Christmas Plan

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was with God in the beginning.

³All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

⁵That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

⁶There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

⁷He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.

⁸He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.

⁹The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him.

¹¹He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

¹²But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,

¹³who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵(John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’”)

¹⁶Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness,

¹⁷for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side —he has revealed him.

⁴When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

⁵to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

¹⁵“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.

¹⁶This is what you requested from the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’

¹⁷Then the LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well.

¹⁸I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.