new birth

³Jesus responded and said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one has been reborn anew, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷So if anyone is a new creature in Christ, what is old has passed away. Behold, all things have been made new.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has regenerated us into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead: ⁴unto an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance, which is reserved for you in heaven. ⁵By the power of God, you are guarded through faith for a salvation which is ready to be revealed in the end time.

²³For you have been born again, not from corruptible seed, but from what is incorruptible, from the Word of God, living and remaining for all eternity.

¹Now there was a man among the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ²He went to Jesus at night, and he said to him: “Rabbi, we know that you have arrived as a teacher from God. For no one would be able to accomplish these signs, which you accomplish, unless God were with him.” ³Jesus responded and said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one has been reborn anew, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.” ⁴Nicodemus said to him: “How could a man be born when he is old? Surely, he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be reborn?” ⁵Jesus responded: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one has been reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God.

¹⁵And he said to them: “Go forth to the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature. ¹⁶Whoever will have believed and been baptized will be saved. Yet truly, whoever will not have believed will be condemned.

²²After these things, Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea. And he was living there with them and baptizing. ²³Now John was also baptizing, at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water in that place. And they were arriving and being baptized. ²⁴For John had not yet been cast into prison. ²⁵Then a dispute occurred between the disciples of John and the Jews, about purification. ²⁶And they went to John and said to him: “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, about whom you offered testimony: behold, he is baptizing and everyone is going to him.”

³⁸Yet truly, Peter said to them: “Do penance; and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the Promise is for you and for your sons, and for all who are far away: for whomever the Lord our God will have called.”

⁷But if we walk in the light, just as he also is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

⁹If we confess our sins, then he is faithful and just, so as to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.

¹⁸For Christ also died once for our sins, the Just One on behalf of the unjust, so that he might offer us to God, having died, certainly, in the flesh, but having been enlivened by the Spirit. ¹⁹And in the Spirit, he preached to those who were in prison, going to those souls ²⁰who had been unbelieving in past times, while they waited for the patience of God, as in the days of Noah, when the ark was being built. In that ark, a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. ²¹And now you also are saved, in a similar manner, by baptism, not by the testimony of sordid flesh, but by the examination of a good conscience in God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. ²²He is at the right hand of God, devouring death, so that we may be made heirs to eternal life. And since he has journeyed to heaven, the Angels and powers and virtues are subject to him.

⁶But, so that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he then said to the paralytic, “Rise up, take up your bed, and go into your house.” ⁷And he arose and went into his house. ⁸Then the crowd, seeing this, was frightened, and they glorified God, who gave such power to men.

³⁸Yet truly, Peter said to them: “Do penance; and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.