John 14:15-29

Easy-to-Read Version

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will do what I command. ¹⁶ I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper^[a] to be with you forever. ¹⁷ The Helper is the Spirit of truth.^[b] The people of the world cannot accept him, because they don’t 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 all alone like orphans. I will come back to you. ¹⁹ In a very short time the people in the world will not see me anymore. But you will see me. You will live because I live. ²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in the Father. You will know that you are in me and I am in you. ²¹ Those who really love me are the ones who not only know my commands but also obey them. My Father will love such people, and I will love them. I will make myself known to them.”

²² Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “Lord, how will you make yourself known to us, but not to the world?”

²³ Jesus answered, “All who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. My Father and I will come to them and live with them. ²⁴ But anyone who does not love me does not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is not really mine. It is from my Father who sent me.

²⁵ “I have told you all these things while I am with you. ²⁶ But the Helper will teach you everything and cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name.

²⁷ “I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am leaving, but I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be happy that I am going back to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. ²⁹ I have told you this now, before it happens. Then when it happens, you will believe.