---
title: "John 3 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/john/3/
description: "Christ's discourse with Nicodemus. John's testimony. John 3 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# John 3

John 3 is chapter 3 of 21 in the Gospel of John. Here are all 36 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> Christ's discourse with Nicodemus. John's testimony.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## John 3 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. Now there was a man among the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
2. He 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.”
3. Jesus 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.”
4. Nicodemus 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?”
5. Jesus 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.
6. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7. You should not be amazed that I said to you: You must be born anew.
8. The Spirit inspires where he wills. And you hear his voice, but you do not know where he comes from, or where he is going. So it is with all who are born of the Spirit.”
9. Nicodemus responded and said to him, “How are these things able to be accomplished?”
10. Jesus responded and said to him: “You are a teacher in Israel, and you are ignorant of these things?
11. Amen, amen, I say to you, that we speak about what we know, and we testify about what we have seen. But you do not accept our testimony.
12. If I have spoken to you about earthly things, and you have not believed, then how will you believe, if I will speak to you about heavenly things?
13. And no one has ascended to heaven, except the one who descended from heaven: the Son of man who is in heaven.
14. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so also must the Son of man be lifted up,
15. so that whoever believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.
16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.
17. For God did not send his Son into the world, in order to judge the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him.
18. Whoever believes in him is not judged. But whoever does not believe is already judged, because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
19. And this is the judgment: that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness more than light. For their works were evil.
20. For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not go toward the Light, so that his works may not be corrected.
21. But whoever acts in truth goes toward the Light, so that his works may be manifested, because they have been accomplished in God.”
22. After these things, Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea. And he was living there with them and baptizing.
23. Now John was also baptizing, at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water in that place. And they were arriving and being baptized.
24. For John had not yet been cast into prison.
25. Then a dispute occurred between the disciples of John and the Jews, about purification.
26. And 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.”
27. John responded and said: “A man is not able to receive anything, unless it has been given to him from heaven.
28. You yourselves offer testimony for me that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but that I have been sent before him.
29. He who holds the bride is the groom. But the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to Him, rejoices joyfully at the voice of the groom. And so, this, my joy, has been fulfilled.
30. He must increase, while I must decrease.
31. He who comes from above, is above everything. He who is from below, is of the earth, and he speaks about the earth. He who comes from heaven is above everything.
32. And what he has seen and heard, about this he testifies. And no one accepts his testimony.
33. Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified that God is truthful.
34. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For God does not give the Spirit by measure.
35. The Father loves the Son, and he has given everything into his hand.
36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever is unbelieving toward the Son shall not see life; instead the wrath of God remains upon him.”

## John 3 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Erat autem homo ex pharisæis, Nicodemus nomine, princeps Judæorum.
2. Hic venit ad Jesum nocte, et dixit ei: Rabbi, scimus quia a Deo venisti magister, nemo enim potest hæc signa facere, quæ tu facis, nisi fuerit Deus cum eo.
3. Respondit Jesus, et dixit ei: Amen, amen dico tibi, nisi quis renatus fuerit denuo, non potest videre regnum Dei.
4. Dicit ad eum Nicodemus: Quomodo potest homo nasci, cum sit senex? numquid potest in ventrem matris suæ iterato introire et renasci?
5. Respondit Jesus: Amen, amen dico tibi, nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua, et Spiritu Sancto, non potest introire in regnum Dei.
6. Quod natum est ex carne, caro est: et quod natum est ex spiritu, spiritus est.
7. Non mireris quia dixi tibi: oportet vos nasci denuo.
8. Spiritus ubi vult spirat, et vocem ejus audis, sed nescis unde veniat, aut quo vadat: sic est omnis qui natus est ex spiritu.
9. Respondit Nicodemus, et dixit ei: Quomodo possunt hæc fieri?
10. Respondit Jesus, et dixit ei: Tu es magister in Israël, et hæc ignoras?
11. Amen, amen dico tibi, quia quod scimus loquimur, et quod vidimus testamur, et testimonium nostrum non accipitis.
12. Si terrena dixi vobis, et non creditis: quomodo, si dixero vobis cælestia, credetis?
13. Et nemo ascendit in cælum, nisi qui descendit de cælo, Filius hominis, qui est in cælo.
14. Et sicut Moyses exaltavit serpentem in deserto, ita exaltari oportet Filium hominis:
15. ut omnis qui credit in ipsum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam.
16. Sic enim Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret: ut omnis qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam.
17. Non enim misit Deus Filium suum in mundum, ut judicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum.
18. Qui credit in eum, non judicatur; qui autem non credit, jam judicatus est: quia non credit in nomine unigeniti Filii Dei.
19. Hoc est autem judicium: quia lux venit in mundum, et dilexerunt homines magis tenebras quam lucem: erant enim eorum mala opera.
20. Omnis enim qui male agit, odit lucem, et non venit ad lucem, ut non arguantur opera ejus:
21. qui autem facit veritatem, venit ad lucem, ut manifestentur opera ejus, quia in Deo sunt facta.
22. Post hæc venit Jesus et discipuli ejus in terram Judæam: et illic demorabatur cum eis, et baptizabat.
23. Erat autem et Joannes baptizans, in Ænnon, juxta Salim: quia aquæ multæ erant illic, et veniebant et baptizabantur.
24. Nondum enim missus fuerat Joannes in carcerem.
25. Facta est autem quæstio ex discipulis Joannis cum Judæis de purificatione.
26. Et venerunt ad Joannem, et dixerunt ei: Rabbi, qui erat tecum trans Jordanem, cui tu testimonium perhibuisti, ecce hic baptizat, et omnes veniunt ad eum.
27. Respondit Joannes, et dixit: Non potest homo accipere quidquam, nisi fuerit ei datum de cælo.
28. Ipsi vos mihi testimonium perhibetis, quod dixerim: Non sum ego Christus: sed quia missus sum ante illum.
29. Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est: amicus autem sponsi, qui stat, et audit eum, gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi. Hoc ergo gaudium meum impletum est.
30. Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui.
31. Qui desursum venit, super omnes est. Qui est de terra, de terra est, et de terra loquitur. Qui de cælo venit, super omnes est.
32. Et quod vidit, et audivit, hoc testatur: et testimonium ejus nemo accipit.
33. Qui accepit ejus testimonium signavit, quia Deus verax est.
34. Quem enim misit Deus, verba Dei loquitur: non enim ad mensuram dat Deus spiritum.
35. Pater diligit Filium et omnia dedit in manu ejus.
36. Qui credit in Filium, habet vitam æternam; qui autem incredulus est Filio, non videbit vitam, sed ira Dei manet super eum.

