The one who saw it has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.
- KJV And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
- NKJV And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.
- NASB And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
- NLT (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
John stakes his eyewitness testimony on these events so that readers may believe. The truth of the cross rests on reliable witness.
Overview
The author affirms he saw these things and tells the truth, grounding the Gospel in firsthand testimony rather than legend. His stated purpose, 'that you may believe,' matches the Gospel's overall aim (20:31). The verse reminds us that Christian faith is rooted in real, witnessed history, not myth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- John 21:24This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who has written them down. And we know that his testimony is true.
- John 15:27And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
- Heb 2:3–4how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
- 1 Jn 1:1–3That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.
- Acts 10:39We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And although they put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree,
- John 20:31But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.
- Rom 15:4For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
- 1 Pet 5:1As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:
- John 17:20–21I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message,
- John 14:29And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.
- 1 Jn 5:13I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
- John 11:42I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”
- John 11:15and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
- John 19:26When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.”
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 19:35 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.