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John 15
New Catholic Bible

The Community of the Witnesses to Christ[a]

Chapter 15

Union with Jesus[b]

1 “I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinegrower.
2 He removes every branch
that does not bear fruit,
and every branch that does
he prunes to make it bear even more.
3 You have already been cleansed
by the word I have spoken to you.
4 “Abide in me,
as I abide in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself
unless it abides in the vine,
so you cannot bear fruit
unless you abide in me.
5 “I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me, and I in him,
will bear much fruit.
Apart from me you can do nothing.
6 Whoever does not abide in me
will be thrown away like a withered branch.
Such branches are gathered up,
thrown into the fire, and burned.
7 “If you abide in me
and my words abide in you,
you may ask for whatever you wish,
and it will be done for you.
8 By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit
and become my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you.
Remain in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments,
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 may be in you
and your joy may be complete.

Love as Jesus Does[c]

12 “This is my commandment:
love one another
as I have loved you.
13 No one can have greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends
if you do what I command you.
15 “I shall no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know
what his master is doing.
I have called you friends
because I have revealed to you
everything that I have heard from my Father.
16 “You did not choose me.
Rather, I chose you.
And I appointed you
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will remain,
so that the Father may give you
whatever you ask him in my name.
17 The command I give you is this:
love one another.

Witnesses to Jesus in the Face of the World’s Hatred[d]

18 “If the world hates you,
be aware that it hated me
before it hated you.
19 If you belonged to the world,
the world would love you as its own.
But you do not belong to the world
because I have chosen you out of the world,
and therefore the world hates you.
20 “Remember the word that I said to you:
‘a servant is not greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you.
If they kept my word,
they will keep yours as well.
21 But they will do all these things to you
on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.
22 “If I had not come
and spoken to them,
they would not 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 works among them
that no one else had ever done,
they would not be guilty of sin.
But now they have seen and hated
both me and my Father.
25 All this was to fulfill the word
that is inscribed in their Law:
‘They hated me without cause.’
26 “When the Advocate comes
whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father,
he will testify on my behalf.
27 And you also are my witnesses
because you have been with me from the beginning.

Footnotes

  1. John 15:1 To the Lord’s testament (farewell discourse) were added new instructions, as though to complete it. No doubt people did not want to lose other words of the Master, often meditated on, to explain the condition of the Christian community.
    It is the life of the community on which these chapters throw light. In this group of texts, chs. 13 to 17, none of our usual words are pronounced; People of God, Body of Christ, Church, congregation. The words preferred are: to abide in, to love, to testify. In ch. 16, an image is used that suggests this mystery: the image of the vine and the branches. In these texts, love is above all a characteristic of the community itself. It is the Spirit who gives these groups the strength to exist as people of love and as witnesses of Christ.
  2. John 15:1 Every reader of the Bible knows that the image of the vine suggests not only the union but also the tragic relationship between God and Israel. The Prophets rebuked the people of the Old Testament for not producing the fruit God expected of them, for being a spouse often unfaithful to her calling to bear witness to God among the nations (see Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Ezek 19:10-14; Hos 10:1). Jesus is the new Israel, the only vine that the Father has planted. This means that the radical, constitutive reality of the Church is her inclusion in Christ through Baptism, grace, and close attachment, and that any fruitfulness the disciple may have depends on this union with Christ.
  3. John 15:12 There are many reasons for people to regroup: affinity, interest, defense. But the Christian community has only one reason: Christ and his choice of us. It also has only one way of life: to love like Christ, who went so far as to give his life. To have Christ’s love is a gift. Then prayer is not a delusion; then the Christian community’s mission can bear fruit. The fruit has already been given: God’s love for us. In Christianity all is a gift.
  4. John 15:18 The trial of Jesus, which the fourth Gospel unveils all through its pages, will not cease until the Father, to whom he is going, will have rendered justice to him in glorifying him. This drama, which people sometimes would like to conceal through reassuring words and sentiments, will not cease until the end of time. Persecution awaits Jesus, not because of some fatal error but because Christianity is different from what we want and claim it to be.
    The early Christians were excluded from the synagogue; hatred and violence were stirred up against them under the guise of religion. Blindness and stubbornness: this is the world in the Johannine sense, the world of the persecutors. The Spirit is the strength and the light that assists the persecuted to hold fast in this affront, which no doubt also comes to pass in the heart of every believer.
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John 15
EasyEnglish Bible

