John 16:16–32

Sorrow Turned to Joy

16 “A little while h and you will no longer see Me; i again a little while and you will see Me.” j

17 Therefore 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?” 18 They said, “What is this He is saying, l ‘A little while’? We don’t know what He’s talking about!”

19 Jesus 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, m but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, n but your sorrow will turn to joy. 21 When a woman is in labor she has pain o because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, p she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. 22 So you also have sorrow q now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, r and no one will rob you of your joy. s 23 In that day you will not ask Me anything.

“I assure you: Anything you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. t 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in My name. u Ask and you will receive, v so 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. 26 In that day you will ask x in My name. y I am not telling you that I will make requests to the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved z Me and have believed that I came from God. a b 28 I 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. 30 Now we know that You know everything d and don’t need anyone to question You. By this we believe that You came from God.” e

31 Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? 32 Look: An hour is coming, and has come, f when 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. g