John 14-17

New Life Version

Jesus Comforts His Followers

14 “Do not let your heart be troubled. You have put your trust in God, put your trust in Me also. ² There are many rooms in My Father’s house. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going away to make a place for you. ³ After I go and make a place for you, I will come back and take you with Me. Then you may be where I am. ⁴ You know where I am going and you know how to get there.”

⁵ Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way to get there?” ⁶ Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one can go to the Father except by Me. ⁷ If you had known Me, you would know My Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

Jesus and His Father Are One

⁸ Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we ask.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time and you do not know Me yet? Whoever has seen Me, has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me? What I say to you, I do not say by My own power. The Father Who lives in Me does His work through Me.

¹¹ “Believe Me that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me. Or else believe Me because of the things I do. ¹² For sure, I tell you, whoever puts his trust in Me can do the things I am doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so the shining-greatness of the Father may be seen in the Son. ¹⁴ Yes, if you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus Promises to Give the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love Me, you will do what I say. ¹⁶ Then I will ask My Father and He will give you another Helper. He will be with you forever. ¹⁷ He is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot receive Him. It does not see Him or know Him. You know Him because He lives with you and will be in you.

Jesus Tells of His Death

¹⁸ “I will not leave you without help as children without parents. I will come to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will see Me no more. You will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ When that day comes, you will know that I am in My Father. You will know that you are in Me. You will know that I am in you. ²¹ The one who loves Me is the one who has My teaching and obeys it. My Father will love whoever loves Me. I will love him and will show Myself to him.”

²² The other Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Why is it You are going to show Yourself to us followers and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus said, “The one who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love him. We will come to him and live with him. ²⁴ The one who does not love Me does not obey My teaching. The teaching you are now hearing is not My teaching but it is from My Father Who sent Me.

²⁵ “I have told you these things while I am still with you. ²⁶ The Helper is the Holy Spirit. The Father will send Him in My place. He will teach you everything and help you remember everything I have told you.

Jesus Gives His Followers Peace

²⁷ “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give peace to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. ²⁸ You heard Me say that I am going away. But I am coming back to you. If you love Me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father. The Father is greater than I. ²⁹ I have told you this before it happens. Then when it does happen, you will believe.

³⁰ “I will not talk much more with you. The leader of this world is coming. He has no power over Me. ³¹ I am doing what the Father told Me to do so the world may know I love the Father. Come, let us be on our way.

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am the true Vine. My Father is the One Who cares for the Vine. ² He takes away any branch in Me that does not give fruit. Any branch that gives fruit, He cuts it back so it will give more fruit. ³ You are made clean by the words I have spoken to you. ⁴ Get your life from Me and I will live in you. No branch can give fruit by itself. It has to get life from the vine. You are able to give fruit only when you have life from Me. ⁵ I am the Vine and you are the branches. Get your life from Me. Then I will live in you and you will give much fruit. You can do nothing without Me.

⁶ “If anyone does not get his life from Me, he is cut off like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and they are burned. ⁷ If you get your life from Me and My Words live in you, ask whatever you want. It will be done for you.

⁸ “When you give much fruit, My Father is honored. This shows you are My followers. ⁹ I have loved you just as My Father has loved Me. Stay in My love. ¹⁰ If you obey My teaching, you will live in My love. In this way, I have obeyed My Father’s teaching and live in His love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so My joy may be in you and your joy may be full.

The Christian with Other Christians

¹² “This is what I tell you to do: Love each other just as I have loved you. ¹³ No one can have greater love than to give his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do what I tell you. ¹⁵ I do not call you servants that I own anymore. A servant does not know what his owner is doing. I call you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from My Father. ¹⁶ You have not chosen Me, I have chosen you. I have set you apart for the work of bringing in fruit. Your fruit should last. And whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.

The Christian and the World

¹⁷ “This is what I tell you to do: Love each other. ¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. You do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world and the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his owner.’ If they made it very hard for Me, they will make it very hard for you also. If they obeyed My teachings, they will obey your teachings also. ²¹ They will do all these things to you because you belong to Me. They do not know My Father Who sent Me.

²² “I have come and have spoken to them so they are guilty of sin. But now they have no reason to give for keeping their sin any longer. ²³ Whoever hates Me, hates My Father also. ²⁴ I have done things among them which no one else has done so they are guilty of sin. But now they have seen these things and have hated Me and My Father. ²⁵ This happened as their Law said it would happen, ‘They hated Me without a reason.’

²⁶ “The Helper (Holy Spirit) will tell about Me when He comes. I will send Him to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of Truth and comes from the Father. ²⁷ You will also tell of Me because you have been with Me from the beginning.

Jesus Tells His Followers It Will Be Very Hard for Them

16 “I have told you these things so you will not be ashamed of Me and leave Me. ² They will put you out of the places of worship. The time will come when anyone who kills you will think he is helping God. ³ They will do these things to you because they do not know the Father or Me.