The branches must stay in the vine

15 Jesus said, ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.[a] 2 Some branches that are part of me may have no fruit on them. My Father completely removes all those branches. But other branches do have fruit. My Father cuts all those branches to make them better. Then they will be good and make more fruit. 3 The words that I have spoken to you have made you good already. 4 Continue to live in me, and I will continue to live in you. A branch cannot make fruit by itself. It can make fruit only if it continues to be part of the vine. You are like that. You cannot make fruit unless you continue to live in me.[b]

5 I am the vine, and you are the branches. You must continue to live in me and I must continue to live in you. Only if you do that will you make plenty of fruit. That is because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, that person is like a dead branch. The gardener will throw that branch away and it will die. People throw all those dead branches into the fire so that they burn. 7 You must remain in me, and my teaching must remain in you. Then you may ask for anything that you want. God will do it for you. 8 If you make plenty of fruit, that will give honour to my Father. You will show that you are truly my disciples.

9 I have loved you in the same way that the Father has loved me. Continue to live in a way that shows my love. 10 If you obey what I have told you, you will be living in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed what my Father has told me to do. In that way, I live in his love. 11 I want you to be completely happy, in the same way that I myself am happy. That is why I have told you these things.

12 This is the rule that I give to you: You must love each other, in the same way that I have loved you. 13 A person really loves his friends if he dies so that they can live. Nobody could love anyone more than that. 14 And you are my friends, if you obey my message. 15 A servant does not know what his master is doing. So I do not call you servants any more. No, I call you my friends. This is because I have told you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. I chose you to go and to make plenty of fruit. That kind of fruit will continue always. For that reason, the Father will help you with anything that you ask him. If you ask him in my name, he will do it for you.[c] 17 This is what I tell you to do: You must love each other.’

People will hate the disciples

18 ‘The people who belong to this world may hate you. But remember this: They hated me before they hated you. 19 If you belonged to this world, this world's people would love you. They would love you because you would belong with them. But I chose you so that you would be separate from this world's people. You do not belong with them, so they hate you. 20 Remember what I told you: “No servant is more important than his master is.” If they have caused trouble for me, they will also cause trouble for you. But if they have obeyed my message, they will also obey your message. 21 They will do all these things to you because you belong to me. They will do them because they do not know the one who sent me.

22 I have come and I have spoken my message to them. If I had not done that, they would not have been guilty of their sin. But now they cannot say, “We have not done anything wrong.” 23 Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. 24 When I was with them, I did many great things. Nobody else ever did things like that. If I had not done those great things among them, they would not have known what is wrong. But they have seen what I did. As a result, they have hated me, and they have hated my Father too. 25 Their book of God's Law says, “They hated me without any good reason.”[d] What that book already said long ago had to happen.

26 When I return to my Father, I will send the Helper to you. The Helper is God's Spirit who speaks only true things. He comes to you from the Father. I will send him to you and he will speak true things about me. 27 You also must speak to people about me, because you have been with me from the beginning.’

Footnotes

  1. 15:1 A vine is a plant that has many small, sweet fruits called grapes. People make wine from grapes.
  2. 15:4 Jesus speaks about fruit as a picture of the good things that will happen if we keep near to him, like a branch that belongs to a vine.
  3. 15:16 Jesus says that his disciples should ask for things ‘in his name’. This means ‘because they belong to him’. So they will ask only for things that God is happy to give to them.
  4. 15:25 See Psalms 35:19; 69:4.
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John 15
New International Version

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am(A) the true vine,(B) and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,(C) while every branch that does bear fruit(D) he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.(E) 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you.(F) No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;(G) apart from me you can do nothing. 6 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.(H) 7 If you remain in me(I) and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.(J) 8 This is to my Father’s glory,(K) that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.(L)

9 “As the Father has loved me,(M) so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands,(N) 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.(O) 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.(P) 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.(Q) 14 You are my friends(R) if you do what I command.(S) 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.(T) 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you(U) so that you might go and bear fruit(V)—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.(W) 17 This is my command: Love each other.(X)

The World Hates the Disciples

18 “If the world hates you,(Y) 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(Z) out of the world. That is why the world hates you.(AA) 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b](AB) If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.(AC) If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name,(AD) for they do not know the one who sent me.(AE) 22 If I had not come and spoken to them,(AF) they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.(AG) 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did,(AH) they would not be guilty of sin.(AI) 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:(AJ) ‘They hated me without reason.’[c](AK)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

