John 16:5-22

New King James Version

The Work of the Holy Spirit

⁵ “But now I ^(A)go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, ^(B)sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but ^(C)if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has ^(D)come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ^9 (E)of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ^10 (F)of righteousness, ^(G)because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ^11 (H)of judgment, because ^(I)the ruler of this world is judged.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, ^(J)but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, ^(K)the Spirit of truth, has come, ^(L)He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ^14 (M)He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ^15 (N)All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He ^[a]will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Sorrow Will Turn to Joy

¹⁶ “A ^(O)little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, ^(P)because I go to the Father.”

¹⁷ Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not ^[b]know what He is saying.”

¹⁹ Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? ²⁰ Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and ^(Q)lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into ^(R)joy. ^21 (S)A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²² Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and ^(T)your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.