John 14; John 15; John 16; John 17

1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust in me also.

2 "There are many rooms in my Father's house. If this were not true, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

3 If I go and do that, I will come back. And I will take you to be with me. Then you will also be where I am.

4 "You know the way to the place where I am going."

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. So how can we know the way?"

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father also. From now on, you do know him. And you have seen him."

8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father. That will be enough for us."

9 Jesus answered, "Don't you know me, Philip? I have been among you such a long time! Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

10 "Don't you believe that I am in the Father? Don't you believe that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. The Father lives in me. He is the One who is doing his work.

11 Believe me when I say I am in the Father. Also believe that the Father is in me. Or at least believe what the miracles show about me.

12 "What I'm about to tell you is true. Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. In fact, he will do even greater things. That is because I am going to the Father.

13 "And I will do anything you ask in my name. Then the Son will bring glory to the Father.

14 You may ask me for anything in my name. I will do it.

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command.

16 I will ask the Father. And he will give you another Friend to help you and to be with you forever.

17 The Friend is the Spirit of truth. The world can't accept him. That is because the world does not see him or know him. But you know him. He lives with you, and he will be in you.

18 "I will not leave you like children who don't have parents. I will come to you.

19 "Before long, the world will not see me anymore. But you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father. You will know that you are in me, and I am in you.

21 "Anyone who has my commands and obeys them loves me. My Father will love the one who loves me. I too will love him. And I will show myself to him."

22 Then Judas spoke. "Lord," he said, "why do you plan to show yourself only to us? Why not also to the world?" The Judas who spoke those words was not Judas Iscariot.

23 Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love him. We will come to him and make our home with him.

24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. The words you hear me say are not my own. They belong to the Father who sent me.

25 "I have spoken all these things while I am still with you.

26 But the Father will send the Friend in my name to help you. The Friend is the Holy Spirit. He will teach you all things. He will remind you of everything I have said to you.

27 "I leave my peace with you. I give my peace to you. I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And do not be afraid.

28 "You heard me say, 'I am going away. And I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad I am going to the Father. The Father is greater than I am.

29 I have told you now before it happens. Then when it does happen, you will believe.

30 "I will not speak with you much longer. The prince of this world is coming. He has no power over me.

31 But the world must learn that I love the Father. They must also learn that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me to do. "Come now. Let us leave.

1 "I am the true vine. My Father is the gardener.

2 He 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.

4 Remain 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.

6 If 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.

8 When 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.

10 If 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.

11 I 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.

13 No one has greater love than the one who gives his life for his friends.

14 You 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.

18 "Does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first.

19 If 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.'(John 13:16) 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.

21 They 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.

23 Those 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.

25 This has happened so that what is written in their Law would come true. It says, 'They hated me without any reason.'(Psalms 35:19; 69:4)

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.

1 "I have told you all of this so that you will not go down the wrong path.

2 You 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.

3 They 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.

5 "Now I am going to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'

6 Because 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.

8 When 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.

10 The 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.

11 The 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.

13 But 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.

15 Everything 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."

17 Some 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'?"

18 They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand what he is saying."

19 Jesus 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'?

20 What 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.

24 Until 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.

26 When 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.

27 No, 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."

29 Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking plainly. You are using examples that are clear.

30 Now 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."

1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed. He said, "Father, the time has come. Bring glory to your Son. Then your Son will bring glory to you.

2 You gave him authority over all people. He gives eternal life to all those you have given him.

3 "And what is eternal life? It is knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

4 I have brought you glory on earth. I have finished the work you gave me to do.

5 So now, Father, give glory to me in heaven where your throne is. Give me the glory I had with you before the world began.

6 "I have shown you to the disciples you gave me out of the world. They were yours. You gave them to me. And they have obeyed your word.

7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.

8 I gave them the words you gave me. And they accepted them. They knew for certain that I came from you. They believed that you sent me.

9 "I pray for them. I am not praying for the world. I am praying for those you have given me, because they are yours.

10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. Glory has come to me because of my disciples.

11 "I will not remain in the world any longer. But they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name. It is the name you gave me. Keep them safe so they can be one, just as you and I are one.

12 "While I was with them, I guarded them. I kept them safe through the name you gave me. None of them has been lost, except the one who was sentenced to be destroyed. It happened so that Scripture would come true.

13 "I am coming to you now. But I say these things while I am still in the world. I say them so that those you gave me can have all my joy inside them.

14 I have given them your word. The world has hated them. This is because they are not part of the world any more than I am.

15 I do not pray that you will take them out of the world. I pray that you will keep them safe from the evil one.

16 "They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to it.

17 Use the truth to make them holy. Your word is truth.

18 You sent me into the world. In the same way, I have sent them into the world.

19 I make myself holy for them so that they too can be made holy in a true sense.

20 "I do not pray only for them. I pray also for those who will believe in me because of their message.

21 Father, I pray that all of them will be one, just as you are in me and I am in you. I want them also to be in us. Then the world will believe that you have sent me.

22 "I have given them the glory you gave me. I did this so they would be one, just as we are one.

23 I will be in them, just as you are in me. I want them to be brought together perfectly as one. This will let the world know that you sent me. It will also show the world that you have loved those you gave me, just as you have loved me.

24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am. I want them to see my glory, the glory you have given me. You gave it to me because you loved me before the world was created.

25 "Father, you are holy. The world does not know you, but I know you. Those you have given me know you have sent me.

26 I have shown you to them. And I will continue to show you to them. Then the love you have for me will be in them. I myself will be in them."