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17 When Jesus had finished saying all these things he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Reveal the glory of your Son so that he can give the glory back to you. For you have given him authority over every man and woman in all the earth. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life—by knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth! I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to. And now, Father, reveal my glory as I stand in your presence, the glory we shared before the world began.

“I have told these men all about you. They were in the world, but then you gave them to me. Actually, they were always yours, and you gave them to me; and they have obeyed you. Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the commands you gave me; and they accepted them and know of a certainty that I came down to earth from you, and they believe you sent me.

“My plea is not for the world but for those you have given me because they belong to you. 10 And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me with everything else of yours, and so they are my glory! 11 Now I am leaving the world, and leaving them behind, and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your own care—all those you have given me—so that they will be united just as we are, with none missing. 12 During my time here I have kept safe within your family all of these you gave me.[a] I guarded them so that not one perished, except the son of hell, as the Scriptures foretold.

13 “And now I am coming to you. I have told them many things while I was with them so that they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your commands. And the world hates them because they don’t fit in with it, just as I don’t. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from Satan’s power. 16 They are not part of this world any more than I am. 17 Make them pure and holy through teaching them your words of truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world, 19 and I consecrate myself to meet their need for growth in truth and holiness.

20 “I am not praying for these alone but also for the future believers who will come to me because of the testimony of these. 21 My prayer for all of them is that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are, Father—that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.

22 “I have given them the glory you gave me—the glorious unity of being one, as we are— 23 I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one—so that the world will know you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want them with me—these you’ve given me—so that they can see my glory. You gave me the glory because you loved me before the world began!

25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 And I have revealed you to them and will keep on revealing you so that the mighty love you have for me may be in them, and I in them.”

Footnotes

  1. John 17:12 kept safe . . . all of these you gave me, literally, “kept in your name those whom you have given me.”

Jesus Prays to be Glorified

17 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said, “Father, the hour has come! Glorify your Son, in order that your Son may glorify you— just as you have given him authority over all flesh, in order that he would give eternal life to them—everyone whom you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have glorified you on earth by[a] completing the work that you have given me to do.[b] And now, Father, you glorify me at your side[c] with the glory that I had at your side[d] before the world existed.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

“I have revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they understand that all the things that[e] you have given me are from you, because the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they received them[f] and know truly that I have come from you, and they have believed that you have sent me. I am asking on behalf of them. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you have given me, because they are yours, 10 and all my things are yours, and your things are mine, and I have been glorified in[g] them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, and they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given to me, so that they may be one, just as we are. 12 When I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given to me, and guarded them,[h] and none of them has perished except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled. 13 And now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth—your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for them I sanctify myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in the truth.

Jesus Prays for the Unity of Believers

20 “And I do not ask on behalf of these only, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, that they also may be in us, in order that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 And the glory that you have given to me, I have given to them, in order that they may be one, just as we are one— 23 I in them, and you in me, in order that they may be completed in one, so that the world may know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.

24 “Father, those whom you have given to me—I want that those also may be with me where I am, in order that they may see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, although the world does not know you, yet I have known you, and these men have come to know that you sent me. 26 And I made known to them your name, and will make it[i] known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I may be in them.”

Footnotes

  1. John 17:4 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“completing”) which is understood as means
  2. John 17:4 Literally “that I may do it”
  3. John 17:5 Literally “by the side of yourself”
  4. John 17:5 Literally “by the side of you”
  5. John 17:7 Literally “whatever”
  6. John 17:8 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  7. John 17:10 Or “by”; or “through”
  8. John 17:12 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  9. John 17:26 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation