John 13-17

New International Version

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Festival.^(A) Jesus knew that the hour had come^(B) for him to leave this world and go to the Father.^(C) Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

²The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.^(D) ³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power,^(E) and that he had come from God^(F) and was returning to God; ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.^(G) ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet,^(H) drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”^(I)

⁸“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean,^(J) though not every one of you.”^(K) ¹¹For he knew who was going to betray him,^(L) and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³“You call me ‘Teacher’^(M) and ‘Lord,’^(N) and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.^(O) ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.^(P) ¹⁶Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master,^(Q) nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.^(R)

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

¹⁸“I am not referring to all of you;^(S) I know those I have chosen.^(T) But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture:^(U) ‘He who shared my bread^(V) has turned^[a]^(W) against me.’^[b]^(X)

¹⁹“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe^(Y) that I am who I am.^(Z) ²⁰Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”^(AA)

²¹After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit^(AB) and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”^(AC)

²²His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. ²³One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved,^(AD) was reclining next to him. ²⁴Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

²⁵Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”^(AE)

²⁶Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas,^(AF) the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.^(AG)

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” ²⁸But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹Since Judas had charge of the money,^(AH) some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival,^(AI) or to give something to the poor.^(AJ) ³⁰As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.^(AK)

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial^(AL)

³¹When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man^(AM) is glorified^(AN) and God is glorified in him.^(AO) ³²If God is glorified in him,^[c] God will glorify the Son in himself,^(AP) and will glorify him at once.

³³“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.^(AQ)

³⁴“A new command^(AR) I give you: Love one another.^(AS) As I have loved you, so you must love one another.^(AT) ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”^(AU)

³⁶Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”^(AV)

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now,^(AW) but you will follow later.”^(AX)

³⁷Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

³⁸Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!^(AY)

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled.^(AZ) You believe^(BA) in God^[d];^(BB) believe also in me. ²My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there^(BC) to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back^(BD) and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.^(BE) ⁴You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

⁵Thomas^(BF) said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶Jesus answered, “I am^(BG) the way^(BH) and the truth^(BI) and the life.^(BJ) No one comes to the Father except through me.^(BK) ⁷If you really know me, you will know^[e] my Father as well.^(BL) From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸Philip^(BM) said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

⁹Jesus 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.^(BN) How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?^(BO) The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.^(BP) Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹Believe 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.^(BQ) ¹²Very truly I tell you, whoever believes^(BR) in me will do the works I have been doing,^(BS) and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³And I will do whatever you ask^(BT) in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴You 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.^(BU) ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate^(BV) to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷the Spirit of truth.^(BW) The world cannot accept him,^(BX) because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[f] in you. ¹⁸I will not leave you as orphans;^(BY) I will come to you.^(BZ) ¹⁹Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.^(CA) Because I live, you also will live.^(CB) ²⁰On that day^(CC) you will realize that I am in my Father,^(CD) and you are in me, and I am in you.^(CE) ²¹Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.^(CF) The one who loves me will be loved by my Father,^(CG) and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

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

²³Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.^(CJ) My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.^(CK) ²⁴Anyone 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.^(CL)

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

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

“Come now; let us leave.

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am^(CY) the true vine,^(CZ) and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,^(DA) while every branch that does bear fruit^(DB) he prunes^[g] so that it will be even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.^(DC) ⁴Remain in me, as I also remain in you.^(DD) No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;^(DE) apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.^(DF) ⁷If you remain in me^(DG) and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.^(DH) ⁸This is to my Father’s glory,^(DI) that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.^(DJ)

⁹“As the Father has loved me,^(DK) so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰If you keep my commands,^(DL) you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.^(DM) ¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.^(DN) ¹³Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.^(DO) ¹⁴You are my friends^(DP) if you do what I command.^(DQ) ¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.^(DR) ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you^(DS) so that you might go and bear fruit^(DT)—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.^(DU) ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.^(DV)

The World Hates the Disciples

¹⁸“If the world hates you,^(DW) keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you^(DX) out of the world. That is why the world hates you.^(DY) ²⁰Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’^[h]^(DZ) If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.^(EA) If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹They will treat you this way because of my name,^(EB) for they do not know the one who sent me.^(EC) ²²If I had not come and spoken to them,^(ED) they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.^(EE) ²³Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴If I had not done among them the works no one else did,^(EF) they would not be guilty of sin.^(EG) As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law:^(EH) ‘They hated me without reason.’^[i]^(EI)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