## Catechism of the Catholic Church

Paragraph numbers and the Catechism's own section headings (never quoted); text at vatican.va.
- CCC ¶ 1692: Life in Christ ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 581: Jesus and Israel ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2519: Purification of the Heart ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2772: The Prayer of the Church ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 782: The Church - People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 457: The Son of God Became Man ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 846: The Church Is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1215: What is This Sacrament Called? ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1238: How is the Sacrament of Baptism Celebrated? ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1262: The Grace of Baptism ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1287: Confirmation in the Economy of Salvation ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2790: "Our" Father ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 720: The Spirit of Christ in the Fullness of Time ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 728: The Spirit of Christ in the Fullness of Time ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 1225: Baptism in the Economy of Salvation ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 1257: The Necessity of Baptism ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 526: The Mysteries of Christ's Life ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 591: Jesus and Israel ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 394: The Fall ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 505: "Conceived By the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 423: I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 440: Christ ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 661: "He Ascended Into Heaven and Is Seated At the Right Hand of the Father" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2795: "Who Art in Heaven" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1033: Hell ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 2130: "You Shall Not Make For Yourself a Graven Image . . ." ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 444: The Only Son of God ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 458: The Son of God Became Man ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 706: God's Spirit and Word in the Time of the Promises ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 679: To Judge the Living and the Dead ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 432: Jesus ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1781: The Judgment of Conscience ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 678: To Judge the Living and the Dead ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 523: The Mysteries of Christ's Life ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 796: The Church - People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 524: The Mysteries of Christ's Life ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 504: "Conceived By the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 1286: Confirmation in the Economy of Salvation ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 690: The Joint Mission of the Son and the Spirit ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- CCC ¶ 161: The Characteristics of Faith ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))

## The saints

- “He must increase, while I must decrease.” — St. John the Baptist, John 3:30 (CPDV), c. 30 (On this theme: verse 30)

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 5: By these words our Saviour hath declared the necessity of baptism; and by the word water it is evident that the application of it is necessary with the words. Matt. 28. 19.
- Verse 18: “Is not judged” … He that believeth, viz., by a faith working through charity, is not judged, that is, is not condemned; but the obstinate unbeliever is judged, that is, condemned already, by retrenching himself from the society of Christ and his church.
- Verse 19: “The judgment” … That is, the cause of his comdemnation.
- Verse 21: that is, he that acteth according to truth, which here signifies the Law of God. Thy law is truth. Psa. 118. 142.

## Read at Mass (US)

- Sat, Jan 9, 2027: Saturday after Epiphany — Gospel, John 3:22-30
- Sat, Jan 30, 2027: Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time — Alleluia, John 3:16
- Fri, Feb 26, 2027: Friday of the Second Week of Lent — Verse before the Gospel, John 3:16
- Sun, Feb 28, 2027: Third Sunday of Lent — Verse before the Gospel, John 3:16

17 more dates through December 31, 2028, in the [liturgical calendar](https://blessbible.app/calendar/).

Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option).

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).