John 15
International Children’s Bible
Jesus Is Like a Vine
15 “I am the true vine; my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that does not produce fruit. And he trims and cleans every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce even more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the words I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can produce fruit alone. It must remain in the vine. It is the same with you. You cannot produce fruit alone. You must remain in me.
5 “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If a person remains in me and I remain in him, then he produces much fruit. But without me he can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, then he is like a branch that is thrown away. That branch dies. People pick up dead branches, throw them into the fire, and burn them. 7 Remain in me and follow my teachings. If you do this, then you can ask for anything you want, and it will be given to you. 8 You should produce much fruit and show that you are my followers. This brings glory to my Father. 9 I loved you as the Father loved me. Now remain in my love. 10 I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and I remain in his love. In the same way, if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. 11 I have told you these things so that you can have the same joy I have. I want your joy to be the fullest joy.
12 “This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I don’t call you servants now. A servant does not know what his master is doing. But now I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me; I chose you. And I gave you this work, to go and produce fruit. I want you to produce 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 it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, then it would love you as it loves its own. But I have chosen you out of the world. So you don’t belong to it. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If people did wrong to me, they will do wrong to you, too. And if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours, too. 21 They will do all this to you because of me. They don’t 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 He who hates me also hates my Father. 24 I did works among them that no one else has ever done. If I had not done those works, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen what I did, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this happened so that what is written in their law would be true: ‘They hated me for no reason.’[a]
26 “I will send you the Helper[b] from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me. 27 And you also must tell people about me because you have been with me from the beginning.
Footnotes
- 15:25 ‘They . . . reason.’ These words could be from Psalm 35:19 or Psalm 69:4.
- 15:26; 16:7 Helper “Counselor,” or “Comforter.” Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit.
John 15
1599 Geneva Bible
15 1 By the parable of the vine, 2 and the branches, 5, 6 he declareth how the disciples may bear fruit. 12, 17 He commendeth mutual love. 18 He exhorteth them to bear afflictions patiently, 20 by his own example.
1 I [a]am that true vine, and my Father is that husbandman.
2 (A)Every branch that beareth not fruit in me, he taketh away: and everyone that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 (B)Now are ye clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you: as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am that vine: ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me can ye do nothing.
6 (C)If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and withereth: and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they burn.
7 (D)[b]If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask what ye will, and it shall be done to you.
8 [c]Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, and be made my disciples.
9 [d]As the father hath loved me, so have I loved you: [e]continue in that my love.
10 If ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 (E)This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love than this hath no man, when any man bestoweth his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 [f]Henceforth call I you not servants: for the servant knoweth not what his master doeth: but I have called you friends: for all things that I have heard of my Father, have I made known to you.
16 [g]Ye [h]have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, (F)that ye go and bring forth fruits, and that your fruit remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my Name, he may give it you.
17 These things command I you, that ye love one another.
18 [i]If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, (G)The servant is not greater than his master. (H)If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also: if they have kept my word, they will also keep yours.
21 [j]But (I)all these things will they do unto you for my Name’s sake, because they have not known him that sent me.
22 [k]If I had not come and spoken unto them, they should not have had sin: but now have they no cloak for their sin.
23 He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done works among them which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen, and have hated both me, and my Father.
25 But it is that the word might be fulfilled, that is written in their [l]Law, (J)They hated me without a cause.
26 [m]But when that Comforter shall come, (K)whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth of the Father, he shall testify of me.
27 And ye shall witness also, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
Footnotes
- John 15:1 We are of nature dry and fit for nothing but the fire: Therefore that we may live and be fruitful, we must first be grafted into Christ, as it were into a vine by the Father’s hand: and then be daily shred with a continual meditation of the word and the cross; otherwise it shall not avail any man at all to have been grafted, unless he cleave fast unto the vine, and so draw juice out of it.
- John 15:7 He abideth in Christ, which resteth in his doctrine, and therefore bringeth forth good fruit: And the Father will deny such an one nothing.
- John 15:8 As who would say, Herein shall my Father be glorified, and herein also shall you be my disciples, if you bring forth much fruit.