²⁶“When the Advocate^(EJ) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father^(EK)—the Spirit of truth^(EL) who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.^(EM) ²⁷And you also must testify,^(EN) for you have been with me from the beginning.^(EO)

16 “All this^(EP) I have told you so that you will not fall away.^(EQ) ²They will put you out of the synagogue;^(ER) in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.^(ES) ³They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.^(ET) ⁴I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember^(EU) that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,^(EV) ⁵but now I am going to him who sent me.^(EW) None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’^(EX) ⁶Rather, you are filled with grief^(EY) because I have said these things. ⁷But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate^(EZ) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.^(FA) ⁸When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹about sin,^(FB) because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness,^(FC) because I am going to the Father,^(FD) where you can see me no longer; ¹¹and about judgment, because the prince of this world^(FE) now stands condemned.

¹²“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.^(FF) ¹³But when he, the Spirit of truth,^(FG) comes, he will guide you into all the truth.^(FH) He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵All that belongs to the Father is mine.^(FI) That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

¹⁶Jesus went on to say, “In a little while^(FJ) you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”^(FK)

¹⁷At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’^(FL) and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”^(FM) ¹⁸They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

¹⁹Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? ²⁰Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn^(FN) while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.^(FO) ²¹A woman giving birth to a child has pain^(FP) because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ²²So with you: Now is your time of grief,^(FQ) but I will see you again^(FR) and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.^(FS) ²³In that day^(FT) you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.^(FU) ²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive,^(FV) and your joy will be complete.^(FW)

²⁵“Though I have been speaking figuratively,^(FX) a time is coming^(FY) when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in my name.^(FZ) I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me^(GA) and have believed that I came from God.^(GB) ²⁸I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”^(GC)

²⁹Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.^(GD) ³⁰Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe^(GE) that you came from God.”^(GF)

³¹“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. ³²“A time is coming^(GG) and in fact has come when you will be scattered,^(GH) each to your own home. You will leave me all alone.^(GI) Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.^(GJ)

³³“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.^(GK) In this world you will have trouble.^(GL) But take heart! I have overcome^(GM) the world.”

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified

17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven^(GN) and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come.^(GO) Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.^(GP) ²For you granted him authority over all people^(GQ) that he might give eternal life^(GR) to all those you have given him.^(GS) ³Now this is eternal life: that they know you,^(GT) the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.^(GU) ⁴I have brought you glory^(GV) on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.^(GW) ⁵And now, Father, glorify me^(GX) in your presence with the glory I had with you^(GY) before the world began.^(GZ)

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

⁶“I have revealed you^[j]^(HA) to those whom you gave me^(HB) out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸For I gave them the words you gave me^(HC) and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you,^(HD) and they believed that you sent me.^(HE) ⁹I pray for them.^(HF) I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me,^(HG) for they are yours. ¹⁰All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.^(HH) And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world,^(HI) and I am coming to you.^(HJ) Holy Father, protect them by the power of^[k] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one^(HK) as we are one.^(HL) ¹²While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by^[l] that name you gave me. None has been lost^(HM) except the one doomed to destruction^(HN) so that Scripture would be fulfilled.^(HO)

¹³“I am coming to you now,^(HP) but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy^(HQ) within them. ¹⁴I have given them your word and the world has hated them,^(HR) for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.^(HS) ¹⁵My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.^(HT) ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.^(HU) ¹⁷Sanctify them by^[m] the truth; your word is truth.^(HV) ¹⁸As you sent me into the world,^(HW) I have sent them into the world.^(HX) ¹⁹For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.^(HY)

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one,^(HZ) Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.^(IA) May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.^(IB) ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me,^(IC) that they may be one as we are one^(ID)— ²³I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me^(IE) and have loved them^(IF) even as you have loved me.

²⁴“Father, I want those you have given me^(IG) to be with me where I am,^(IH) and to see my glory,^(II) the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.^(IJ)

²⁵“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you,^(IK) I know you, and they know that you have sent me.^(IL) ²⁶I have made you^[n] known to them,^(IM) and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them^(IN) and that I myself may be in them.”