26 “When the Advocate(AL) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father(AM)—the Spirit of truth(AN) who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.(AO) 27 And you also must testify,(AP) for you have been with me from the beginning.(AQ)

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
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Yokaana 15
Endagaano Enkadde nʼEndagaano Empya

Yesu gwe Muzabbibu gwennyini

15 (A)“Nze muzabbibu ogw’amazima, ate Kitange ye mulimi. 2 Buli ttabi eriri ku Nze eritabala bibala aliggyako. Naye buli ttabi eribala ebibala, alirongoosa lyeyongerenga okubala. 3 (B)Mmwe kaakano muli balongoofu olw’ekigambo kye mbagambye; 4 (C)mubeere mu Nze era nange mbeere mu mmwe. Ng’ettabi bwe litayinza kubala bibala ku bwalyo nga teriri ku muzabbibu, bwe mutyo nammwe temuyinza kubala bibala bwe mutabeera mu Nze.

5 (D)“Nze muzabbibu, mmwe matabi. Buli abeera mu Nze nange ne mbeera mu ye oyo abala ebibala bingi. Kubanga awatali Nze temuliiko kye muyinza kukola. 6 (E)Omuntu bw’atabeera mu nze asuulibwa ebweru ng’ettabi erikaze. Amatabi ng’ago bagakuŋŋaanya ne bagasuula ku muliro ne gaggya. 7 (F)Naye bwe munywerera mu Nze ne munyweza ebigambo byange, buli kye munaasabanga kinaabakolerwanga. 8 (G)Bwe mubala ebibala ebingi, muba bayigirizwa bange, ne Kitange, agulumizibwa.

9 (H)“Mbaagadde nga Kitange bw’anjagala. Noolwekyo munywererenga mu kwagala kwange. 10 (I)Bwe munaagonderanga ebiragiro byange olwo munaabanga munyweredde mu kwagala kwange, nga nange bwe ŋŋondera ebiragiro bya Kitange ne mbeera mu kwagala kwe. 11 (J)Mbategeezezza ebyo mulyoke mujjule essanyu lyange. Era essanyu lyammwe liryoke lituukirire. 12 (K)Kye mbalagira kye kino nti mwagalanenga nga Nze bwe mbaagala. 13 (L)Tewali kwagala kusinga okw’omuntu awaayo obulamu bwe olwa mikwano gye. 14 (M)Muba mikwano gyange bwe mukola bye mbalagira. 15 (N)Olwo nga sikyabayita baddu, kubanga omuddu tamanya bifa ku mukama we. Kaakano mmwe muli mikwano gyange, kubanga mbategeezezza byonna Kitange bye yaŋŋamba. 16 (O)Si mmwe mwannonda! Wabula Nze nabalonda, mulyoke mubale ebibala ate ebibala eby’olubeerera. Olwo buli kye munaasabanga Kitange mu linnya lyange anaakibawanga. 17 (P)Kye mbalagira kye kino nti mwagalanenga.

18 (Q)“Ensi bw’ebakyawanga mumanye nti yasooka kukyawa nze. 19 (R)Singa mubadde ba nsi, yandibaagadde, naye temuli ba nsi, kubanga nabalonda muve mu nsi, kyeva ebakyawa. 20 (S)Mujjukire kye nabagamba nti, ‘Omuddu tasinga mukama we.’ Kale obanga Nze banjigganya era nammwe bagenda kubayigganyanga. Era obanga baagondera ebigambo byange n’ebyammwe balibigondera. 21 (T)Ebyo byonna balibibakola ku lw’erinnya lyange, kubanga eyantuma tebamumanyi. 22 (U)Singa sajja ne njogera nabo tebandibadde na musango. Naye kaakano tebalina kya kwewolereza olw’ekibi kyabwe. 23 Buli ankyawa aba akyawa ne Kitange. 24 (V)Singa saakola mirimu egitaakolebwa muntu yenna mu bo tebandibaddeko musango. Naye kaakano balabye emirimu egyo, n’okutukyawa ne batukyawa, Nze ne Kitange. 25 (W)Ekyawandiikibwa ne kiryoka kituukirira ekigamba nti, ‘Bankyayira bwereere.’

26 (X)“Kyokka mmwe ndibatumira Omubeezi okuva eri Kitange, Omwoyo ow’amazima ava eri Kitange era alibategeeza buli ekinfaako. 27 (Y)Era nammwe mulinjulira, kubanga mubadde nange okuva ku lubereberye.”

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