⁴ “When these things happen, you will remember I told you they would happen. That is why I am telling you about these things now. I did not tell you these things before, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going to Him Who sent Me. Yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’

The Three Kinds of Work of the Holy Spirit

⁶ “Your hearts are full of sorrow because I am telling you these things. ⁷ I tell you the truth. It is better for you that I go away. If I do not go, the Helper will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ When the Helper comes, He will show the world the truth about sin. He will show the world about being right with God. And He will show the world what it is to be guilty. ⁹ He will show the world about sin, because they do not put their trust in Me. ¹⁰ He will show the world about being right with God, because I go to My Father and you will see Me no more. ¹¹ He will show the world what it is to be guilty because the leader of this world (Satan) is guilty.

The Holy Spirit Will Give Honor to the Son

¹² “I still have many things to say to you. You are not strong enough to understand them now. ¹³ The Holy Spirit is coming. He will lead you into all truth. He will not speak His Own words. He will speak what He hears. He will tell you of things to come. ¹⁴ He will honor Me. He will receive what is Mine and will tell it to you. ¹⁵ Everything the Father has is Mine. That is why I said to you, ‘He will receive what is Mine and will tell it to you.’

Jesus Tells of His Death

¹⁶ “In a little while you will not see Me. Then in a little while you will see Me again.” ¹⁷ Some of His followers said to each other, “What is He trying to tell us when He says, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and in a little while you will see Me again,’ and ‘Because I go to My Father’?” ¹⁸ So they said, “What is He trying to tell us by saying, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”

¹⁹ Jesus knew they wanted to ask Him something. He said to them, “Are you asking each other why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and in a little while you will see Me again’? ²⁰ For sure, I tell you, you will cry and have sorrow, but the world will have joy. You will have sorrow, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ²¹ When a woman gives birth to a child, she has sorrow because her time has come. After the child is born, she forgets her pain. She is full of joy because a child has been born into the world. ²² You are sad now. I will see you again and then your hearts will be full of joy. No one can take your joy from you.

Asking and Receiving

²³ “When the time comes that you see Me again, you will ask Me no question. For sure, I tell you, My Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive. Then your joy will be full.

²⁵ “I have told you these things in picture-stories. The time is coming when I will not use picture-stories. I will talk about My Father in plain words. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in My name. I will not ask the Father for you ²⁷ because the Father loves you. He loves you because you love Me and believe that I came from the Father.

Jesus Tells of His Going

²⁸ “I came from the Father and have come into the world. I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” ²⁹ His followers said to Him, “Now You are talking in plain words. You are not using picture-stories. ³⁰ Now we are sure You know everything. You do not need anyone to tell You anything. Because of this we believe that You came from God.”

³¹ Jesus said to them, “Do you believe now? ³² The time is coming, yes, it is already here when you will be going your own way. Everyone will go to his own house and leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with Me. ³³ I have told you these things so you may have peace in Me. In the world you will have much trouble. But take hope! I have power over the world!”

Jesus Prays for Himself

17 When Jesus had said these things, He looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come! Honor Your Son so Your Son may honor You. ² You have given Him power over all men. He is to give life that lasts forever to all You have given to Him. ³ This is life that lasts forever. It is to know You, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ Whom You have sent. ⁴ I honored You on earth. I did the work You gave Me to do. ⁵ Now, Father, honor Me with the honor I had with You before the world was made.

Jesus Prays for His Followers

⁶ “I have made Your name known to the people You have given Me from the world. They were Yours but You gave them to Me. They have obeyed Your Word. ⁷ Now they know that everything You have given Me came from You. ⁸ I gave them the Word which You gave Me. They received it. They know I came from You and they believe You sent Me.

⁹ “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world. I pray for those You gave Me. They are Yours. ¹⁰ All that is Mine is Yours. All that is Yours is Mine. I have been honored through them. ¹¹ I am no longer in the world. I am coming to You. But these are still in the world. Holy Father, keep those You have given to Me in the power of Your name. Then they will be one, even as We are One. ¹² While I have been with them in the world, I have kept them in the power of Your name. I have kept watch over those You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost except the one who is going to be destroyed, which is the son of death. The Holy Writings said it would happen. ^{(A) 13} But now I come to You, Father. I say these things while I am in the world. In this way, My followers may have My joy in their hearts.

¹⁴ “I have given Your Word to My followers. The world hated them because they do not belong to the world, even as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask You to take them out of the world. I ask You to keep them from the devil. ¹⁶ My followers do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷ Make them holy for Yourself by the truth. Your Word is truth.

¹⁸ “As You sent Me into the world so I have sent them into the world also. ¹⁹ I set Myself apart to be holy for them. Then they may be made holy by the truth.

Jesus Prays for All Christians

²⁰ “I do not pray for these followers only. I pray for those who will put their trust in Me through the teaching they have heard. ²¹ May they all be as one, Father, as You are in Me and I am in You. May they belong to Us. Then the world will believe that You sent Me. ²² I gave them the honor You gave Me that they may be one as We are One. ²³ I am in them and You are in Me so they may be one and be made perfect. Then the world may know that You sent Me and that You love them as You love Me.

²⁴ “Father, I want My followers You gave Me to be with Me where I am. Then they may see My shining-greatness which You gave Me because You loved Me before the world was made. ²⁵ Holy Father, the world has not known You. I have known You. These have known You sent Me. ²⁶ I have made Your name known to them and will make it known. So then the love You have for Me may be in them and I may be in them.”