Footnotes

John 13:18 Greek has lifted up his heel
John 13:18 Psalm 41:9
John 13:32 Many early manuscripts do not have If God is glorified in him.
John 14:1 Or Believe in God
John 14:7 Some manuscripts If you really knew me, you would know
John 14:17 Some early manuscripts and is
John 15:2 The Greek for he prunes also means he cleans.
John 15:20 John 13:16
John 15:25 Psalms 35:19; 69:4
John 17:6 Greek your name
John 17:11 Or Father, keep them faithful to
John 17:12 Or kept them faithful to
John 17:17 Or them to live in accordance with
John 17:26 Greek your name

John 13-17

Contemporary English Version

Jesus Washes the Feet of His Disciples

13 It was before Passover, and Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and to return to the Father. He had always loved his followers in this world, and he loved them to the very end.

²Even before the evening meal started, the devil had made Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot,^[a] decide to betray Jesus.

³Jesus knew he had come from God and would go back to God. He also knew that the Father had given him complete power. ⁴So during the meal Jesus got up, removed his outer garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵He put some water into a large bowl. Then he began washing his disciples' feet and drying them with the towel he was wearing.

⁶But when he came to Simon Peter, this disciple asked, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered, “You don't really know what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸“You will never wash my feet!” Peter replied.

“If I don't wash you,” Jesus told him, “you don't really belong to me.”

⁹Peter said, “Lord, don't wash just my feet. Wash my hands and my head.”

¹⁰Jesus answered, “People who have bathed and are clean all over need to wash just their feet. And you, my disciples, are clean, except for one of you.” ¹¹Jesus knew who would betray him. That is why he said, “except for one of you.”

¹²^(A) After Jesus had washed his disciples' feet and had put his outer garment back on, he sat down again.^[b] Then he said:

Do you understand what I have done? ¹³You call me your teacher and Lord, and you should, because that is who I am. ¹⁴And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each other. ¹⁵I have set the example, and you should do for each other exactly what I have done for you. ¹⁶^(B) I tell you for certain that servants are not greater than their master, and messengers are not greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷You know these things, and God will bless you, if you do them.

¹⁸^(C) I am not talking about all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But what the Scriptures say must come true. And they say, “The man who ate with me has turned against me!” ¹⁹I am telling you this before it all happens. Then when it does happen, you will believe who I am.^[c] ²⁰^(D) I tell you for certain that anyone who welcomes my messengers also welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

Jesus Tells What Will Happen to Him

(Matthew 26.20-25; Mark 14.17-21; Luke 22.21-23)

²¹After Jesus had said these things, he was deeply troubled and told his disciples, “I tell you for certain that one of you will betray me.” ²²They were confused about what he meant. And they just stared at each other.

²³Jesus' favorite disciple was sitting next to him at the meal, ²⁴and Simon motioned for this disciple to find out which one Jesus meant. ²⁵So the disciple leaned toward Jesus and asked, “Lord, which one of us are you talking about?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “I will dip this piece of bread in the sauce and give it to the one I was talking about.”

Then Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.^[d] ²⁷Right then Satan took control of Judas.

Jesus said, “Judas, go quickly and do what you have to do.” ²⁸No one at the meal understood what Jesus meant. ²⁹But because Judas was in charge of the money, some of them thought that Jesus had told him to buy something they needed for the festival. Others thought that Jesus had told him to give some money to the poor. ³⁰Judas took the piece of bread and went out.

It was already night.

The New Command

³¹After Judas had gone, Jesus said:

Now the Son of Man will be given glory, and he will bring glory to God. ³²Then, after God is given glory because of him, God will bring glory to him, and God will do it very soon.

³³^(E) My children, I will be with you for only a little while longer. Then you will look for me, but you won't find me. I tell you just as I told the people, “You cannot go where I am going.” ³⁴^(F) But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. ³⁵If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

Peter's Promise

(Matthew 26.31-35; Mark 14.27-31; Luke 22.31-34)

³⁶Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus answered, “You can't go with me now, but later on you will.”

