John 16:16–24

SORROW TURNED TO JOY

¹⁶“In a little while,^av you will no longer see me;^aw again in a little while, you will see me.”^C

¹⁷Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he’s telling us: ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again a little while, you will see me,’ and, ‘Because I am going to the Father’^a?” ¹⁸They said, “What is this he is saying,^D ‘In a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

¹⁹Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? ²⁰Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn,^b but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful,^c but your sorrow will turn to joy. ²¹When a woman is in labor, she has pain^d because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child,^e she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. ²²So you also have sorrow^A now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice,^f and no one will take away your joy from you.^g

²³“In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.^{h 24}Until now you have asked for nothing in my name.ⁱ Ask and you will receive,^j so that your joy may be complete.^k