- John 15:9 The love of the Father towards the Son, and of the Son towards us, and ours towards God and our neighbor, are joined together with an inseparable knot: and there is nothing more sweet and pleasant than it is. Now this love showeth itself by its effects: a most perfect example whereof, Christ himself exhibited unto us.
- John 15:9 That is, in that love, wherewith I love you: which love is on both parts.
- John 15:15 The doctrine of the Gospel (as it is uttered by Christ’s own mouth) is a most perfect and absolute declaration of the counsel of God, which pertaineth to our salvation, and is committed unto the Apostles.
- John 15:16 Christ is the author and preserver of the ministry of the Gospel, even to the world’s end, but the ministers have above all things need of prayer and brotherly love.
- John 15:16 This place teacheth us plainly, that our salvation cometh from the only favor and gracious goodness of the everlasting God towards us, and of nothing that we do or can deserve.
- John 15:18 It ought not only not to fear, but rather confirm the faithful ministers of Christ, when they shall be hated of the world as their Master was.
- John 15:21 The hatred that the world beareth against Christ, proceedeth of the blockishness of the mind, which notwithstanding is voluntary blind, so that the world can pretend no excuse to cover their fault.
- John 15:22 As who would say, If I had not come, these men would not have stuck to have said still before God’s judgment seat, that they are religious, and void of sin: but seeing I came to them, and they clean refuse me, they can have no cloak for their wickedness.
- John 15:25 Sometime by this word, Law, are meant the five books of Moses, but in this place, the whole Scripture: for the place alleged is in the Psalms.
- John 15:26 Against the rage of the wicked, we shall stand surely by the inward testimony of the holy Ghost: But the holy Ghost speaketh no otherwise, than he spake by the mouth of the Apostles.
John 15
Worldwide English (New Testament)
15 I am the real fruit tree. My Father is the One who takes care of the tree.
2 He takes away from me every branch that does not bear fruit. And he cleans every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit.
3 What I said to you has made you clean already.
4 But you must be in me and I will be in you. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself. It must be joined to the tree. And you cannot do any good thing if you are not joined to me.
5 I am the fruit tree and you are the branches. I will be in the person who is in me. That person will have a fruitful life. But you can do nothing without me.
6 If any person is not in me, he is cut off like a branch and dies. People gather the dry branches and throw them into the fire to be burned.
7 If you are in me and obey me, you may ask me for anything you want and I will give it to you.
8 If you do much good and become my disciples, you will make my Father's name great.
9 `I have loved you just as my Father has loved you. So let me love you always.
10 If you obey me, I will love you always. That is what I have done. I have obeyed my Father. And he will love me always.
11 `I have told you these things so that you may be glad in the same way I am glad. Then you will be very glad always.
12 `I am telling you to love each other as I have loved you.
13 The strongest love anyone can have is this. He will die to save his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I tell you to do.
15 I do not call you servants anymore, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends because you know everything that my Father has told me.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. I gave you a big work to do. That work is to go out and do good things and to make the good things that you do remain strong. If you do that, my Father will do anything you ask in my name.
17 `Here is the law I gave you. Love each other.'
18 `If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If you belonged to this world, the world would love you. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
20 Remember what I told you. I said, "The servant is not better than his master." If the people in the world have troubled me, they will also trouble you. If they obey me, they will also obey you.
21 They will do all these things to you because you are true to me. They do not know the one who sent me.
22 `I came and spoke to them. If I had not done that, then what they did would not have been a wrong thing. But now they have no excuse for doing it.
23 The person who hates me hates my Father also.
24 No other person has ever done the work that I have done. If they had, then what they did would not be a wrong thing. But now they have seen me and hated me and my Father also.
25 This has happened in order to make the words of their law book come true. It says, "They hated me for no reason."
26 `I will send the true Spirit to comfort you. He will come from my Father. When he comes, then he will talk about me.
27 You also will talk about me because you have been with me from the time I began my work.'
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
© 1969, 1971, 1996, 1998 by SOON Educational Publications