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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Sorrow Will Turn into Joy
16 “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”(A) 17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me,’ and ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? 20 Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.(B) 22 So you have pain now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.(C) 23 On that day you will ask nothing of me.[a] Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.[b] 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.(D)
Peace for the Disciples
25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.[c](E) 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”(F)
29 His disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.”(G) 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.(H) 33 I have said this to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution, but take courage: I have conquered the world!”(I)
Read full chapterNew American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.