³⁷Peter asked, “Lord, why can't I go with you now? I would die for you!”

³⁸“Would you really die for me?” Jesus asked. “I tell you for certain before a rooster crows, you will say three times that you don't even know me.”

Jesus Is the Way to the Father

14 Jesus said to his disciples, “Don't be worried! Have faith in God and have faith in me.^[e] ²There are many rooms in my Father's house. I wouldn't tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. ³After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together. ⁴You know the way to where I am going.”

⁵Thomas said, “Lord, we don't even know where you are going! How can we know the way?”

⁶^(G) “I am the way, the truth, and the life!” Jesus answered. “Without me, no one can go to the Father. ⁷If you had really known me, you would have known the Father. But from now on, you do know him, and you have seen him.”

⁸Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”

⁹Jesus replied:

Philip, I have been with you for a long time. Don't you know who I am? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. How can you ask me to show you the Father? ¹⁰Don't you believe that I am one with the Father and that the Father is one with me? What I say isn't said on my own. The Father who lives in me does these things.

¹¹Have faith in me when I say that the Father is one with me and that I am one with the Father. Or else have faith in me simply because of the things I do. ¹²I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things I am doing. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father. ¹³Ask me, and I will do whatever you ask. This way the Son will bring honor to the Father. ¹⁴I will do whatever you ask me to do.

The Holy Spirit Is Promised

¹⁵^(H) Jesus said to his disciples:

If you love me, you will do as I command. ¹⁶Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help^[f] you and always be with you. ¹⁷The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don't see or know him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.

¹⁸I won't leave you like orphans. I will come back to you. ¹⁹In a little while the people of this world won't be able to see me, but you will see me. And because I live, you will live. ²⁰Then you will know I am one with the Father. You will know you are one with me, and I am one with you. ²¹^(I) If you love me, you will do what I have said, and my Father will love you. I will also love you and show you what I am like.

²²The other Judas, not Judas Iscariot,^[g] then spoke up and asked, “Lord, what do you mean by saying that you will show us what you are like, but you will not show the people of this world?”

²³Jesus replied:

If anyone loves me, they will obey me. Then my Father will love them, and we will come to them and live in them. ²⁴But anyone who doesn't love me, won't obey me. What they have heard me say doesn't really come from me, but from the Father who sent me.

²⁵I have told you these things while I am still with you. ²⁶But the Holy Spirit will come and help^[h] you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.

²⁷I give you peace, the kind of peace only I can give. It isn't like the peace this world can give. So don't be worried or afraid.

²⁸You have already heard me say I am going and I will also come back to you. If you really love me, you should be glad I am going back to the Father, because he is greater than I am.

²⁹I am telling you this before I leave, so when it does happen, you will have faith in me. ³⁰I cannot speak with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. But he has no power over me. ³¹I obey my Father, so everyone in the world might know that I love him.

It is time for us to go now.

Jesus Is the True Vine

15 Jesus said to his disciples:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts away every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit. But he trims clean every branch that does produce fruit, so that it will produce even more fruit. ³You are already clean because of what I have said to you.

⁴Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me. ⁵I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me. ⁶If you don't stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire.

⁷Stay joined to me and let my teachings become part of you. Then you can pray for whatever you want, and your prayer will be answered. ⁸When you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honored. ⁹I have loved you, just as my Father has loved me. So remain faithful to my love for you. ¹⁰If you obey me, I will keep loving you, just as my Father keeps loving me, because I have obeyed him.

¹¹I have told you this to make you as completely happy as I am. ¹²^(J) Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you. ¹³The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them. ¹⁴And you are my friends, if you obey me. ¹⁵Servants don't know what their master is doing, and so I don't speak to you as my servants. I speak to you as my friends, and I have told you everything my Father has told me.

¹⁶You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name.^[i] ¹⁷So I command you to love each other.

The World's Hatred

¹⁸If the people of this world^[j] hate you, just remember that they hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, its people would love you. But you don't belong to the world. I have chosen you to leave the world behind, and this is why its people hate you. ²⁰^(K) Remember how I told you that servants are not greater than their master. So if people mistreat me, they will mistreat you. If they do what I say, they will do what you say.

