John 3:15-31

¹⁵As a result, everyone who believes/trusts in me will have eternal life.”

¹⁶God loved us people MTY in the world so much that he gave his only Son as a sacrifice for us, in order that everyone who believes in him would not be separated from God forever. Instead, they would have eternal life.

¹⁷When God sent his Son into the world, his purpose was not to punish the people in MTY the world for their sins. Instead, he sent him in order that they might be saved by him {he might save them} from being ◄ guilty/punished► for their sins.

¹⁸Everyone who trusts in his Son, God says that they will not be punished {that he will not punish them}. But God has already said that everyone who does not trust in his Son will be punished {that he will punish everyone who does not trust in his Son}, because they have not trusted in what his only Son has done for them.

¹⁹The one who was like a light MET to reveal God's truth to us came into the world. But people loved doing what was evil, like darkness MET is evil, instead of loving the one who was like a light. That is the reason God will judge people and condemn them.

²⁰Everyone who does what is evil hates the one who is like a light, and they will not come to the one who is like a light, because it would be shown { the one who is like a light would show} that their deeds are evil, and he would rebuke them.

²¹But those who live according to God's truth come to the one who is like a light, in order that it may be seen clearly {that people may see clearly} that the things they have done, they did them because they have depended on God.

²²Some time later Jesus and we disciples went to Judea district. He stayed with us there and directed us as we baptized people.

²³John the Baptizer was also baptizing people. He was doing that at Aenon village near Salim town in Samaria district, because there were many springs in that area. Many people kept coming to John and were being baptized {he was baptizing them}.

²⁴That happened before John was put {they put John} in prison.

²⁵Then some of John's disciples and a certain Jew started arguing about the Jewish rituals of washing things to make them acceptable to God.

²⁶Then those disciples went to John and said to him, “Teacher, do you remember the man who was with you when you were baptizing people on the other side of the Jordan River? He is the one you were telling us about. Well, now he is baptizing people, and many people are going to him instead of coming to us!”

²⁷John replied, “A person can become important only if God MTY permits it. So we should not be jealous about Jesus being popular!

²⁸You yourselves can verify what I said. I told you that I am not ◄the Messiah/God's promised king►. Instead, I told you that I was sent {that God sent me} to prepare the way for him.

²⁹Let me illustrate MET: He is like a ◄ bridegroom/man who is being married►, and I am like his friend. The friend of the bridegroom stands there and waits for him to come. That friend is very happy when he hears the bridegroom's voice when he arrives. Similarly, I am very happy about what you have told me.

³⁰It is necessary for Jesus to become more important by making more disciples than I have, and for me to become less important.”

³¹Jesus came from heaven. He is more important than anyone else. Those who are born from parents here on earth MTY are just humans, and they speak about things that happen here on the earth. But since Jesus came from heaven, his words are more important than anyone else's.