John 15
New King James Version
The True Vine
15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 (A)Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He [a]takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear (B)more fruit. 3 (C)You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 (D)Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much (E)fruit; for without Me you can do (F)nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, (G)he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words (H)abide in you, (I)you[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 (J)By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; (K)so you will be My disciples.
Love and Joy Perfected
9 “As the Father (L)loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 (M)If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and (N)that your joy may be full. 12 (O)This is My (P)commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 (Q)Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 (R)You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, (S)for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 (T)You did not choose Me, but I chose you and (U)appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father (V)in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
The World’s Hatred
18 (W)“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 (X)If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet (Y)because 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, (Z)‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. (AA)If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But (AB)all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 22 (AC)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, (AD)but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 (AE)He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done among them (AF)the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have (AG)seen and also hated both Me and My Father. 25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, (AH)‘They hated Me without a cause.’
The Coming Rejection
26 (AI)“But when the [c]Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, (AJ)He will testify of Me. 27 And (AK)you also will bear witness, because (AL)you have been with Me from the beginning.
Footnotes
- John 15:2 Or lifts up
- John 15:7 NU omits you will
- John 15:26 Comforter, Gr. Parakletos
John 15
Amplified Bible
Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches
15 “[a]I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you]. 4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. 5 [b]I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples. 9 I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you]. 10 If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.
Disciples’ Relation to Each Other
12 “This is My commandment, that you [c]love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. 16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you. 17 This [is what] I command you: that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another.
Disciples’ Relation to the World
18 “If the world hates you [and it does], know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love [you as] its own and would treat you with affection. But you are not of the world [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this the world hates you. 20 Remember [and continue to remember] that I told you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But they will do all these [hurtful] things to you for My name’s sake [because you bear My name and are identified with Me], for they do not know the One who sent Me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have [the guilt of their] sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 The one who hates Me also hates My Father. 24 If I had not done among them the works (attesting miracles) which no one else [ever] did, they would not have [the guilt of their] sin; but now [the fact is that] they have both seen [these works] and have hated Me [and continue to hate Me] and My Father as well. 25 But [this is so] that the word which has been written in their Law would be fulfilled, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’(A)
26 “But when the [d]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, He will testify and bear witness about Me. 27 But you will testify also and be My witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
Footnotes
- John 15:1 The seventh of the memorable “I am” statements. See note 6:35.
- John 15:5 See note v 1.
- John 15:12 See note 13:34.
- John 15:26 Gr Paracletos, one called alongside to help.
John 15
Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus Is Like a Vine
15 Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch[a] of mine that does not produce fruit.[b] He also trims every branch that produces fruit to prepare it to produce even more. 3 You have already been prepared to produce more fruit by the teaching I have given you. 4 Stay joined to me and I will stay joined to you. No branch can produce fruit alone. It must stay connected to the vine. It is the same with you. You cannot produce fruit alone. You must stay joined to me.
5 “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I to you, you will produce plenty of fruit. But separated from me you won’t be able to do anything. 6 If you don’t stay joined to me, you will be like a branch that has been thrown out and has dried up. All the dead branches like that are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 Stay joined together with me, and follow my teachings. If you do this, you can ask for anything you want, and it will be given to you. 8 Show that you are my followers by producing much fruit. This will bring honor[c] to my Father.
9 “I have loved you as the Father has loved me. Now continue in my love. 10 I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and he continues to love me. In the same way, if you obey my commands, I will continue to love you. 11 I have told you these things so that you can have the true happiness that I have. I want you to be completely happy. 12 This is what I command you: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 The greatest love people can show is to die for their friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I tell you to do. 15 I no longer call you servants, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. But now I call you friends, because I have told you everything that my Father told me.
16 “You did not choose me. I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and produce fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Jesus Warns His Followers
18 “If the world hates you, remember that they hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as it loves its own people. But I have chosen you to be different from those in the world. So you don’t belong to the world, and that is why the world hates you.
20 “Remember the lesson I told you: Servants are not greater than their master. If people treated me badly, they will treat you badly too. And if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too. 21 They will do to you whatever they did to me, because you belong to me. They don’t know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to the people of the world, they would not be guilty of sin. But now I have spoken to them. So they have no excuse for their sin.
23 “Whoever hates me also hates my Father. 24 I did things among the people of the world that no one else has ever done. If I had not done those things, they would not be guilty of sin. But they have seen what I did, and still they hate me and my Father. 25 But this happened to make clear the full meaning of what is written in their law: ‘They hated me for no reason.’[d]
26 “I will send you the Helper[e] from the Father. The Helper is the Spirit of truth[f] who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me. 27 And you will tell people about me too, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Footnotes
- John 15:2 branch The “branches” are Jesus’ followers. See verse 5.
- John 15:2 produce fruit Meaning the way Jesus’ followers must live to show they belong to him. See verses 7-10.
- John 15:8 honor Or “glory.” See “glory” in the Word List.
- John 15:25 ‘They hated me for no reason’ These words could be from Ps. 35:19 or Ps. 69:4.
- John 15:26 Helper Or “Comforter.” Also in 16:7, 8.
- John 15:26 Spirit of truth The Holy Spirit (see “Holy Spirit” in the Word List). It was his work to help Jesus’ followers understand God’s truth. See Jn. 16:13.
John 15
Complete Jewish Bible
15 “I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit. 3 Right now, because of the word which I have spoken to you, you are pruned. 4 Stay united with me, as I will with you — for just as the branch can’t put forth fruit by itself apart from the vine, so you can’t bear fruit apart from me.
5 “I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from me you can’t do a thing. 6 Unless a person remains united with me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, where they are burned up.
7 “If you remain united with me, and my words with you, then ask whatever you want, and it will happen for you. 8 This is how my Father is glorified — in your bearing much fruit; this is how you will prove to be my talmidim.
9 “Just as my Father has loved me, I too have loved you; so stay in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will stay in my love — just as I have kept my Father’s commands and stay in his love. 11 I have said this to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy be complete.
12 “This is my command: that you keep on loving each other just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends, if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is about; but I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, I chose you; and I have commissioned you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last; so that whatever you ask from the Father in my name he may give you. 17 This is what I command you: keep loving each other!
18 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own. But because you do not belong to the world — on the contrary, I have picked you out of the world — therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they kept my word, they will keep yours too. 21 But they will do all this to you on my account, because they don’t know the One who sent me.
22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t be guilty of sin; but now, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done in their presence works which no one else ever did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now, they have seen them and have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this has happened in order to fulfill the words in their Torah which read, ‘They hated me for no reason at all.’[a]
26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send you from the Father — the Spirit of Truth, who keeps going out from the Father — he will testify on my behalf. 27 And you testify too, because you have been with me from the outset.
Footnotes
- John 15:25 Psalms 35:19; 69:5(4)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.