²¹People will do to you exactly what they did to me. They will do it because you belong to me, and they don't know the one who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

²³Everyone who hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴I have done things no one else has ever done. If they had not seen me do these things, they would not be guilty. But they did see me do these things, and they still hate me and my Father too. ²⁵^(L) This is why the Scriptures are true when they say, “People hated me for no reason.”

²⁶I will send you the Spirit who comes from the Father and shows what is true. The Spirit will help^[k] you and will tell you about me. ²⁷Then you will also tell others about me, because you have been with me from the beginning.

16 I am telling you these things, so that you will not turn away. ²You will be chased out of the synagogues. And the time will come when people will kill you and think they are doing God a favor. ³They will do these things because they don't know either the Father or me. ⁴I am saying this to you now, so that when the time comes, you will remember what I have said.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

I was with you at the first, and so I didn't tell you these things. ⁵But now I am going back to the Father who sent me, and none of you asks me where I am going. ⁶You are very sad from hearing all of this. ⁷But I tell you I am going to do what is best for you. This is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help^[l] you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you.

⁸The Spirit will come and show the people of this world the truth about sin and God's justice and the judgment. ⁹The Spirit will show them that they are wrong about sin, because they didn't have faith in me. ¹⁰They are wrong about God's justice, because I am going to the Father, and you won't see me again. ¹¹And they are wrong about the judgment, because God has already judged the ruler of this world.

¹²I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. ¹³^(M) The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn't speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen. ¹⁴The Spirit will bring glory to me by taking my message and telling it to you. ¹⁵Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I have said that the Spirit takes my message and tells it to you.

Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

¹⁶Jesus told his disciples, “For a little while you won't see me, but after a while you will see me.”

¹⁷They said to each other, “What does Jesus mean by saying that for a little while we won't see him, but after a while we will see him? What does he mean by saying he is going to the Father? ¹⁸What is this ‘little while’ that he is talking about? We don't know what he means.”

¹⁹Jesus knew they had some questions, so he said:

You are wondering what I meant when I said that for a little while you won't see me, but after a while you will see me. ²⁰I tell you for certain that you will cry and be sad, but the world will be happy. You will be sad, but later you will be happy.

²¹When a woman is about to give birth, she is in great pain. But after it is all over, she forgets the pain and is happy, because she has brought a child into the world. ²²You are now very sad. But later I will see you, and you will be so happy that no one will be able to change the way you feel. ²³When that time comes, you won't have to ask me about anything. I tell you for certain the Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name. ²⁴You have not asked for anything in this way before, but now you must ask in my name.^[m] Then it will be given to you, so you will be completely happy.

²⁵I have used examples to explain to you what I have been talking about. But the time will come when I will speak to you plainly about the Father and will no longer use examples like these. ²⁶You will ask the Father in my name,^[n] and I won't have to ask him for you. ²⁷God the Father loves you because you love me, and you believe I have come from him. ²⁸I came from the Father into the world, but I am leaving the world and returning to the Father.

²⁹The disciples said, “Now you are speaking plainly to us! You are not using examples. ³⁰At last we know that you understand everything, and we don't have any more questions. Now we believe you truly have come from God.”

³¹Jesus replied:

Do you really believe me? ³²The time will come and is already here when all of you will be scattered. Each of you will go back home and leave me by myself. But the Father will be with me, and I won't be alone. ³³I have told you this, so that you might have peace in your hearts because of me. While you are in the world, you will have to suffer. But cheer up! I have defeated the world.^[o]

Jesus Prays

17 After Jesus had finished speaking to his disciples, he looked up toward heaven and prayed:

Father, the time has come for you to bring glory to your Son, in order that he may bring glory to you. ²And you gave him power over all people, so he would give eternal life to everyone you give him. ³^(N) Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. ⁴I have brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you gave me to do. ⁵Now, Father, give me back the glory I had with you before the world was created.

⁶You have given me some followers from this world, and I have shown them what you are like. They were yours, but you gave them to me, and they have obeyed you. ⁷They know that you gave me everything I have. ⁸I told my followers what you told me, and they accepted it. They know I came from you, and they believe you are the one who sent me. ⁹I am praying for them, but not for those who belong to this world.^[p] My followers belong to you, and I am praying for them. ¹⁰All I have is yours, and all you have is mine, and they will bring glory to me.

