John 16:1–33

“All this^j I have told you so that you will not fall away.^{k 2}They will put you out of the synagogue;^l in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.^{m 3}They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.^{n 4}I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember^o that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,^{p 5}but now I am going to him who sent me.^q None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’^{r 6}Rather, you are filled with grief^s because I have said these things. ⁷But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate^t will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.^{u 8}When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹about sin,^v because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness,^w because I am going to the Father,^x where you can see me no longer; ¹¹and about judgment, because the prince of this world^y now stands condemned.

¹²“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.^{z 13}But when he, the Spirit of truth,^a comes, he will guide you into all the truth.^b He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵All that belongs to the Father is mine.^c That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

¹⁶Jesus went on to say, “In a little while^d you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”^e

¹⁷At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’^f and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”^{g 18}They 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 this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? ²⁰Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn^h while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.^{i 21}A woman giving birth to a child has pain^j because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ²²So with you: Now is your time of grief,^k but I will see you again^l and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.^{m 23}In that dayⁿ you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.^{o 24}Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive,^p and your joy will be complete.^q

²⁵“Though I have been speaking figuratively,^r a time is coming^s when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in my name.^t I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me^u and have believed that I came from God.^{v 28}I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”^w

²⁹Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.^{x 30}Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe^y that you came from God.”^z

³¹“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. ³²“A time is coming^a and in fact has come when you will be scattered,^b each to your own home. You will leave me all alone.^c Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.^d

³³“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.^e In this world you will have trouble.^f But take heart! I have overcome^g the world.”