John 16:7–27

⁷Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocateⁿ will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about^o sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.^*

¹²“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.^{* 13}When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.^{* 14}He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.^*

Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

¹⁶“A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”^{* 17}Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me,’ and ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? ²⁰Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. ²¹When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.^{* 22}So you have pain now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.^{* 23}On that day you will ask nothing of me.^p Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.^{q 24}Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.^*

Peace for the Disciples

²⁵“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but will tell you plainly of the Father. ²⁶On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf, ²⁷for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.^r*