¹¹Holy Father, I am no longer in the world. I am coming to you, but my followers are still in the world. So keep them safe by the power of the name you have given me. Then they will be one with each other, just as you and I are one. ¹²^(O) While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost, except the one who had to be lost. This happened so that what the Scriptures say would come true.

¹³I am on my way to you. But I say these things while I am still in the world, so my followers will have the same complete joy that I do. ¹⁴I have told them your message. But the people of this world hate them, because they don't belong to this world, just as I don't.

¹⁵Father, I don't ask you to take my followers out of the world, but keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶They don't belong to this world, and neither do I. ¹⁷Your word is the truth. So let this truth make them completely yours. ¹⁸I am sending them into the world, just as you sent me. ¹⁹I have given myself completely for their sake, so they may belong completely to the truth.

²⁰I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. ²¹I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.

²²I have honored my followers in the same way you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. ²³I am one with them, and you are one with me, so they may become completely one. Then this world's people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.

²⁴Father, I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am. Then they will see the glory you have given me, because you loved me before the world was created. ²⁵Good Father, the people of this world don't know you. But I know you, and my followers know that you sent me. ²⁶I told them what you are like, and I will tell them even more. Then the love you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.

Footnotes

13.2 Iscariot: See the note at 6.71.
13.12 sat down again: On special occasions the Jewish people followed the Greek and Roman custom of lying down on their left side and leaning on their left elbow, while eating with their right hand.
13.19 I am: See the note at 8.24.
13.26 Iscariot: See the note at 6.71.
14.1 Have faith in God and have faith in me: Or “You have faith in God, so have faith in me.”
14.16 help: The Greek word may mean “comfort,” “encourage,” or “defend.”
14.22 Iscariot: See the note at 6.71.
14.26 help: See the note at 14.16.
15.16 in my name: Or “because you are my followers.”
15.18 world: See the note at 12.31.
15.26 help: See the note at 14.16.
16.7 help: See the note at 14.16.
16.23,24 in my name … in my name: Or “as my disciples … as my disciples.”
16.26 in my name: Or “because you are my followers.”
16.33 world: See the note at 12.31.
17.9 world: See the note at 12.31.

John 13-17

The Message

Washing His Disciples’ Feet

13 ^1-2Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal.

^3-6Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”

⁸Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”

Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”

⁹“Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”

^10-12Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”) After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.

^12-17Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.

The One Who Ate Bread at My Table

^18-20“I’m not including all of you in this. I know precisely whom I’ve selected, so as not to interfere with the fulfillment of this Scripture:

The one who ate bread at my table

Will stab me in the back.

“I’m telling you all this ahead of time so that when it happens you will believe that I am who I say I am. Make sure you get this right: Receiving someone I send is the same as receiving me, just as receiving me is the same as receiving the One who sent me.”

²¹After he said these things, Jesus became visibly upset, and then he told them why. “One of you is going to betray me.”

^22-25The disciples looked around at one another, wondering who on earth he was talking about. One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved dearly, was reclining against him, his head on his shoulder. Peter motioned to him to ask who Jesus might be talking about. So, being the closest, he said, “Master, who?”

^26-27Jesus said, “The one to whom I give this crust of bread after I’ve dipped it.” Then he dipped the crust and gave it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. As soon as the bread was in his hand, Satan entered him.

“What you must do,” said Jesus, “do. Do it and get it over with.”

^28-29No one around the supper table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas was their treasurer, Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the Feast, or that he should give something to the poor.

³⁰Judas, with the piece of bread, left. It was night.

A New Command

^31-32When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is seen for who he is, and God seen for who he is in him. The moment God is seen in him, God’s glory will be on display. In glorifying him, he himself is glorified—glory all around!

³³“Children, I am with you for only a short time longer. You are going to look high and low for me. But just as I told the Jews, I’m telling you: ‘Where I go, you are not able to come.’

^34-35“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

³⁶Simon Peter asked, “Master, just where are you going?”

Jesus answered, “You can’t now follow me where I’m going. You will follow later.”

³⁷“Master,” said Peter, “why can’t I follow now? I’ll lay down my life for you!”

