John 16:12–22

¹²“I have a lot more to tell you, but that would be too much for you now. ¹³When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth. He won’t speak on his own. He will speak what he hears and will tell you about things to come. ¹⁴He will give me glory, because he will tell you what I say. ¹⁵Everything the Father says is also what I say. That is why I said, ‘He will take what I say and tell it to you.’ 

¹⁶“In a little while you won’t see me anymore. Then in a little while you will see me again.” 

¹⁷Some of his disciples said to each other, “What does he mean? He tells us that in a little while we won’t see him. Then he tells us that in a little while we will see him again and that he’s going to the Father.” ¹⁸So they were asking each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while’? We don’t understand what he’s talking about.” 

¹⁹Jesus knew they wanted to ask him something. So he said to them, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, and in a little while you will see me again’? ²⁰I can guarantee this truth: You will cry because you are sad, but the world will be happy. You will feel pain, but your pain will turn to happiness. ²¹A woman has pain when her time to give birth comes. But after the child is born, she doesn’t remember the pain anymore because she’s happy that a child has been brought into the world. 

²²“Now you’re in a painful situation. But I will see you again. Then you will be happy, and no one will take that happiness away from you.