John 15:18–16:15

Persecutions Predicted

¹⁸“If the ^•world hates ^vyou, understand that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen ^wyou out of it, the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ ^xIf they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, ^ythey will also keep yours. ²¹But they will do all these things to you on account of My name, ^zbecause they don’t know ^athe One who sent Me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin. ^bcNow they have no excuse for their sin. ²³The one who hates Me also hates My Father. ^d24If I had not done the works ^eamong them that no one else has done, ^fthey would not have sin. ^gNow they have seen and hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵But this happened so that the statement written in their scripture might be fulfilled: ^hThey hated Me for no reason. ^ij

Coming Testimony and Rejection

²⁶“When the ^•Counselor ^kcomes, the One I will send to you from the Father ^l—the Spirit of truth ^mwho proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me. ²⁷You also will testify, ⁿbecause you have been with Me from the beginning.

16“I have told you these things to keep you from ^•stumbling. ²They will ban you from the ^•synagogues. ^oIn fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service ^pto God. ³They will do these things because they haven’t known ^qthe Father or Me. ⁴But I have told you these things so that when their time ^rcomes you may remember ^sI told them to you. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

The Counselor’s Ministry

⁵“But now I am going away ^tto Him who sent Me, and not one of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ^u6Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. ^vIt is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the ^•Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. ^w8When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: ⁹About sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to the Father ^xand you will no longer see Me; ¹¹and about judgment, ^ybecause the ruler of this ^•world ^zhas been judged. ^a

¹²“I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. ^b13When the Spirit of truth ^ccomes, He will guide you into all the truth. ^dFor He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. ¹⁴He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵Everything the Father ^ehas is Mine. ^fThis is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you. ^g