John 3:30
New International Version
He must become greater; I must become less.”

New Living Translation
He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

English Standard Version
He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Berean Standard Bible
He must increase; I must decrease.

Berean Literal Bible
It behooves Him to increase, but me to decrease.

King James Bible
He must increase, but I must decrease.

New King James Version
He must increase, but I must decrease.

New American Standard Bible
He must increase, but I must decrease.

NASB 1995
“He must increase, but I must decrease.

NASB 1977
“He must increase, but I must decrease.

Legacy Standard Bible
He must increase, but I must decrease.

Amplified Bible
He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease.

Christian Standard Bible
He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He must increase, but I must decrease.”

American Standard Version
He must increase, but I must decrease.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
It is necessary for him to increase and for me to decrease.

Contemporary English Version
Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He must increase, but I must decrease.

English Revised Version
He must increase, but I must decrease.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He must increase in importance, while I must decrease in importance.

Good News Translation
He must become more important while I become less important."

International Standard Version
He must become more important, but I must become less important."

Literal Standard Version
It is necessary [for] Him to increase, and me to become less;

Majority Standard Bible
He must increase; I must decrease.

New American Bible
He must increase; I must decrease.”

NET Bible
He must become more important while I become less important."

New Revised Standard Version
He must increase, but I must decrease.”

New Heart English Bible
He must increase, but I must decrease.

Webster's Bible Translation
He must increase, but I must decrease.

Weymouth New Testament
He must grow greater, but I must grow less.

World English Bible
He must increase, but I must decrease.

Young's Literal Translation
'Him it behoveth to increase, and me to become less;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
John's Testimony about Jesus
29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must increase; I must decrease. 31The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all.…

Cross References
John 3:29
The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

John 3:31
The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all.


Treasury of Scripture

He must increase, but I must decrease.

must increase.

Psalm 72:17-19
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed…

Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 53:2,3,12
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him…

but.

Acts 13:36,37
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: …

1 Corinthians 3:5
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

2 Corinthians 3:7-11
But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: …

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John 3
1. Jesus teaches Nicodemus the necessity of being born again,
14. of faith in his death,
16. the great love of God toward the world,
18. and the condemnation for unbelief.
22. Jesus baptizes in Judea.
23. The baptism, witness, and doctrine of John concerning Jesus.














(30) He must increase, but I must decrease.--The office of the paranymph ceases to exist when the marriage is accomplished. It must be so. So too in the interpretation. His own work was well-nigh done, but he is filled with the joy of having done his work, not with disappointment that it pales before the brightness of the work which is to follow. This is the text of the Forerunner's life. Well will it be for those followers of Christ whose lives shall be sermons on it!

Verse 30. - He must - by a Divine necessity of things (cf. vers. 7, 14; John 9:4; John 10:16; John 20:9; Revelation 1:1), he must - increase; augment in power and following and great joy. He must win eventually all hearts. His enemies must become the footstool of his feet. His is the beginning of an eternal blessedness. I must decrease; not become annihilated, though through the very completion of the purpose of my calling of God, my scope must, by the nature of the case, become narrower and smaller. Some have felt the improbability of the great prophet, the ascetic reformer, acquiescing so patiently in the diminution of his influence or the virtual cessation of the primary importance of his career. Yet this is in complete harmony with John's repeated and continuous recognition of the preparatory and transitory nature of his own work. He cannot lay down his commission, but he knows that, like prophetism, priesthood, Nazarite asceticism, and the like, it will be merged in the grander life of which he was the herald. The ministers of the New Testament all take up the same note of Divine praise and of self-depletion as they prepare the way of the Lord to human hearts. They hide themselves behind the greater glory of their Lord. However considerable their powers, they are serviceable only as they contribute to the glory, and succeed in unveiling the thee, of their Lord. There is a Johannine message still required to disturb the fleshly equanimity and to break up the narcotized sleep of the unbeliever. The stern spirit of rebuke and warning is still indispensable; yet the voice of him that cries, "Repent!" knows that his voice may fade away into faint echoes and stillness, so soon as the promises of redemption and salvation are uttered by the Divine Lord. When the absolution of grace gives the kiss of peace to the broken-hearted, the morning star fades into the dawning of the day.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
He
ἐκεῖνον (ekeinon)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1565: That, that one there, yonder. From ekei; that one (neuter) thing); often intensified by the article prefixed.

must
δεῖ (dei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1163: Third person singular active present of deo; also deon deh-on'; neuter active participle of the same; both used impersonally; it is Necessary.

increase;
αὐξάνειν (auxanein)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 837: (a) I cause to increase, become greater (b) I increase, grow. A prolonged form of a primary verb; to grow, i.e. Enlarge.

I
ἐμὲ (eme)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

[must] decrease.
ἐλαττοῦσθαι (elattousthai)
Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive
Strong's 1642: To make less (inferior). From elasson; to lessen.


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John 3:29
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