John 1:1-5 Translation

1. in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was god.
2. this one was in the beginning with god.
3. all things through him were created and without him were created not even one (thing). which has been created
4. in him life was, and the life was the light of men (mankind).
5. and the light in the darkness shines, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Well that is my more literal (wooden) attempt. How did you do? There is a lot of subtlety. Keep in mind that there can be some differences in our translations.

1. The first sentence with "and the word was god" is often argued that "word" comes first because the subject usually has an article and the predicate does not. Good rule except it is broken in John's "I am...." ex. 11:25 et al.
2. The variant reading of verse 3 is interesting. In my GNT and I don't have the NA27 with me but in the GNT the 3rd  verse ends with en.  Ho really begins the 4 verse but is still stuck in the 3rd verse. Many translation absorb this into the 3rd verse and add it on the end. Underneath the 5th verse you can see the arguments for and against this construction, if you are using your GNT or NA27.   If you get Metzger's little book called A Textual Commentary On the Greek New Testament, he gives the behind the scenes look at the committee's decisions on most of the variant inclusions.
Comments/ Questions?