John 16:16-33
New American Standard Bible
Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Foretold
16 “(A)A little while, and (B)you no longer are going to see Me; and again a little while, and (C)you will see Me.” 17 So some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this that He is telling us, ‘(D)A little while, and you are not going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because (E)I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” 19 (F)Jesus knew that they wanted to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you are not going to see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20 Truly, truly I say to you that (G)you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but (H)your grief will be turned into joy! 21 (I)Whenever a woman is in labor she has [a]pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a [b]child has been born into the world. 22 Therefore (J)you too have grief now; but (K)I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one is going to take your joy away from you.
Prayer Promises
23 And (L)on that day (M)you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly I say to you, (N)if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24 (O)Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your (P)joy may be made full.
25 “These things I have spoken to you in (Q)figures of speech; (R)an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 (S)On that day (T)you will ask in My name, and I am not saying to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; 27 for (U)the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and (V)have believed that (W)I came forth from the Father. 28 (X)I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and (Y)going to the Father.”
29 His disciples *said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and are not [c]using any (Z)figure of speech. 30 Now we know that You know all things, and that You have no need for anyone to question You; this is why we (AA)believe that You (AB)came forth from God.” 31 Jesus replied to them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, (AC)an hour is coming, and has already come, for (AD)you to be scattered, each to (AE)his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet (AF)I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you so that (AG)in Me you may have peace. (AH)In the world you have tribulation, but (AI)take courage; (AJ)I have overcome the world.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- John 16:21 Lit grief
- John 16:21 Lit human being
- John 16:29 Lit saying
John 16:16-33
The Message
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
17-18 That 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.”
19-20 Jesus 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.”
29-30 His 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.”
31-33 Jesus 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.”
Read full chapterNew American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson