John 15:1–16:33

The Vine and the Branches

15“I am the true vine. My Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch joined to me that does not bear fruit. He trims every branch that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even more fruit.

³“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain joined to me, and I will remain joined to you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.

⁵“I am the vine. You are the branches. If anyone remains joined to me, and I to him, he will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me. ⁶If anyone does not remain joined to me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and dries up. Branches like those are picked up. They are thrown into the fire and burned.

⁷“If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be given to you. ⁸When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples.

⁹“Just as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy will be in you. I also want your joy to be complete.

¹²“Here is my command. Love each other, just as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than the one who gives his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command.

¹⁵“I do not call you servants anymore. Servants do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father.

¹⁶“You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you to go and bear fruit. It is fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name.

¹⁷“Here is my command. Love each other.

The World Hates the Disciples

¹⁸“Does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you like one of its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

²⁰“Remember the words I spoke to you. I said, ‘A servant is not more important than his master.’ If people hated me and tried to hurt me, they will do the same to you. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹They will treat you like that because of my name. They do not know the One who sent me.

²²“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³Those who hate me hate my Father also.

²⁴“I did miracles among them that no one else did. If I hadn’t, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen those miracles. And still they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵This has happened so that what is written in their Law would come true. It says, ‘They hated me without any reason.’

²⁶“I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will give witness about me.

²⁷“You also must give witness. This is because you have been with me from the beginning.

16“I have told you all of this so that you will not go down the wrong path. ²You will be thrown out of the synagogue. In fact, a time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing God a favor. ³They will do things like that because they do not know the Father or me.

⁴“Why have I told you this? So that when the time comes, you will remember that I warned you. I didn’t tell you this at first because I was with you.

What the Holy Spirit Will Do

⁵“Now I am going to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶Because I have said these things, you are filled with sadness.

⁷“But what I’m about to tell you is true. It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Friend will not come to help you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸When he comes, he will prove that the world’s people are guilty. He will prove their guilt concerning sin and godliness and judgment.

⁹“The world is guilty as far as sin is concerned. That is because people do not believe in me. ¹⁰The world is guilty as far as godliness is concerned. That is because I am going to the Father, where you can’t see me anymore. ¹¹The world is guilty as far as judgment is concerned. That is because the devil, the prince of this world, has already been judged.

¹²“I have much more to say to you. It is more than you can handle right now. ¹³But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own. He will speak only what he hears. And he will tell you what is still going to happen.

¹⁴“He will bring me glory by receiving something from me and showing it to you. ¹⁵Everything that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Holy Spirit will receive something from me and show it to you.

¹⁶“In a little while, you will no longer see me. Then after a little while, you will see me.”

The Disciples’ Sadness Will Turn Into Joy

¹⁷Some of his disciples spoke to one another. They said, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while, you will no longer see me. Then after a little while, you will see me’? And what does he mean by saying, ‘I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

¹⁹Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about those things. So he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant? Didn’t you understand when I said, ‘In a little while, you will no longer see me. Then after a little while, you will see me’? ²⁰What I’m about to tell you is true. You will cry and be full of sorrow while the world is full of joy. You will be sad, but your sadness will turn into joy.

²¹“A woman giving birth to a baby has pain. This is because her time to give birth has come. But when her baby is born, she forgets the pain. She forgets because she is so happy that a baby has been born into the world.

²²“That’s the way it is with you. Now it’s your time to be sad. But I will see you again. Then you will be full of joy. And no one will take your joy away.

²³“When that day comes, you will no longer ask me for anything. What I’m about to tell you is true. My Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. ²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive what you ask for. Then your joy will be complete.

²⁵“I have not been speaking to you plainly. But a time is coming when I will speak clearly. Then I will tell you plainly about my Father. ²⁶When that day comes, you will ask for things in my name. I am not saying I will ask the Father instead of you asking him. ²⁷No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me. He also loves you because you have believed that I came from God.

²⁸“I came from the Father and entered the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

²⁹Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking plainly. You are using examples that are clear. ³⁰Now we can see that you know everything. You don’t even need anyone to ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

³¹“At last you believe!” Jesus said. ³²“But a time is coming when you will be scattered and go to your own homes. In fact, that time is already here. You will leave me all alone. But I am not really alone. My Father is with me.

³³“I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of me. In this world you will have trouble. But cheer up! I have won the battle over the world.”