John 16:16–24

Sorrow Turned to Joy

¹⁶“^aA little while, and ^byou will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and ^cyou will see Me.”

¹⁷Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this He is telling us, ‘^aA little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because ^bI go to the Father’?”

¹⁸So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”

^19aJesus knew that they were wishing to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?

²⁰“Truly, truly, I say to you, that ^ayou will cry and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but ^byour sorrow will be turned into joy.

²¹“^aWhenever a woman is in labor she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a ¹child has been born into the world.

²²“Therefore ^ayou too have sorrow now; but ^bI will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

I Have Overcome the World

²³“^aAnd on that day ^byou will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, ^cif you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.

²⁴“^aUntil now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your ^bjoy may be made complete.