John 16–17

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

Sorrow Turned to Joy

¹⁶“A little while ^hand you will no longer see Me; ⁱagain a little while and you will see Me.” ^j

¹⁷Therefore some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this He tells us: ‘A little while and you will not see Me; again a little while and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’ ^k?” ¹⁸They said, “What is this He is saying, ^l‘A little while’? We don’t know what He’s talking about!”

¹⁹Jesus knew they wanted to question Him, so He said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see Me; again a little while and you will see Me’?

²⁰“^•I assure you: You will weep and wail, ^mbut the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, ⁿbut your sorrow will turn to joy. ²¹When a woman is in labor she has pain ^obecause her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, ^pshe no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. ²²So you also have sorrow ^qnow. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, ^rand no one will rob you of your joy. ^s23In that day you will not ask Me anything.

“I assure you: Anything you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. ^t24Until now you have asked for nothing in My name. ^uAsk and you will receive, ^vso that your joy may be complete. ^w

Jesus the Victor

²⁵“I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask ^xin My name. ^yI am not telling you that I will make requests to the Father on your behalf. ²⁷For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved ^zMe and have believed that I came from God. ^ab28I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” ^c

²⁹“Ah!” His disciples said. “Now You’re speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. ³⁰Now we know that You know everything ^dand don’t need anyone to question You. By this we believe that You came from God.” ^e

³¹Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? ³²Look: An hour is coming, and has come, ^fwhen each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ^g33I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Jesus Prays for Himself

17Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said:

Father,

the hour has come.

Glorify Your Son

so that the Son ^hmay glorify You, ⁱ

²for You gave Him authority

over all flesh; ^jk

so He may give eternal life ^l

to all You have given Him. ^m

³This is eternal life:

that they may know You, the only ⁿtrue ^oGod,

and the One You have sent ^p—Jesus Christ. ^q

⁴I have glorified You on the earth

by completing the work You gave Me to do.

⁵Now, Father, ^rglorify Me in Your presence

with that glory ^sI had with You

before the world existed. ^t

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

⁶I have revealed Your name ^u

to the men You gave Me ^vfrom the world. ^w

They were Yours, You gave them to Me, ^x

and they have kept Your word. ^y

⁷Now they know that all things

You have given to Me are from You,

⁸because the words that You gave Me, ^z

I have given them.

They have received them

and have known for certain

that I came from You. ^a

They have believed that You sent Me.

⁹I pray ^bfor them.

I am not praying for the ^•world

but for those You have given Me, ^c

because they are Yours.

¹⁰Everything I have is Yours,

and everything You have is Mine, ^d

and I have been glorified in them.

¹¹I am no longer in the world,

but they are in the world,

and I am coming to You. ^e

Holy ^fFather,

protect ^gthem by Your name ^h

that You have given Me,

so that they may be one ⁱas We are ^jone.

¹²While I was with them,

I was protecting them by Your name

that You have given Me.

I guarded ^kthem and not one of them is lost,

except the son of destruction, ^l

so that the Scripture ^mmay be fulfilled. ⁿ

¹³Now I am coming to You,

and I speak these things in the world

so that they may have My joy completed in them.

¹⁴I have given them Your word.

The world hated ^othem

because they are not of the world, ^p

as I am not of the world. ^q

¹⁵I am not praying

that You take them out of the world

but that You protect them from the evil one. ^r

¹⁶They are not of the world,

as I am not of the world. ^s

^17•Sanctify ^tuthem by the truth; ^v

Your word is truth.

¹⁸As You sent Me into the world, ^w

I also have sent them into the world.

¹⁹I sanctify Myself for them,

so they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰I pray not only for these,

but also for those who believe in Me

through their message.

²¹May they all be one, ^x

as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. ^y

May they also be one ^zin Us,

so the world may believe You sent Me.

²²I have given them the glory ^aYou have given Me.

May they be one as We are one.

²³I am in them and You are in Me. ^b

May they be made completely one,

so the world may know You have sent Me

and have loved ^cthem as You have loved Me. ^d

²⁴Father,

I desire those You have given Me

to be with Me where I am. ^e

Then they will see My glory,

which You have given Me

because You loved Me before the world’s foundation.

²⁵Righteous Father!

The world has not known You.

However, I have known You, ^f

and these have known that You sent Me.

²⁶I made Your name ^gknown to them

and will make it known,

so the love You have loved Me with

may be in them and I may be in them. ^h