east of the Jordan. He is now baptizing people, and everyone is going to him.”
27. John replied:No one can do anything unless God in heaven allows it.
28. Surely you remember how I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am only the one sent ahead of him.
29. At a wedding the groom is the one who gets married. The best man is glad just to be there and to hear the groom's voice. That's why I am so glad.