Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled.(A) You believe(B) in God[a];(C) believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there(D) to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back(E) and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.(F) You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

Thomas(G) said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am(H) the way(I) and the truth(J) and the life.(K) No one comes to the Father except through me.(L) If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well.(M) From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip(N) said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.(O) How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?(P) The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.(Q) Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.(R) 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes(S) in me will do the works I have been doing,(T) and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask(U) in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, keep my commands.(V) 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate(W) to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth.(X) The world cannot accept him,(Y) because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans;(Z) I will come to you.(AA) 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.(AB) Because I live, you also will live.(AC) 20 On that day(AD) you will realize that I am in my Father,(AE) and you are in me, and I am in you.(AF) 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.(AG) The one who loves me will be loved by my Father,(AH) and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

22 Then Judas(AI) (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”(AJ)

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.(AK) My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.(AL) 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.(AM)

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate,(AN) the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,(AO) will teach you all things(AP) and will remind you of everything I have said to you.(AQ) 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.(AR) I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled(AS) and do not be afraid.

28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’(AT) If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father,(AU) for the Father is greater than I.(AV) 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.(AW) 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world(AX) is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.(AY)

“Come now; let us leave.

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Footnotes

  1. John 14:1 Or Believe in God
  2. John 14:7 Some manuscripts If you really knew me, you would know
  3. John 14:17 Some early manuscripts and is

That Which Defiles(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”(B)

Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a](C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b](D) But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.(E)[c](F)

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,(G) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”(H)

12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted(I) will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[d](J) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”(K)

15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”(L)

16 “Are you still so dull?”(M) Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,(N) and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.(O) 20 These are what defile a person;(P) but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman(Q)

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.(R) 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David,(S) have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”(T)

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”(U)

25 The woman came and knelt before him.(V) “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
  2. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
  3. Matthew 15:9 Isaiah 29:13
  4. Matthew 15:14 Some manuscripts blind guides of the blind

The Demand for a Sign(A)

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees(B) came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.(C)

He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.[a](D) A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”(E) Jesus then left them and went away.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”(F)

They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith,(G) why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?(H) 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?(I) 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.(J)

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah(K)

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;(L) others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”(M)

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”(N)

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood,(O) but by my Father in heaven.(P) 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b](Q) and on this rock I will build my church,(R) and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys(S) of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.”(T) 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone(U) that he was the Messiah.

Jesus Predicts His Death(V)

21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem(W) and suffer many things(X) at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,(Y) and that he must be killed(Z) and on the third day(AA) be raised to life.(AB)

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!(AC) You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.(AD) 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.(AE) 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man(AF) is going to come(AG) in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.(AH)

28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 16:3 Some early manuscripts do not have When evening comes … of the times.
  2. Matthew 16:18 The Greek word for Peter means rock.
  3. Matthew 16:18 That is, the realm of the dead
  4. Matthew 16:19 Or will have been
  5. Matthew 16:19 Or will have been
  6. Matthew 16:25 The Greek word means either life or soul; also in verse 26.

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