26 But the (A)Helper, the Holy Spirit, (B)whom the Father will send in my name, (C)he will teach you all things and (D)bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 (E)Peace I leave with you; (F)my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. (G)Let not your hearts be troubled, neither (H)let them be afraid. 28 (I)You heard me say to you, (J)‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I (K)am going to the Father, for (L)the Father is greater than I. 29 And (M)now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for (N)the ruler of this world is coming. (O)He has no claim on me, 31 but I do (P)as the Father has commanded me, (Q)so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the (R)true vine, and my Father is (S)the vinedresser. (T)Every branch in me that does not bear fruit (U)he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, (V)that it may bear more fruit. Already (W)you are clean (X)because of the word that I have spoken to you. (Y)Abide (Z)in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; (AA)you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that (AB)bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me (AC)he is thrown away like a branch and withers; (AD)and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If (AE)you abide in me, and my words abide in you, (AF)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (AG)By this my Father is glorified, that you (AH)bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (AI)As the Father has loved me, (AJ)so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 (AK)If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as (AL)I have kept (AM)my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, (AN)that my joy may be in you, and that (AO)your joy may be full.

12 (AP)“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 (AQ)Greater love has no one than this, (AR)that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are (AS)my friends (AT)if you do what I command you. 15 (AU)No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant (AV)does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for (AW)all that I have heard from my Father (AX)I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but (AY)I chose you and appointed you that you should go and (AZ)bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that (BA)whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, (BB)so that you will love one another.

The Hatred of the World

18 (BC)“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 (BD)If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because (BE)you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: (BF)‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, (BG)they will also persecute you. (BH)If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But (BI)all these things they will do to you (BJ)on account of my name, (BK)because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, (BL)they would not have been guilty of sin,[b] but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 (BM)Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 (BN)If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, (BO)they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have (BP)seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But (BQ)the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: (BR)‘They hated me without a cause.’

26 “But (BS)when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, (BT)he will bear witness about me. 27 And (BU)you also will bear witness, (BV)because you have been with me (BW)from the beginning.

16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. (BX)They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, (BY)the hour is coming when (BZ)whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things (CA)because they have not known the Father, nor me. But (CB)I have said these things to you, that when (CC)their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, (CD)because I was with you. But now (CE)I am going to him who sent me, and (CF)none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, (CG)sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for (CH)if I do not go away, (CI)the Helper will not come to you. But (CJ)if (CK)I go, (CL)I will send him to you. (CM)And when he comes, he will (CN)convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

Footnotes

  1. John 15:15 Or bondservants, or slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface); likewise for servant later in this verse and in verse 20
  2. John 15:22 Greek they would not have sin; also verse 24

26 But the Advocate,(A) the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,(B) will teach you all things(C) and will remind you of everything I have said to you.(D) 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.(E) I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled(F) and do not be afraid.

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

“Come now; let us leave.

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am(M) the true vine,(N) and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,(O) while every branch that does bear fruit(P) he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.(Q) Remain in me, as I also remain in you.(R) No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;(S) apart from me you can do nothing. If 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.(T) If you remain in me(U) and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.(V) This is to my Father’s glory,(W) that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.(X)

“As the Father has loved me,(Y) so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands,(Z) you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.(AA) 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.(AB) 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.(AC) 14 You are my friends(AD) if you do what I command.(AE) 15 I 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.(AF) 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you(AG) so that you might go and bear fruit(AH)—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.(AI) 17 This is my command: Love each other.(AJ)

The World Hates the Disciples

18 “If the world hates you,(AK) keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If 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(AL) out of the world. That is why the world hates you.(AM) 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b](AN) If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.(AO) If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name,(AP) for they do not know the one who sent me.(AQ) 22 If I had not come and spoken to them,(AR) they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.(AS) 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did,(AT) they would not be guilty of sin.(AU) As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law:(AV) ‘They hated me without reason.’[c](AW)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

26 “When the Advocate(AX) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father(AY)—the Spirit of truth(AZ) who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.(BA) 27 And you also must testify,(BB) for you have been with me from the beginning.(BC)

16 “All this(BD) I have told you so that you will not fall away.(BE) They will put you out of the synagogue;(BF) in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.(BG) They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.(BH) I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember(BI) that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,(BJ) but now I am going to him who sent me.(BK) None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’(BL) Rather, you are filled with grief(BM) because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate(BN) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.(BO) When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:

Footnotes

  1. John 15:2 The Greek for he prunes also means he cleans.
  2. John 15:20 John 13:16
  3. John 15:25 Psalms 35:19; 69:4