John 15–17

I Am the True Vine

15“I am the ^rtrue vine, and my Father is ^sthe vinedresser. ^2tEvery branch in me that does not bear fruit ^uhe takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, ^vthat it may bear more fruit. ³Already ^wyou are clean ^xbecause of the word that I have spoken to you. ^4yAbide ^zin me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine; ^ayou are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that ^bbears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in me, ^che is thrown away like a branch and withers; ^dand the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If ^eyou abide in me, and my words abide in you, ^fask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ^8gBy this my Father is glorified, that you ^hbear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ⁱAs the Father has loved me, ^jso have I loved you. Abide in my love. ^10kIf you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as ^lI have kept ^mmy Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹These things I have spoken to you, ⁿthat my joy may be in you, and that ^oyour joy may be full.

^12p“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ^13qGreater love has no one than this, ^rthat someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are ^smy friends ^tif you do what I command you. ^15uNo longer do I call you servants,¹ for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^xall that I have heard from my Father ^yI have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but ^zI chose you and appointed you that you should go and ^abear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that ^bwhatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷These things I command you, ^cso that you will love one another.

The Hatred of the World

^18d“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ^19eIf you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because ^fyou are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said to you: ^g‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, ^hthey will also persecute you. ⁱIf they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹But ^jall these things they will do to you ^kon account of my name, ^lbecause they do not know him who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, ^mthey would not have been guilty of sin,³ but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ⁿWhoever hates me hates my Father also. ^24oIf I had not done among them the works that no one else did, ^mthey would not be guilty of sin, but now they have ^pseen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But ^qthe word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ^r‘They hated me without a cause.’

²⁶“But ^swhen the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, ^the will bear witness about me. ²⁷And ^uyou also will bear witness, ^vbecause you have been with me ^wfrom the beginning.

16“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ^2xThey will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, ^ythe hour is coming when ^zwhoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³And they will do these things ^abecause they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴But ^bI have said these things to you, that when ^ctheir hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, ^dbecause I was with you. ⁵But now ^eI am going to him who sent me, and ^fnone of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, ^gsorrow has filled your heart. ⁷Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for ^hif I do not go away, ⁱthe Helper will not come to you. But ^jif ^kI go, ^lI will send him to you. ^8mAnd when he comes, he will ⁿconvict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹concerning sin, ^obecause they do not believe in me; ^10pconcerning righteousness, ^qbecause I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ^11rconcerning judgment, because the ruler of this world ^sis judged.

¹²“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³When ^tthe Spirit of truth comes, ^uhe will ^vguide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but ^wwhatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴He will ^xglorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ^15yAll that the Father has is mine; ^ztherefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

^16a“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and ^bagain a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷So ^csome of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ^d‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ^e‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? ^fWe do not know what he is talking about.” ^19gJesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰Truly, truly, I say to you, ^hyou will weep and lament, but ⁱthe world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but ^jyour sorrow will turn into joy. ^21kWhen a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ^22lSo also you have sorrow now, but ^mI will see you again, and ⁿyour hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ^23oIn that day you will ^pask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, ^qwhatever you ask of the Father in my name, ^rhe will give it to you. ²⁴Until now you have asked nothing in my name. ^sAsk, and you will receive, ^tthat your joy may be full.

I Have Overcome the World

²⁵“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. ^uThe hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ^27vfor the Father himself loves you, because ^wyou have loved me and ^xhave believed that I came from God.^{1 28y}I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now ^zI am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not ^ausing figurative speech! ³⁰Now we know that ^byou know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that ^cyou came from God.” ³¹Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³²Behold, ^dthe hour is coming, indeed it has come, when ^eyou will be scattered, each to his own home, and ^fwill leave me alone. ^gYet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³I have said these things to you, that ^hin me you may have peace. ⁱIn the world you will have ^jtribulation. But ^ktake heart; ^lI have overcome the world.”

The High Priestly Prayer

17When Jesus had spoken these words, ^mhe lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, ⁿthe hour has come; ^oglorify your Son that the Son may ^pglorify you, ²since ^qyou have given him authority over all flesh, ^rto give eternal life to all ^swhom you have given him. ^3tAnd this is eternal life, ^uthat they know you, ^vthe only ^wtrue God, and ^xJesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I ^yglorified you on earth, ^zhaving accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵And now, Father, ^aglorify me in your own presence with the glory ^bthat I had with you ^cbefore the world existed.

^6d“I have manifested your name to the people ^ewhom you gave me out of the world. ^fYours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now they know that everything ^fthat you have given me is from you. ⁸For I have given them ^gthe words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that ^hI came from you; and ⁱthey have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am praying for them. ^jI am not praying for the world but for those ^kwhom you have given me, for ^lthey are yours. ^10mAll mine are yours, and yours are mine, and ⁿI am glorified in them. ¹¹And I am no longer in the world, but ^othey are in the world, and ^pI am coming to you. ^qHoly Father, ^rkeep them in your name, ^swhich you have given me, ^tthat they may be one, ^ueven as we are one. ^12vWhile I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have ^wguarded them, and ^xnot one of them has been lost except ^ythe son of destruction, ^zthat the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now ^aI am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have ^bmy joy fulfilled in themselves. ^14cI have given them your word, and ^dthe world has hated them ^ebecause they are not of the world, ^fjust as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I ^gdo not ask that you ^htake them out of the world, but that you ⁱkeep them from ^jthe evil one.^{1 16k}They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ^17lSanctify them² in the truth; ^myour word is truth. ¹⁸ⁿAs you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And ^ofor their sake ^pI consecrate myself,³ that they also ^qmay be sanctified⁴ in truth.

²⁰“I do not ^rask for these only, but also for those ^swho will believe in me through their word, ^21tthat they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that ^uthey also may be in ^vus, so that the world ^wmay believe that you have sent me. ^22xThe glory that you have given me ^yI have given to them, ^tthat they may be one even as we are one, ^23zI in them and you in me, ^athat they may become perfectly one, ^bso that the world may…