John 15-18

New King James Version

The True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ²^(A)Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He ^[a]takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear ^(B)more fruit. ³^(C)You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴^(D)Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

⁵“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much ^(E)fruit; for without Me you can do ^(F)nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in Me, ^(G)he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷If you abide in Me, and My words ^(H)abide in you, ^(I)you^[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸^(J)By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; ^(K)so you will be My disciples.

Love and Joy Perfected

⁹“As the Father ^(L)loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰^(M)If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

¹¹“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and ^(N)that your joy may be full. ¹²^(O)This is My ^(P)commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³^(Q)Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. ¹⁴^(R)You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, ^(S)for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶^(T)You did not choose Me, but I chose you and ^(U)appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father ^(V)in My name He may give you. ¹⁷These things I command you, that you love one another.

The World’s Hatred

¹⁸^(W)“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹^(X)If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet ^(Y)because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said to you, ^(Z)‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. ^(AA)If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹But ^(AB)all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. ²²^(AC)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, ^(AD)but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³^(AE)He who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴If I had not done among them ^(AF)the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have ^(AG)seen and also hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ^(AH)‘They hated Me without a cause.’

The Coming Rejection

²⁶^(AI)“But when the ^[c]Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, ^(AJ)He will testify of Me. ²⁷And ^(AK)you also will bear witness, because ^(AL)you have been with Me from the beginning.

Jesus Warns and Comforts His Disciples

16 “These things I have spoken to you, that you ^(AM)should not be made to stumble. ²^(AN)They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming ^(AO)that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. ³And ^(AP)these things they will do ^[d]to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. ⁴But these things I have told you, that when ^[e]the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

“And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

⁵“But now I ^(AQ)go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, ^(AR)sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but ^(AS)if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸And when He has ^(AT)come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹^(AU)of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰^(AV)of righteousness, ^(AW)because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹^(AX)of judgment, because ^(AY)the ruler of this world is judged.

¹²“I still have many things to say to you, ^(AZ)but you cannot bear them now. ¹³However, when He, ^(BA)the Spirit of truth, has come, ^(BB)He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴^(BC)He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵^(BD)All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He ^[f]will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Sorrow Will Turn to Joy

¹⁶“A ^(BE)little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, ^(BF)because I go to the Father.”

¹⁷Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” ¹⁸They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not ^[g]know what He is saying.”

¹⁹Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? ²⁰Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and ^(BG)lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into ^(BH)joy. ²¹^(BI)A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²²Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and ^(BJ)your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

²³“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. ^(BK)Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. ²⁴Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, ^(BL)that your joy may be ^(BM)full.

Jesus Christ Has Overcome the World

²⁵“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you ^(BN)plainly about the Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; ²⁷^(BO)for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and ^(BP)have believed that I came forth from God. ²⁸^(BQ)I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

²⁹His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! ³⁰Now we are sure that ^(BR)You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this ^(BS)we believe that You came forth from God.”

³¹Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³²^(BT)Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, ^(BU)each to his ^[h]own, and will leave Me alone. And ^(BV)yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ³³These things I have spoken to you, that ^(BW)in Me you may have peace. ^(BX)In the world you ^[i]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, ^(BY)I have overcome the world.”

Jesus Prays for Himself

17 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, ^(BZ)the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ²^(CA)as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He ^[j]should give eternal life to as many ^(CB)as You have given Him. ³And ^(CC)this is eternal life, that they may know You, ^(CD)the only true God, and Jesus Christ ^(CE)whom You have sent. ⁴^(CF)I have glorified You on the earth. ^(CG)I have finished the work ^(CH)which You have given Me to do. ⁵And now, O Father, glorify Me together ^[k]with Yourself, with the glory ^(CI)which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

⁶^(CJ)“I have ^[l]manifested Your name to the men ^(CK)whom You have given Me out of the world. ^(CL)They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. ⁸For I have given to them the words ^(CM)which You have given Me; and they have received them, ^(CN)and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that ^(CO)You sent Me.

⁹“I pray for them. ^(CP)I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰And all Mine are Yours, and ^(CQ)Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹^(CR)Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, ^(CS)keep^[m] through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one ^(CT)as We are. ¹²While I was with them ^[n]in the world, ^(CU)I kept them in ^[o]Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and ^(CV)none of them is ^[p]lost ^(CW)except the son of ^[q]perdition, ^(CX)that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴I have given them Your word; ^(CY)and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, ^(CZ)just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but ^(DA)that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷^(DB)Sanctify^[r] them by Your truth. ^(DC)Your word is truth. ¹⁸^(DD)As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And ^(DE)for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who ^[s]will believe in Me through their word; ²¹^(DF)that they all may be one, as ^(DG)You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²²And the ^(DH)glory which You gave Me I have given them, ^(DI)that they may be one just as We are one: ²³I in them, and You in Me; ^(DJ)that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

²⁴^(DK)“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; ^(DL)for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵O righteous Father! ^(DM)The world has not known You, but ^(DN)I have known You; and ^(DO)these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶^(DP)And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love ^(DQ)with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Betrayal and Arrest in Gethsemane^(DR)

18 When Jesus had spoken these words, ^(DS)He went out with His disciples over ^(DT)the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. ²And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; ^(DU)for Jesus often met there with His disciples. ³^(DV)Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. ⁴Jesus therefore, ^(DW)knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”

⁵They answered Him, ^(DX)“Jesus ^[t]of Nazareth.”

Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who ^(DY)betrayed Him, also stood with them. ⁶Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

⁷Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?”

And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁸Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,” ⁹that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, ^(DZ)“Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.”

¹⁰^(EA)Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

¹¹So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink ^(EB)the cup which My Father has given Me?”

Before the High Priest

¹²Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him. ¹³And ^(EC)they led Him away to ^(ED)Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of ^(EE)Caiaphas who was high priest that year. ¹⁴^(EF)Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was ^[u]expedient that one man should die for the people.

Peter Denies Jesus^(EG)

¹⁵^(EH)And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did ^(EI)another^[v] disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. ¹⁶^(EJ)But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?”

He said, “I am ^(EK)not.”

¹⁸Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

Jesus Questioned by the High Priest

¹⁹The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.

²⁰Jesus answered him, ^(EL)“I spoke openly to the world. I always taught ^(EM)in synagogues and ^(EN)in the temple, where ^[w]the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. ²¹Why do you ask Me? Ask ^(EO)those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.”

²²And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by ^(EP)struck^[x] Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?”

²³Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?”

²⁴^(EQ)Then Annas sent Him bound to ^(ER)Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter Denies Twice More

²⁵Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. ^(ES)Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?”

He denied it and said, “I am not!”

²⁶One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” ²⁷Peter then denied again; and ^(ET)immediately a rooster crowed.

In Pilate’s Court^(EU)

²⁸^(EV)Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. ^(EW)But they themselves did not go into the ^[y]Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. ²⁹^(EX)Pilate then went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

³⁰They answered and said to him, “If He were not ^[z]an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you.”

³¹Then Pilate said to them, “You take Him and judge Him according to your law.”

Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,” ³²^(EY)that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, ^(EZ)signifying by what death He would die.

³³^(FA)Then Pilate entered the ^[aa]Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

³⁴Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”

³⁵Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”

³⁶^(FB)Jesus answered, ^(FC)“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

³⁷Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”

Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, ^(FD)that I should bear ^(FE)witness to the truth. Everyone who ^(FF)is of the truth ^(FG)hears My voice.”

³⁸Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, ^(FH)“I find no fault in Him at all.