Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

^15 (A)“If you love me, you will ^(B)keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another ^(C)Helper,^[a] to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even ^(D)the Spirit of truth, ^(E)whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and ^(F)will be^[b] in you.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; ^(G)I will come to you. ^19 (H)Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but ^(I)you will see me. ^(J)Because I live, you also will live. ^20 (K)In that day you will know that ^(L)I am in my Father, and ^(M)you in me, and ^(N)I in you. ^21 (O)Whoever has my commandments and ^(P)keeps them, he it is who loves me. And ^(Q)he who loves me ^(R)will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and ^(S)manifest myself to him.” ^22 (T)Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it ^(U)that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus answered him, ^(V)“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and ^(W)we will come to him and ^(X)make our home with him. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And ^(Y)the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the ^(Z)Helper, the Holy Spirit, ^(AA)whom the Father will send in my name, ^(AB)he will teach you all things and ^(AC)bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ^27 (AD)Peace I leave with you; ^(AE)my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. ^(AF)Let not your hearts be troubled, neither ^(AG)let them be afraid. ^28 (AH)You heard me say to you, ^(AI)‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I ^(AJ)am going to the Father, for ^(AK)the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ And ^(AL)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 ^(AM)the ruler of this world is coming. ^(AN)He has no claim on me, ³¹ but I do ^(AO)as the Father has commanded me, ^(AP)so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

⁴ But ^(A)I have said these things to you, that when ^(B)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, ^(C)because I was with you. ⁵ But now ^(D)I am going to him who sent me, and ^(E)none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, ^(F)sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for ^(G)if I do not go away, ^(H)the Helper will not come to you. But ^(I)if ^(J)I go, ^(K)I will send him to you. ^8 (L)And when he comes, he will ^(M)convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, ^(N)because they do not believe in me; ^10 (O)concerning righteousness, ^(P)because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ^11 (Q)concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world ^(R)is judged.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When ^(S)the Spirit of truth comes, ^(T)he will ^(U)guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but ^(V)whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will ^(W)glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ^15 (X)All that the Father has is mine; ^(Y)therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, ^(A)“All authority ^(B)in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ^19 (C)Go therefore and ^(D)make disciples of ^(E)all nations, ^(F)baptizing them ^(G)in^{[a] (H)}the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them ^(I)to observe all that ^(J)I have commanded you. And behold, ^(K)I am with you always, to ^(L)the end of the age.”

Who Is the Greatest?

18 ^(A)At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you ^(B)turn and ^(C)become like children, you ^(D)will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ^4 (E)Whoever humbles himself like this child is the ^(F)greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

^5 (G)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶ but ^(H)whoever causes one of these ^(I)little ones who believe in me to sin,^[a] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin

⁷ “Woe to the world for ^(J)temptations to sin!^{[b] (K)}For it is necessary that temptations come, ^(L)but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ^8 (M)And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into ^(N)the eternal fire. ^9 (O)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the ^(P)hell^[c] of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise ^(Q)one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven ^(R)their angels always ^(S)see the face of my Father who is in heaven.^{[d] 12 (T)}What do you think? ^(U)If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴ So ^(V)it is not the will of my^[e] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

^15 (W)“If your brother sins against you, ^(X)go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ^(Y)gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ^(Z)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, ^(AA)tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(AB)let him be to you as ^(AC)a Gentile and ^(AD)a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, ^(AE)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[f] in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you ^(AF)agree on earth about anything they ask, ^(AG)it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are ^(AH)gathered in my name, ^(AI)there am I among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often ^(AJ)will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ^(AK)As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[g]

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished ^(AL)to settle accounts with his servants.^{[h] 24} When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ^(AM)ten thousand ^(AN)talents.^{[i] 25 (AO)}And since he could not pay, his master ordered him ^(AP)to be sold, with his wife and ^(AQ)children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant^{[j] (AR)}fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and ^(AS)forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred ^(AT)denarii,^[k] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (AU)And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ^34 (AV)And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,^{[l] (AW)}until he should pay all his debt. ^35 (AX)So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother ^(AY)from your heart.”