3. Jesus replied, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above before you can see God's kingdom!”
4. Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”
5. Jesus answered:I tell you for certain that before you can get into God's kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit.
6. Humans give life to their children. Yet only God's Spirit can change you into a child of God.
7. Don't be surprised when I say that you must be born from above.
8. Only God's Spirit gives new life. The Spirit is like the wind that blows wherever it wants to. You can hear the wind, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going.
9. “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
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.
30. Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.
31. God's Son comes from heaven and is above all others. Everyone who comes from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all others.
32. He speaks about what he has seen and heard, and yet no one believes him.
33. But everyone who does believe him has shown that God is truthful.
34. The Son was sent to speak God's message, and he has been given the full power of God's Spirit.
35. The Father loves the Son and has given him everything.
36. Everyone who has faith in the Son has eternal life. But no one who rejects him will ever share in that life, and God will be angry with them for ever.