16 Jesus then said, ‘I have told you all these things, so that you will not turn away from God. ² People will send you away from their meeting places. There will be a time when people will want to kill you. When they do this, they will even think that they are doing what God wants. ³ They will do these things to you because they have never known either the Father or me. ⁴ But I have told you this so that you will remember. When they begin to do these things, you will remember that I told you about them already.’

The work of God's Spirit

‘I did not tell you these things at the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I will go to the Father who sent me. But none of you asks me, “Where will you go?” ⁶ And now you are very sad, because I have told you these things. ⁷ But what I tell you is true. It will be better for you if I go away. Because, if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I do go away, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will show the people of this world what they are like. He will show clearly that they are wrong. They are wrong about what sin really is. They are wrong about who is right with God. They are wrong about how God judges people. ⁹ They are wrong about sin, because they do not believe in me. ¹⁰ They are wrong about who is right with God, because I will go to the Father. Then you will not see me again. ¹¹ They are wrong about how God judges people, because God has already judged Satan, the ruler of this world.

¹² I have many more things to tell you. But you are not strong enough to know them now. ¹³ But the Spirit will come. He is the one who shows people true things about God. When he comes, he will be a guide to you. He will help you to understand everything that is true. He will not speak on his own authority. He will tell you only what he hears from the Father. He will tell you about things that will happen after this time. ¹⁴ He will take my message and he will tell it to you. In that way, he will give me honour. ¹⁵ Everything that the Father has is mine. That is why I said, “The Spirit will take what is mine and then he will tell it to you.” ’

The disciples will be sad first but after that they will be happy

¹⁶ Jesus then said, ‘After a short time, you will not see me any more. But soon after that, you will see me again.’ ¹⁷ Some of his disciples said to each other, ‘What does he mean? He says, “After a short time, you will not see me any more, but soon after that you will see me.” He also says, “It is because I go to the Father.” ¹⁸ What does he mean when he says, “a short time”? We do not know what he is talking about!’

¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this. So he said to them, ‘I said, “After a short time, you will not see me. But soon after that, you will see me again.” Perhaps you are asking each other about that. ²⁰ I tell you this: You will be sad and you will cry. But the people who belong to this world will be happy. Yes, you will be sad. But soon after that, you will become happy instead. ²¹ It will be like this. When a woman is soon to give birth to a baby, she is sad. She knows that it will be painful. But after the baby is born, she is happy. She forgets her pain, because now she is so happy. She is happy because her child has been born into the world. ²² It is like that for you. You are sad now. But I will see you again, and then you will be happy. You will be really happy. Nobody will be able to take away your joy.

²³ When that day arrives, you will not ask me for anything. I tell you this: The Father will help you with anything that you ask him for in my name. ²⁴ Until now, you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask God, and you will receive what you ask for. Then you will be completely happy.

²⁵ I have spoken to you with words and stories that are like pictures. But there will be a time when I will not speak like that any more. Instead, I will speak clearly to you about the Father. ²⁶ When that day arrives, you yourselves will ask the Father in my name.^[a] I do not say that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ I will not need to do that, because the Father himself loves you. He loves you because you love me, and you have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ Yes, I came from the Father, and I came into this world. Now I will leave this world and I will return to the Father.’

²⁹ Jesus' disciples said to him, ‘Now you are speaking clearly. You are not speaking with words that are like pictures! ³⁰ Now we are sure that you know everything. You do not even need to ask people what they are thinking. Because of this, we believe that you came from God.’ ³¹ Jesus answered them, ‘You say that you believe in me now. ³² But it will happen very soon that all of you will run away to your own homes. Yes, that time has already arrived. You will run away and leave me alone. But I will not really be alone, because the Father is always with me. ³³ I have told you these things so that you will have peace. You will be like that because you live together with me. In this world, you will have trouble. But be brave! I have destroyed the power of this world.’