³⁸“Really? You’ll lay down your life for me? The truth is that before the rooster crows, you’ll deny me three times.”

The Road

14 ^1-4“Don’t let this rattle you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”

⁵Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

^6-7Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

⁸Philip said, “Master, show us the Father; then we’ll be content.”

^9-10“You’ve been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don’t understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.

^11-14“Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do.

The Spirit of Truth

^15-17“If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!

^18-20“I will not leave you orphaned. I’m coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me because I am alive and you’re about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I’m in my Father, and you’re in me, and I’m in you.

²¹“The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him.”

²²Judas (not Iscariot) said, “Master, why is it that you are about to make yourself plain to us but not to the world?”

^23-24“Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent me.

^25-27“I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

²⁸“You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.

^29-31“I’ve told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I’ll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don’t worry—he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father’s instructions right down to the last detail.

“Get up. Let’s go. It’s time to leave here.”

The Vine and the Branches

15 ^1-3“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

⁴“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

^5-8“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

^9-10“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.

^11-15“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.

¹⁶“You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.

¹⁷“But remember the root command: Love one another.

Hated by the World

^18-19“If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.

²⁰“When that happens, remember this: Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.

^21-25“They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don’t know the One who sent me. If I hadn’t come and told them all this in plain language, it wouldn’t be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse. Hate me, hate my Father—it’s all the same. If I hadn’t done what I have done among them, works no one has ever done, they wouldn’t be to blame. But they saw the God-signs and hated anyway, both me and my Father. Interesting—they have verified the truth of their own Scriptures where it is written, ‘They hated me for no good reason.’

^26-27“When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start.”

16 ^1-4“I’ve told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I’ve told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you’ll be well-warned and ready for them.

The Friend Will Come

^4-7“I didn’t tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. But now I am on my way to the One who sent me. Not one of you has asked, ‘Where are you going?’ Instead, the longer I’ve talked, the sadder you’ve become. So let me say it again, this truth: It’s better for you that I leave. If I don’t leave, the Friend won’t come. But if I go, I’ll send him to you.

^8-11“When he comes, he’ll expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.

^12-15“I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’

¹⁶“In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me.”

Joy Like a River Overflowing

^17-18That stirred up a hornet’s nest of questions among the disciples: “What’s he talking about: ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? And, ‘Because I’m on my way to the Father’? What is this ‘day or so’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

^19-20Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You’re going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You’ll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.

^21-23“When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there’s no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you’ll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You’ll no longer be so full of questions.

^23-24“This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!

^25-28“I’ve used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I’ll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I’ve revealed to you. I won’t continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won’t need to. Because you’ve gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father.”

^29-30His disciples said, “Finally! You’re giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won’t have to put up with our questions anymore. We’re convinced you came from God.”

^31-33Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

Jesus’ Prayer for His Followers

17 ^1-5Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:

Father, it’s time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his care.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.

* * *

^6-12I 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).

* * *

^13-19Now 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.

* * *

^20-23I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me.

* * *

^24-26Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.

New International Version (NIV)

John 13-17 New International Version

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial(AL)

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

Jesus the Way to the Father

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

The Vine and the Branches

The World Hates the Disciples

The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

Jesus Prays for All Believers

Footnotes

Cross references

John 13-17 Contemporary English Version

Jesus Washes the Feet of His Disciples

Jesus Tells What Will Happen to Him

(Matthew 26.20-25; Mark 14.17-21; Luke 22.21-23)

The New Command

Peter's Promise

(Matthew 26.31-35; Mark 14.27-31; Luke 22.31-34)

Jesus Is the Way to the Father

The Holy Spirit Is Promised

Jesus Is the True Vine

The World's Hatred

The Work of the Holy Spirit

Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

Jesus Prays

Footnotes

Cross references

John 13-17 The Message

Washing His Disciples’ Feet

The One Who Ate Bread at My Table

A New Command

The Road

The Spirit of Truth

The Vine and the Branches

Hated by the World

The Friend Will Come

Joy Like a River Overflowing

Jesus’ Prayer for His Followers

More on the NIV

John 13-17

New International Version

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial^(AL)

John 13-17

Contemporary English Version

John 13-17

The Message