John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses Nicodemus, linking the promise of eternal life to the preceding discourse on belief and the immediate context of the Son’s mission to save rather than condemn.

The words — The verb ἠγάπησεν (ēgapēsen) declares God’s active love toward τὸν κόσμον (ton kosmon), the world, while the conjunction ὥστε (hōste) introduces the resulting purpose clause.

The thread — God’s giving of His Son for life appears in 1 John 4:9 and Romans 8:32, which notes He gave Him up for us all, while Romans 5:8 parallels the demonstration of divine love through Christ’s death.

Why it lands — The text states that belief in the Son prevents perishing and secures eternal life, grounded in God’s prior action of giving Him. It directs the reader to place trust in the Son, whose mission is salvation rather than condemnation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Cross-references

Romans 5:8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:9 This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
John 3:15 that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
John 6:40 For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us.
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
1 Timothy 1:15 This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.