(A)I have revealed Your name to the men whom (B)You gave Me out of the world; they were (C)Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have (D)followed Your word. Now they have come to know that everything which You have given Me is from You; for (E)the words which You gave Me (F)I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that (G)I came forth from You, and they believed that (H)You sent Me. (I)I ask on their behalf; (J)I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on the behalf of those whom (K)You have given Me, because (L)they are Yours; 10 and (M)all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 I am no longer going to be in the world; and yet (N)they themselves are in the world, and (O)I am coming to You. (P)Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name (Q)which You have given Me, so that (R)they may be one just as We are. 12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, (S)which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and (T)not one of them perished except (U)the [a]son of destruction, so that the (V)Scripture would be fulfilled.

The Disciples in the World

13 But now (W)I am coming to You; and (X)these things I speak in the world so that they may have My (Y)joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and (Z)the world has hated them because (AA)they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from [b](AB)the evil one. 16 (AC)They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 (AD)Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 Just as (AE)You sent Me into the world, (AF)I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I (AG)sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be (AH)sanctified (AI)in truth.

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Footnotes

  1. John 17:12 Heb idiom for one destined to perish
  2. John 17:15 Or evil

6-12 I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;
They’ll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a lookout.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).

* * *

13-19 Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.

* * *

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