¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees, whose name was Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ²This man came to him by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no-one can do these signs which you do unless God is with him.” ³Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a person is begotten from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot go into his mother's womb a second time and be born again?” ⁵Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a person is begotten from water and from spirit, he cannot go into the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is begotten from flesh is flesh, and that which is begotten from spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not be amazed because I said to you, ‘You must be begotten from above.’ ⁸The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So is everyone who has been begotten from the spirit.” ⁹Nicodemus replied and said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus replied and said to him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and don't you know these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you that we speak what we know, and we testify what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I told you of earthly things, and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you of upper-heavenly things? ¹³And no-one has ascended to heaven except him who came down from heaven, the son of man who is in heaven. ¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the son of man be lifted up, ¹⁵so that everyone who believes in him should not be lost, but have age-abiding life. ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten son, so that everyone who believes in him should not be lost, but have age-abiding life. ¹⁷For God did not send his son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸He who believes in him is not judged, but he who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, but men loved darkness more than the light, for their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does base things hates the light, and he does not come to the light, so that his works are not shown up. ²¹But he who works the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be made manifest, for they have been carried out in God.” ²²After these things, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judaean region, and he spent time there with them, and he had some baptizing done. ²³Now John was also baptizing in the Ainon near Salim, because there was a lot of water there, and people would come and be baptized. ²⁴For John had not yet been thrown in prison. ²⁵Then a dispute arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew concerning cleansing. ²⁶And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the Jordan – of whom you have testified – see how he is having people baptized, and all are coming to him.” ²⁷John answered and said, “Man cannot accept anything unless it has been given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ’, but said, ‘I have been sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly on account of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been fulfilled. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease. ³¹He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. ³²And what he has seen and heard, that is what he testifies of, but no-one accepts his testimony. ³³He who has accepted his testimony has attested that God is true. ³⁴For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For God does not give the spirit by measure to him. ³⁵The father loves the son and has put everything in his hand. ³⁶He who believes in the son has age-abiding life, but he who does not believe in the son will not see life, but God's anger remains on him.”

Reference(s) in Chapter 3: v.14 ↔ Numbers 21:9.