John 13–17

13TH CHAPTER

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

¹Before the Passover festival, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. Jesus loved his own who were in the world, and he loved them to the end. 

²While supper was taking place, the devil had already put the idea of betraying Jesus into the mind of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. 

³The Father had put everything in Jesus’ control. Jesus knew that. He also knew that he had come from God and was going back to God. ⁴So he got up from the table, removed his outer clothes, took a towel, and tied it around his waist. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel that he had tied around his waist. 

⁶When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 

⁷Jesus answered Peter, “You don’t know now what I’m doing. You will understand later.” 

⁸Peter told Jesus, “You will never wash my feet.” 

Jesus replied to Peter, “If I don’t wash you, you don’t belong to me.” 

⁹Simon Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, don’t wash only my feet. Wash my hands and my head too!” 

¹⁰Jesus told Peter, “People who have washed are completely clean. They need to have only their feet washed. All of you, except for one, are clean.” ¹¹(Jesus knew who was going to betray him. That’s why he said, “All of you, except for one, are clean.”) 

¹²After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothes, he took his place at the table again. Then he asked his disciples, “Do you understand what I’ve done for you? ¹³You call me teacher and Lord, and you’re right because that’s what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵I’ve given you an example that you should follow. ¹⁶I can guarantee this truth: Slaves are not superior to their owners, and messengers are not superior to the people who send them. ¹⁷If you understand all of this, you are blessed whenever you follow my example. 

¹⁸“I’m not talking about all of you. I know the people I’ve chosen ⸤to be apostles⸥. However, I’ve made my choice so that Scripture will come true. It says, ‘The one who eats my bread has turned against me.’ ¹⁹I’m telling you now before it happens. Then, when it happens, you will believe that I am the one. 

²⁰“I can guarantee this truth: Whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” 

Jesus Knows Who Will Betray Him—Matthew 26:21–25; Mark 14:18–21; Luke 22:21–23

²¹After saying this, Jesus was deeply troubled. He declared, “I can guarantee this truth: One of you is going to betray me!” 

²²The disciples began looking at each other and wondering which one of them Jesus meant. 

²³One disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, was near him at the table. ²⁴Simon Peter motioned to that disciple and said, “Ask Jesus whom he’s talking about!” 

²⁵Leaning close to Jesus, that disciple asked, “Lord, who is it?” 

²⁶Jesus answered, “He’s the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I’ve dipped it in the sauce.” So Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. 

²⁷Then, after Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered him. So Jesus told him, “Hurry! Do what you have to do.” ²⁸No one at the table knew why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹Judas had the moneybag. So some thought that Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the festival or to give something to the poor. 

³⁰Judas took the piece of bread and immediately went outside. It was night. 

³¹When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is now glorified, and because of him God is glorified. ³²If God is glorified because of the Son of Man, God will glorify the Son of Man because of himself, and he will glorify the Son of Man at once.” 

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial—Matthew 26:31–35; Mark 14:27–31; Luke 22:31–34

³³Jesus said, “Dear children, I will still be with you for a little while. I’m telling you what I told the Jews. You will look for me, but you can’t go where I’m going. 

³⁴“I’m giving you a new commandment: Love each other in the same way that I have loved you. ³⁵Everyone will know that you are my disciples because of your love for each other.” 

³⁶Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” 

Jesus answered him, “You can’t follow me now to the place where I’m going. However, you will follow me later.” 

³⁷Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I’ll give my life for you.” 

³⁸Jesus replied, “Will you give your life for me? I can guarantee this truth: No rooster will crow until you say three times that you don’t know me. 

14TH CHAPTER

Jesus Promises to Send the Holy Spirit

¹“Don’t be troubled. Believe in God, and believe in me. ²My Father’s house has many rooms. If that were not true, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? ³If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again. Then I will bring you into my presence so that you will be where I am. ⁴You know the way to the place where I am going.” 

⁵Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going. So how can we know the way?” 

⁶Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you have known me, you will also know my Father. From now on you know him ⸤through me⸥ and have seen him ⸤in me⸥.” 

⁸Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will satisfy us.” 

⁹Jesus replied, “I have been with all of you for a long time. Don’t you know me yet, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I’m telling you doesn’t come from me. The Father, who lives in me, does what he wants. ¹¹Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe me because of the things I do. 

¹²“I can guarantee this truth: Those who believe in me will do the things that I am doing. They will do even greater things because I am going to the Father. ¹³I will do anything you ask ⸤the Father⸥ in my name so that the Father will be given glory because of the Son. ¹⁴If you ask me to do something, I will do it. 

¹⁵“If you love me, you will obey my commandments. ¹⁶I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. ¹⁷That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn’t see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you. 

¹⁸“I will not leave you all alone. I will come back to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. You will live because I live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father and that you are in me and that I am in you. ²¹Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.” 

²²Judas (not Iscariot) asked Jesus, “Lord, what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 

²³Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them. ²⁴A person who doesn’t love me doesn’t do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me. 

²⁵“I have told you this while I’m still with you. ²⁶However, the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything. He will remind you of everything that I have ever told you. 

²⁷“I’m leaving you peace. I’m giving you my peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly. ²⁸You heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, but I’m coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. 

²⁹“I’m telling you this now before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe. ³⁰The ruler of this world has no power over me. But he’s coming, so I won’t talk with you much longer. ³¹However, I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has commanded me to do. Get up! We have to leave.” 

15TH CHAPTER

Jesus, the True Vine

¹⸤Then Jesus said,⸥ “I am the true vine, and my Father takes care of the vineyard. ²He removes every one of my branches that doesn’t produce fruit. He also prunes every branch that does produce fruit to make it produce more fruit. 

³“You are already clean^abecause of what I have told you. ⁴Live in me, and I will live in you. A branch cannot produce any fruit by itself. It has to stay attached to the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit unless you live in me. 

⁵“I am the vine. You are the branches. Those who live in me while I live in them will produce a lot of fruit. But you can’t produce anything without me. ⁶Whoever doesn’t live in me is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Branches like this are gathered, thrown into a fire, and burned. ⁷If you live in me and what I say lives in you, then ask for anything you want, and it will be yours. ⁸You give glory to my Father when you produce a lot of fruit and therefore show that you are my disciples. 

⁹“I have loved you the same way the Father has loved me. So live in my love. ¹⁰If you obey my commandments, you will live in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commandments, and in that way I live in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that you will be as joyful as I am, and your joy will be complete. ¹²Love each other as I have loved you. This is what I’m commanding you to do. ¹³The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you obey my commandments. ¹⁵I don’t call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. But I’ve called you friends because I’ve made known to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father. ¹⁶You didn’t choose me, but I chose you. I have appointed you to go, to…