John 15
New American Standard Bible
Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches
15 “(A)I am the true vine, and My Father is the (B)vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He [a]prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 (C)You are already [b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 (D)Remain in Me, [c]and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit [d]of itself [e]but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him [f](E)bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is (F)thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, (G)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My (H)Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [g](I)prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as (J)the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love. 10 (K)If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as (L)I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 (M)These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your (N)joy may be made full.
Disciples’ Relation to Each Other
12 “This is (O)My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 (P)Greater love has no one than this, that a person will (Q)lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My (R)friends if (S)you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because (T)all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 (U)You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and (V)bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that (W)whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17 This (X)I command you, that you love one another.
Disciples’ Relation to the World
18 “(Y)If the world hates you, [h]you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but (Z)I chose you out of the world, (AA)because of this the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘(AB)A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, (AC)they will persecute you as well; if they (AD)followed My word, they will follow yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you (AE)on account of My name, (AF)because they do not know the One who sent Me. 22 (AG)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have [i]sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 The one who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 (AH)If I had not done among them (AI)the works which no one else did, they would not have [j]sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25 But this has happened so that the word that is written in their (AJ)Law will be fulfilled: ‘(AK)They hated Me for no reason.’
26 “When the [k](AL)Helper comes, (AM)whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, (AN)the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, (AO)He will testify about Me, 27 and [l](AP)you are testifying as well, because you have been with Me (AQ)from the beginning.
Footnotes
- John 15:2 Lit cleans; used to describe pruning
- John 15:3 I.e., pruned like a branch
- John 15:4 Or I also remain in you
- John 15:4 Lit from
- John 15:4 Lit if it does not remain
- John 15:5 Lit this one bears
- John 15:8 Or become My disciples
- John 15:18 Or (command) know that
- John 15:22 I.e., guilt
- John 15:24 I.e., responsibility for their sin
- John 15:26 Or Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor
- John 15:27 Or (command) testify, you as well
John 15
The Message
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.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson