Bible in 90 Days

Jesus feeds 5,000 men and their families

6 Some time after that, Jesus went across Lake Galilee, which is also called Lake Tiberias. ² A large crowd of people followed him, because of the miracles that he had done. They had seen him make sick people well. ³ Jesus went up a hill and he sat down there with his disciples. ⁴ It was nearly the time for the Jewish Passover Festival.

⁵ Jesus looked up. He saw a large crowd of people who were coming towards him. He said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy enough bread to feed all these people?’ ⁶ Jesus himself already knew what he would do. But he asked Philip this question because he wanted to know what Philip would say. ⁷ Philip answered, ‘A man could work for eight months to get 200 silver coins. But he still would not have enough money to buy bread for all these people. There would not be enough bread for each person here to have even a little piece.’ ⁸ Then Andrew, another one of Jesus' disciples, spoke. He was Simon Peter's brother. ⁹ He said to Jesus, ‘Here is a boy who has five small loaves and two fish. But that will certainly not be enough food for so many people.’

¹⁰ Jesus said, ‘Tell the people to sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, so the people sat down. There were about 5,000 men in the crowd. ¹¹ Jesus took the loaves of bread and he thanked God for them. Then he broke the loaves into pieces. He passed them to all the people who were sitting there. Everyone had as much bread as they wanted to eat. Jesus did the same with the fish. ¹² When everyone had eaten enough food, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not waste anything. Pick up all the little bits of food that people have not eaten.’ ¹³ So the disciples picked up all the pieces. They filled 12 baskets with the bits of bread that the people had not eaten.

¹⁴ The people saw this miracle that Jesus did. So they began to talk about it. They said, ‘Certainly, this man is the Prophet who must come into the world.’ ¹⁵ The people wanted to take hold of Jesus so that they could make him their king. But Jesus knew that they wanted to do this. So he went away to the hills again by himself.

Jesus walks on the water

¹⁶ When it was evening, Jesus' disciples went down to the lake. ¹⁷ They got into a boat and they started to sail towards Capernaum. It had become dark and Jesus still had not come to them. ¹⁸ A very strong wind was blowing and the waves became dangerous. ¹⁹ The disciples were trying to move the boat through the water. When they had gone about six kilometres they saw Jesus. He was walking on the water and coming near to the boat. They were very afraid. ²⁰ But Jesus said to them, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’ ²¹ So the disciples were happy to let Jesus get into the boat. Immediately, the boat came to the shore where they wanted to be.

The crowd looks for Jesus

²² The crowd of people had stayed on the other side of the lake. The next day, they saw that the only boat had gone. They knew that Jesus' disciples had taken it. They also knew that Jesus had not gone with his disciples. ²³ Other boats from Tiberias then arrived near to the place where all the people were. They had eaten the bread there after the Lord Jesus had thanked God for it. ²⁴ The crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were still there. So they got into the boats and they went to Capernaum. They went there to look for Jesus.

Jesus is the bread that gives us life with God

²⁵ The people found Jesus on the other side of the lake. They asked him, ‘Teacher, when did you arrive here?’ ²⁶ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you this: You saw me do miracles that show God's power. But you are not looking for me because of that. No, you are looking for me because you ate the loaves. I gave you all the food that you needed. ²⁷ Do not work only for that kind of food. It soon becomes spoiled. Instead, work to get the food that continues for ever. That kind of food gives you life with God. The Son of Man will give this food to you. God, the Father, has given the Son authority to do this.’

²⁸ Then the people asked him, ‘How can we do the work that God wants us to do?’ ²⁹ Jesus answered, ‘You should believe in the one that God has sent to you. That is the work that God wants you to do.’ ³⁰ So then the people asked him, ‘What miracle will you do? Do one that shows that God has sent you. If we see that, we will believe in you. What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness. We know that it says in the Bible, “God gave bread to them from heaven for them to eat.” ’^[a]

³² Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you this: It was not Moses who gave bread to you from heaven. No. It is my Father who gives to you the true bread from heaven. ³³ God's bread is the one who comes down from heaven. He is the one who gives life to people in the world.’ ³⁴ So they said to him, ‘Sir, please give this bread to us now and always.’

³⁵ Then Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread that gives life to people. Anyone who comes to me will never be hungry. Anyone who believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ You have seen me, but still you do not believe in me. I have told you that before. ³⁷ Everyone that the Father gives to me will come to me. When anyone comes to me, I will never send that person away. ³⁸ I have not come down from heaven to do what I myself choose to do. No, my Father has sent me. I have come to do what he wants me to do. ³⁹ He has sent me. He does not want me to lose any of the people that he has given to me. Not even one of them. He wants me to raise all of them up to life on the last day. ⁴⁰ These are the people who will have life for ever with God: everyone who sees the Son and believes in him. I will raise them all up on the last day. That is what my Father wants.’

⁴¹ Jesus had said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ When he said this, the Jewish leaders there did not like it. So they started to say bad things about Jesus. ⁴² They said, ‘This is Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know his father and his mother. He should not say that he came down from heaven.’

⁴³ Jesus answered, ‘Stop saying these bad things about me to each other. ⁴⁴ The Father has sent me. Nobody can come to me unless the Father brings them to me. I will raise those people up on the last day, so that they have life for ever. ⁴⁵ The prophets wrote in the Bible, “God will teach all the people.” Everyone who hears the Father's message and learns from him will come to me.^{[b] 46} I came from God and I am the only one who has seen the Father. Nobody else has seen him. ⁴⁷ I tell you this: The person who believes my message has life for ever. ⁴⁸ I am the bread that causes you to live. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, but they died. ⁵⁰ This bread that comes down from heaven is different. Anyone who eats this bread will not die. ⁵¹ I am the bread that gives life to people. This bread came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live for ever. The bread that I will give is my own body. I will give it so that all people in the world may have life with God.’

⁵² Then the Jewish leaders became angry and they argued with each other even more. They said, ‘This man cannot give his body to us so that we can eat it!’ ⁵³ Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you this: You must eat the body of the Son of Man and you must drink his blood. Unless you do those things, you do not have true life. ⁵⁴ Every person needs to eat my body and they need to drink my blood. If they do those things, they have life for ever with God. I will raise them up on the last day. ⁵⁵ My body is the true food and my blood is the true drink. ⁵⁶ Anyone who eats my body and drinks my blood lives in me. And I live in them. ⁵⁷ The Father, who has life, sent me. I live because of him. In the same way, anyone who takes me as their food will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna that your ancestors ate. They ate it but they died. But the person who eats this bread will live for ever.’

⁵⁹ Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the Jewish meeting place at Capernaum.

Many disciples go away from Jesus

⁶⁰ Many of Jesus' disciples did not like these words. They said, ‘This thing that he teaches is too difficult. Nobody can agree with it!’ ⁶¹ Jesus himself knew that the disciples did not like his message. He did not need anyone to tell him. He said to them, ‘This seems to make you angry. ⁶² Think about this: The Son of Man will go up again to the place where he was before. And you will see him go up. Will you agree to that? ⁶³ It is the Spirit that gives you life. People cannot do that. The words that I have spoken to you come from the Spirit. They give you life. ⁶⁴ But some of you do not believe my message.’

Jesus had known from the beginning which of them would not believe in him. Also, he had always known who would sell him to his enemies. ⁶⁵ Then Jesus said to them, ‘That is why I told you that only the Father can bring people to me. Nobody can come to me unless the Father makes them able to come.’

⁶⁶ From that time, many of Jesus' disciples left him. They did not go with him any longer. ⁶⁷ Then Jesus asked the 12 apostles, ‘Do you want to go away from me, too?’ ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, there is nobody else that we could go to. You speak the words that give us life for ever. ⁶⁹ We believe that you are the Holy One that God has sent. We are sure about that.’ ⁷⁰ Jesus replied, ‘I have chosen the 12 of you. But one of you is a servant of Satan!’ ⁷¹ He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Judas was one of the 12 apostles, but later he would sell Jesus to Jesus' enemies.

Jesus and his brothers

7 After this, Jesus visited many places in Galilee. He did not want to visit Judea because the Jewish leaders there wanted to kill him. ² It was almost time for the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles.^{[c] 3} So Jesus' brothers said to him, ‘You should leave this place and you should go to Judea. Then your disciples will see the great things that you do. ⁴ Nobody does things secretly if he wants everyone to know him. You are doing these things, so you should show yourself to everybody.’ ⁵ Even his own brothers did not believe in him.

⁶ So Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the right time for me yet. For you, any time is right. ⁷ People who belong to this world cannot hate you. But they hate me. The things that they do are very bad. And I tell them that those things are wrong. That is why they hate me. ⁸ You should go to the festival. I will not go to it now, because it is not the right time for me yet.’ ⁹ After Jesus said that, he stayed in Galilee.

Jesus goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

¹⁰ Some time after his brothers had gone, Jesus also went to the festival. But he did not let other people know that he was going. Instead, he went secretly. ¹¹ The Jewish leaders were looking for him at the festival. They asked, ‘Where is that man?’ ¹² People in the crowd were talking quietly to each other about Jesus. Some people said, ‘He is a good man.’ But other people said, ‘No, he is telling the people things that are not true.’ ¹³ But nobody spoke in public places about him, because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.

¹⁴ In the middle of the time of the festival, Jesus went to the temple. He started to teach in the yard there. ¹⁵ The Jewish leaders were very surprised. They asked, ‘How does this man know so much? He has not learned in our schools.’ ¹⁶ Jesus answered, ‘What I teach does not come from me. No, it comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Anyone who chooses to do what God wants will know about my teaching. They will know whether it comes from God, or whether it comes from my own thoughts. ¹⁸ A person who teaches his own ideas wants people to think that he himself is great. But I want to show that the one who sent me is great. A person like that is honest and there is nothing false in him. ¹⁹ Moses gave God's Law to you. But not one of you obeys that Law. Why are you trying to kill me?’

²⁰ The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon in you! Nobody is trying to kill you!’

²¹ Jesus replied, ‘I did one miracle on the day of rest, and all of you were surprised. ²² Moses gave you a law that you must circumcise your sons. Your ancestors taught that, even before Moses was born. So you will agree to circumcise a boy, even on the day of rest.^{[d] 23} You will do that so that you obey Moses' law. So you should not be angry with me because I made a man completely well on the day of rest. ²⁴ Do not quickly decide whether something is right or wrong just because of what you see. Instead, think about it carefully. Then you will judge in a right way.’

The people talk about whether Jesus is the Messiah

²⁵ Some of the people in Jerusalem began to say, ‘This is the man that our leaders want to kill. ²⁶ But look! He is speaking to the crowds, and the leaders are not saying anything against him! Perhaps they really think that he is the Messiah! ²⁷ But we know where this man came from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know that. Nobody will know where he has come from.’

²⁸ Jesus was still teaching in the yard of the temple. He shouted, ‘Yes, you say that you know me. And you know where I came from. But I have not come because I myself decided to come. He who sent me is true. You do not know him. ²⁹ But I know him because I have come from him. He is the one who sent me.’ ³⁰ When they heard this, they tried to take hold of him. But nobody could put their hands on him, because it was not yet the right time. ³¹ But many people in the crowd believed in Jesus. They said, ‘This man has done so many miracles. Surely he is the Messiah! Nobody could do more miracles than he has done.’

³² The Pharisees heard what these people were saying quietly about Jesus. Then the leaders of the priests and the Pharisees sent some of their officers to take him away.

³³ Jesus said, ‘I will be with you for only a short time. Then I will return to the one who sent me. ³⁴ You will look for me, but you will not find me. You cannot go to the place where I will be.’ ³⁵ The Jewish leaders asked each other, ‘What is he trying to tell us? Where can he go so that we cannot find him? Perhaps he will go to our people who have gone away to live among the Greek people.^[e] Perhaps he will go to teach the Greek people. ³⁶ He said, “You will look for me, but you will not find me.” And he also said, “You cannot go to the place where I will be.” What does he mean?’

Streams of water that give life to people

³⁷ The last day of the festival was the most important day. On that day, Jesus stood up and he spoke with a loud voice. He said, ‘If anyone is thirsty, he should come to me so that he may drink. ³⁸ It says in the Bible, “God will cause streams of water to pour out from anyone who believes in me. Water that gives life will come out from inside that person.” ’ ³⁹ Jesus was speaking about God's Spirit, who would come to people some time after that. Those people who believed in Jesus would receive God's Spirit at that later time. But God had not yet given his Spirit to people, because he had not yet raised Jesus back up to heaven.^[f]

The people argue about who Jesus is

⁴⁰ The people in the crowd heard Jesus say these words. Some of them said, ‘Surely this man must be the Prophet from God that we have been waiting for!’ ⁴¹ Other people said, ‘This man is the Messiah.’ But some other people said, ‘The Messiah will not come from Galilee! ⁴² The Bible says that the Messiah will come from King David's family.^[g] He will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.’ ⁴³ In this way the people had different thoughts about Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some people wanted to take hold of him. But nobody could put their hands on him to take him away.

⁴⁵ The officers returned to the leaders of the priests and the Pharisees. The leaders asked their officers, ‘Why did you not bring Jesus here?’ ⁴⁶ The officers answered, ‘Nobody has ever spoken great things like this man speaks.’ ⁴⁷ The Pharisees replied, ‘He seems to have made you believe his lies! ⁴⁸ None of the Pharisees or our leaders believe in him. ⁴⁹ But this crowd does not know what God's Law teaches. God will surely punish them.’

⁵⁰ Nicodemus spoke to them. He himself was one of the Pharisees. He was the man who had gone to speak with Jesus before. He said, ⁵¹ ‘We must find out first what this man has done. Then we can decide if it is right to punish him. Our law says that we must listen to him first.’ ⁵² They answered Nicodemus, ‘Perhaps you come from Galilee, as well as him! Study what the Bible teaches. You will learn that no prophet of God ever comes from Galilee.’ ⁵³ [Then everyone went to his own home.]^[h]

8 ^[i][But Jesus went to the hill which is called the Mount of Olives.

The Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus

² Early the next morning, Jesus returned to the temple in Jerusalem. All the people came to him. He sat down and he began to teach them. ³ The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law brought a woman to him. They had found her with another man. She was having sex with a man who was not her husband. They made her stand in front of all the people there. ⁴ They said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we found this woman. She was having sex with a man who was not her husband. ⁵ In God's Law Moses says that we should throw stones at this kind of woman, to kill her. What do you say about this?’ ⁶ They asked this question for a reason. They wanted Jesus to say something wrong, so that they could punish him. But Jesus bent himself down. He started to write on the ground with his finger.

⁷ The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law continued to ask Jesus questions. So he stood up and he said to them, ‘Any person among you who is not guilty of any sin may throw the first stone to kill her.’ ⁸ Then he bent himself down again and he wrote on the ground. ⁹ When they heard what Jesus said, the people began to go away. They went one by one. The older people went first. After some time, only Jesus remained with the woman. She was still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up. He said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Is there nobody still here who wants to punish you?’ ¹¹ She said, ‘There is nobody, sir.’ So Jesus said, ‘I also do not want to punish you. Go away now and change the way you live. Do not do wrong things again.’]

Jesus is the light of the world

¹² Jesus spoke to the people again. He said, ‘I am the light of the world.^[j] Those people who become my disciples will never walk in the dark. No, they will have the light that gives life.’

¹³ The Pharisees began to argue with him. They said, ‘You are saying things about yourself. But there is nobody else to agree that these things are true.’

¹⁴ Jesus answered, ‘What I say is true. Even if I do speak about myself, my words are true. I know where I have come from. I also know where I will go. As for you, you do not know where I came from. You do not know where I will go. ¹⁵ You judge in the way that people think. I do not judge anyone. ¹⁶ But if I did judge anyone, I would decide correctly what is right. That is because I am not alone. The Father has sent me, and he is with me. ¹⁷ Your own Law says, “There must be two people to agree that something is true.”^{[k] 18} I speak what is true about myself. The Father, who sent me, also speaks what is true about me.’

¹⁹ Then they asked him, ‘So where is your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know either me or my Father. If you really knew me, you would also know my Father.’ ²⁰ Jesus said all these words while he taught in the yard of the temple. He was near the place where they kept the gifts of money. But nobody took hold of him, because it was not the right time for that yet.

Jesus says that he comes from above

²¹ Jesus said to them again, ‘I will go away and you will look for me. But even when you die, God will still not have forgiven your sins. You cannot go where I will go.’ ²² So the Jewish leaders said to each other, ‘Perhaps he means that he will kill himself. He says, “You cannot go where I will go.” Perhaps that is why he says this.’ ²³ Jesus answered, ‘You belong to the things down here in the world. But I have come from above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. ²⁴ I told you that when you die, God will not have forgiven you. You must believe that “I am who I am.”^[l] If not, you will die and God will certainly not have forgiven you.’

²⁵ Then the Jewish leaders asked Jesus, ‘So, who are you?’ He answered, ‘I have told you who I am from the beginning. ²⁶ I have many things I could say about you. I could show that you have done many wrong things. But the one who sent me speaks to me. I tell people only what I have heard him say to me. What he says is true.’ ²⁷ They did not understand that he was speaking to them about his Father.^{[m] 28} So Jesus said to them, ‘You will lift up the Son of Man on a cross. Then you will know that “I am who I am”. And you will know that I do nothing by myself. I say only what the Father has taught me to say. ²⁹ He who sent me is with me. I always do the things that make him happy. So he has never gone away and left me alone.’ ³⁰ Many people who heard Jesus say these things believed in him.^[n]

The truth about God will make you free

³¹ Then Jesus said to the Jews who now believed him, ‘Continue to obey the words that I have spoken to you. If you do that, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know what is true. And that will make you free.’ ³³ They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham. We have never been anyone's slaves. But you say that we will become free. What do you mean?’

³⁴ Jesus answered them, ‘I tell you this: Everyone who does wrong things is a slave to sin. ³⁵ A slave does not belong to a family for ever. But a son does belong to a family for ever. ³⁶ So, if the Son makes you free, you will really be free. ³⁷ I know that you belong to Abraham's family. But you are looking for a way to kill me. That is because you have no place in yourselves for my words. ³⁸ I speak about the things that my Father has shown me. You do the things that you have heard from your father.’

³⁹ They answered, ‘Abraham is our father!’ Jesus replied, ‘If you really belonged to Abraham's family, you would do the same kind of things that Abraham did. ⁴⁰ I have told you the true message that I have heard from God. But you want to kill me. Abraham did not do anything like that! ⁴¹ You do the same things that your own father does.’

They said to Jesus, ‘God himself is our only Father, and we are his proper sons!’

⁴² Jesus said to them, ‘If God was your Father, you would love me. I came from God and now I am here with you. I did not come on my own behalf, but God sent me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot really accept my message. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the Devil, and you want to do the things that he wants. From the beginning, he has been someone who murders people. He refuses to accept the truth, because there is nothing true in him. When he tells lies, he is showing what he is really like. He always tells lies. He is the father of all lies. ⁴⁵ As for me, I tell you what is true. And that is why you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ None of you can show that I have done anything wrong. You should believe me, because I am telling you God's true message. ⁴⁷ Someone who belongs to God accepts God's message. But you do not belong to God. That is why you do not accept his message.’

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, ‘What we say about you is right! You are from Samaria and you have a demon in you!’^{[o] 49} Jesus replied, ‘There is no demon in me. I want people to know how great my Father is. But you want people to think bad things about me. ⁵⁰ I myself do not want people to praise me. But there is someone who wants people to praise me. He is the one who decides if I am right. ⁵¹ I tell you this: Anyone who obeys my words will never die.’ ⁵² The Jews said, ‘Now we know that a demon lives in you! Abraham and all the prophets died. But you say, “Anyone who obeys my words will never know death!” ⁵³ You cannot be greater than our father Abraham, and he died! You cannot be greater than the prophets, and they all died! Who do you think that you are?’

⁵⁴ Jesus replied, ‘If I myself wanted people to praise me, that would be worth nothing. But it is my Father who wants that. And you say that he is your God. ⁵⁵ You have never known him, but I know him. I might say, “I do not know him.” But then I would be telling a lie. So I would be like you. But I do know him, and I obey his words. ⁵⁶ Your ancestor Abraham knew that I would come at some time. He was happy to know that he would see that time. He did see that time, and he was very happy.’

⁵⁷ The Jews said, ‘You are not 50 years old yet. But you say that you have seen Abraham!’ ⁵⁸ Jesus said, ‘I tell you this: Before Abraham was even born, “I am”.’^{[p] 59} Then they picked up stones. They wanted to throw them at him and kill him. But Jesus hid himself from them. He went away from the temple.

Jesus makes a blind man able to see

9 While Jesus was walking along, he saw a certain man. This man had been blind since he was born. ² Jesus' disciples asked him, ‘Teacher, why was this man blind when he was born? Was it because he himself did something wrong? Or was it because his parents did something wrong?’ ³ Jesus answered, ‘It was not because either this man or his parents did something wrong. It happened so that God could show his great work in this man. ⁴ While it is still day, we must continue to work. God has sent me and we must do his work. We must work now because it will be night soon. Then nobody can work. ⁵ While I am still here in the world, I am the world's light.’

⁶ When Jesus had finished speaking, he spat on the ground. He mixed it with dirt on the ground so that he made mud. Then he put some of the mud on the eyes of the blind man. ⁷ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and wash in the Siloam pool.’ (The name Siloam means ‘Sent’.) So the man went there and he washed himself. When he returned, now he could see.

⁸ People began to talk about him. Some of these people lived near him. Others had seen him when he was asking for money. They said, ‘This is the man who sat here. He asked people to give him money. Isn't that right?’ ⁹ Some people said, ‘Yes, it is him.’ But other people said, ‘No, it is someone who seems to be like him.’ But the man himself said, ‘I am that man.’

¹⁰ They asked him, ‘How did your eyes now become able to see?’ ¹¹ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made some mud. He put the mud on my eyes. Then he sent me to wash in the Siloam pool. So I went there and I washed. Then I could see.’

¹² They asked him, ‘Where is this man?’ He replied, ‘I do not know.’

The Pharisees talk to the man who had been blind

¹³ The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ It was a Jewish day of rest when Jesus had done this miracle. He had used mud to make the man's eyes able to see. ¹⁵ So the Pharisees asked the man again, ‘How did you become able to see?’ The man replied, ‘Jesus put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I can see.’

¹⁶ So some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man Jesus cannot have come from God. He does not obey the rules about our day of rest.’ But other Pharisees said, ‘Nobody who is bad could do great things like this!’ So they did not agree with each other. ¹⁷ The Pharisees spoke again to the man who had been blind. They said to him, ‘What do you yourself say about this man? It was your eyes he has now made able to see.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’

¹⁸ The Jewish leaders still did not believe that the man had really been blind. They did not want to believe that he had now become able to see. So they told the man's parents to come to them. ¹⁹ They asked the parents, ‘Is this your son? You say, “When he was born, he was blind.” But now he can see. How did this happen?’ ²⁰ The parents replied, ‘We know that this is our son. And when he was born, he was blind. We know that, too. ²¹ But we do not know how he can see now. We do not know who made his eyes able to see. Ask him. He is old enough to answer you for himself!’ ²² The man's parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. The Jewish leaders did not want anyone to say that Jesus was the Messiah. They would not let anyone like that belong to their meeting places. ²³ That is why the man's parents said, ‘Ask him. He is old enough.’

²⁴ So the leaders again spoke to the man who had been blind. They said to him, ‘In front of God, promise that you will speak only true things. We know that this man Jesus does not obey God.’ ²⁵ The man replied, ‘I do not know whether he obeys God or not. But I do know one thing: I was blind and now I can see.’ ²⁶ Then they asked him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he make your eyes able to see?’ ²⁷ He answered them, ‘I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Maybe you want to become his disciples too!’ ²⁸ Then the leaders were very angry with him. They shouted at him, ‘No, it is you! You are that man's disciple. But we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses. But who is this man? We do not even know where he comes from.’

³⁰ The man answered, ‘That is a very strange thing! You do not know where this man comes from. But he is the one who made my eyes able to see. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to people who do not obey him. But he does listen to good people who do what he wants them to do. ³² Nobody has ever made the eyes of a blind man able to see, if that man had been blind when he was born. Since the world began, that has never happened! ³³ So this man Jesus must have come from God. Unless he came from God, he could not do anything like that.’

³⁴ The Jewish leaders answered him, ‘Since the day that you were born, you have never obeyed God's laws. You cannot teach us anything!’ And they threw him out of the meeting place.

People who do not believe in God are like blind people

³⁵ Jesus heard that the Jewish leaders had thrown the man out. So he went and he found the man. Jesus asked him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ³⁶ The man answered, ‘Sir, please tell me who he is. Then I can believe in him.’ ³⁷ Jesus said to him, ‘You have already seen him. It is me, the one who is talking to you now.’ ³⁸ Then the man said, ‘Lord, now I believe.’ He bent down on his knees and he worshipped Jesus.

³⁹ Then Jesus said, ‘I came into this world to judge people. Then people who know that they are blind will be able to see. And people who think they can see will become blind.’ ⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees who were there with him heard this. They asked Jesus, ‘Do you mean that we are also blind?’ ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, God would not punish you for the wrong things you have done. But you say that you can see. You do wrong things with your eyes open, so God will punish you as guilty people.’

The story about the shepherd

10 Jesus then said, ‘I tell you this: A shepherd keeps his sheep in a safe place with a wall round it. There is a gate into that safe place. Anyone who gets into that place by another way, not through the gate, is not the shepherd. That person is a robber. He comes to take away the sheep for himself. ² But the shepherd goes in through the gate. ³ The person who watches the gate opens it for the shepherd. The sheep recognize the shepherd's voice. He calls each of his own sheep by their name and he leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own sheep, he goes in front of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ They will not follow a stranger. They will run away from a stranger because they do not recognize his voice.’

⁶ Jesus told this story like a picture to teach the people. But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Jesus is like the good shepherd

⁷ So Jesus spoke again. He said, ‘I tell you this: I am like the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All other men who came before me were like robbers.^[q] But the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am like the gate. Everyone who comes in through me will be safe. They will be free to come in and to go out. And they will find plenty of food. ¹⁰ The robber only wants to take away my sheep. He wants to kill them. He comes only to destroy them. But I have come so that they can have true life. And so that they can have everything that they need.

¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd would die so that he can save his sheep. ¹² Another man may take care of sheep so that he gets money. But the sheep do not belong to him. A man like that is not the shepherd. If a wolf comes, a man like that runs away when he sees it. He leaves the sheep in danger. Then the wolf attacks the sheep. It causes them to run away in all directions. ¹³ That man runs away because the sheep do not belong to him. He does not think that the sheep are important.

¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep, and they know me. ¹⁵ I know them in the same way that my Father knows me. And they know me in the same way that I know the Father. I will die so that I can save my sheep. ¹⁶ I also have other sheep, and I must bring them too. They do not belong to this group of sheep. But they also will listen to my voice. So all the sheep will become one group, and they will have one shepherd. ¹⁷ The Father loves me because I choose to die for my sheep. But after I give my life like that, I will become alive again. ¹⁸ Nobody can take my life away from me. Instead, I myself can choose to die. I have authority to do that. I also have authority to become alive again. My Father has said that I must do that.’

¹⁹ Again, the Jews could not agree about these things that Jesus said. ²⁰ Many of them said, ‘He has a demon in him and he is crazy. You should not listen to him!’ ²¹ But other people said, ‘A man with a demon in him could not teach like this! A demon could not make blind people able to see!’

The Jewish leaders do not believe in Jesus

²² It was the time for the Jewish Festival called Hanukkah.^[r] This happened in Jerusalem. It was winter.

²³ Jesus was walking in the yard of the temple, under a place with a roof. The place was called Solomon's porch. ²⁴ The Jewish leaders stood around him. They said to him, ‘We want to know who you are. When will you tell us? If you are the Messiah, tell us clearly.’ ²⁵ Jesus answered, ‘I have already told you, but you do not believe. The things that I do by my Father's authority show you who I am. ²⁶ But you refuse to believe, because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep recognize my voice. I know them and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them life for ever with God. They will never die. Nobody can ever take them away from me. ²⁹ My Father has given them to me. He is greater than all things. Nobody can ever take my sheep out of my Father's hand. ³⁰ My Father and I are one.’

³¹ Then the Jewish leaders picked up stones again to throw at Jesus so that they could kill him. ³² Jesus said to them, ‘I have done many good things. The Father sent me to do them, and I have shown them to you. Which of those good things make you want to kill me with stones?’ ³³ The Jewish leaders answered, ‘We do not want to kill you because of any good things that you have done. We want to kill you because you are speaking against God. You are only a man, but you are saying that you are God.’

³⁴ Jesus answered them, ‘It is written in your own books of God's Law that God said, “You are gods.”^{[s] 35} God called the people to whom he spoke “gods”. And you know that the Bible always remains true. ³⁶ So, when I said that I am God's Son, why am I wrong? The Father chose me for himself. And he sent me into the world. So you should not say that I am speaking bad things against God. ³⁷ If I am not doing my Father's work, do not believe me. ³⁸ But if I am doing his work, you should believe that work. Even if you do not believe me, you should believe the things that I do. Then you will know certainly that the Father is in me. And you will know that I am in the Father.’

³⁹ Again, the Jewish leaders tried to take hold of Jesus. But he escaped from them.

⁴⁰ After that, Jesus returned across the Jordan River. He went to the place where John had earlier baptized people. Jesus stayed there. ⁴¹ Many people came to him. They said to each other, ‘John did not do any miracles. But everything that he said about this man was true.’ ⁴² So, in that place, many people believed in Jesus.

Lazarus dies

11 There was a certain man, who was called Lazarus. He lived at Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived too. He became ill. ² It was this Mary who had poured oil with a nice smell over the feet of the Lord Jesus. Then she had cleaned his feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was ill. ³ So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus to say, ‘Lord, the friend that you love is ill.’

⁴ Jesus heard the message. Then he said, ‘This illness will not finish with Lazarus's death. No, its purpose is to show how great God is. Because of this, people will see how great God's Son is.’ ⁵ Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and their brother Lazarus, too. ⁶ He heard the news that Lazarus was ill. But then he stayed in the place where he was for two more days.

⁷ After that, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘We should return to Judea.’ ⁸ The disciples said, ‘Teacher, only a short time ago, the Jews there tried to kill you with stones. You should not return there!’ ⁹ Jesus answered, ‘You know that there are 12 hours in the day. Anyone who walks during the day will not fall down. He will not fall down because he sees this world's light. ¹⁰ But anyone who walks during the night will fall down. He will fall down because he has no light.’

¹¹ After Jesus said that, he said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus is sleeping. But I will go there to wake him up.’ ¹² So the disciples said to him, ‘If he is sleeping, Lord, he will get well again.’ ¹³ The disciples thought that Jesus was talking about sleep as rest. But Jesus meant that Lazarus had died. ¹⁴ So then, Jesus told them clearly, ‘Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ But I am happy that I was not there with him. I am happy about that because it will help you. Now you will believe in me. We must go to him now.’ ¹⁶ Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to the other disciples, ‘We should go with our Teacher, so that we can die with him!’^[t]

Jesus is able to give life to dead people

¹⁷ Jesus arrived at Bethany. He discovered that Lazarus had already been in the grave for four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was about 3 kilometres from Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Many Jews had come there to visit Martha and Mary. They wanted to help Martha and Mary because their brother had died.

²⁰ Martha heard the news that Jesus was coming. So she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house with the visitors. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now, I know that God will answer you. He will do whatever you ask him.’ ²³ Jesus told her, ‘Your brother will rise and become alive again.’ ²⁴ Martha replied, ‘I know that he will rise on the last day, to become alive again.’ ²⁵ Jesus said to her, ‘I have authority over death. I raise dead people, and I give people true life. Anyone who believes in me will live. Even if that person dies, he will continue to live. ²⁶ People who believe in me while they are alive will never die. Do you believe that?’ ²⁷ Martha answered, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah. You are God's Son, the one that God promised to send into the world.’

²⁸ After this, Martha went back to the house. She took Mary to speak to her on her own. Martha said to her, ‘The Teacher is here, and he is asking to meet you.’ ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up immediately. She went out to meet Jesus. ³⁰ Jesus had not arrived in the village yet. He was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ There were still Jews in the house who were with Mary to help her. They saw her get up quickly and go out. So they followed her. They thought that she was going to the place where they had put Lazarus's dead body. They thought that she wanted to go there to weep.

³² Mary arrived at the place where Jesus was. When she saw Jesus, she bent down low at his feet. She said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ ³³ Jesus saw that Mary was weeping. He saw that the Jews who had come with her were weeping too. When Jesus saw them, he felt very sad in his spirit. He was upset about Lazarus's death. ³⁴ He asked them, ‘Where have you put his dead body?’ They answered, ‘Come and see, Lord.’ ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said to each other, ‘See how much he loved Lazarus!’ ³⁷ But some of them said, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man. So surely he would have been able to stop the death of Lazarus.’

Jesus makes Lazarus alive again

³⁸ Jesus arrived at the grave where they had put Lazarus's dead body. It was a cave. A large stone covered the front of the hole. Again, Jesus felt very upset. ³⁹ He said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha, the dead man's sister, said to Jesus, ‘But Lord, by now his dead body will have a bad smell. He has been dead for four days!’ ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, ‘I told you already that you must believe in me. Then you will see how great and how powerful God is.’ ⁴¹ So they moved the stone away. Jesus looked up towards the sky. He said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. ⁴² I know that you listen to me always. But I said this to help all the people who are standing here. I want them to believe that you sent me.’ ⁴³ When Jesus had said this, he shouted with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ ⁴⁴ The dead man came out. There were pieces of cloth round his hands and round his feet. Another piece of cloth was round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Undo the cloths and let him go.’

The Pharisees decide how to kill Jesus

⁴⁵ The Jews who had come to visit Mary saw this. They saw what Jesus did. So many of them believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees and the leaders of the priests had a meeting with the group of Jewish leaders. They asked each other, ‘What will we do? This man is doing so many miracles. ⁴⁸ If we let him do more things like this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman rulers will come and punish us.^[u] Their soldiers will destroy our temple and even destroy our whole country of Israel.’

⁴⁹ One of the group was the leader of the priests that year. He was called Caiaphas. He said, ‘You do not understand the problem. ⁵⁰ It is better that one man should die on behalf of our people. That is better than if all Israel's people should die.’ ⁵¹ Caiaphas did not say this because he had thought it by himself. No, he was speaking as a prophet, because he was the leader of the priests that year. That is why he said that Jesus would die on behalf of Israel's people. ⁵² And Jesus would die not only for Israel's people. He would also die for all God's people who lived in many different places. He would bring them all together. They would become like one big family.

⁵³ From that day, the Jewish leaders decided together how they could kill Jesus. ⁵⁴ So Jesus stopped travelling about in Judea where everyone could see him. Instead, he went away from there to a town called Ephraim that was near to the wilderness. He stayed there with his disciples.

⁵⁵ It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Festival to begin. Many people were going from their country places to Jerusalem. They were going there to make themselves clean in front of God before they went to the festival. ⁵⁶ They were continuing to look for Jesus. While they stood in the yard of the temple, they spoke to each other about him. They asked each other, ‘Do you think that he will come to the festival or not?’ ⁵⁷ The leaders of the priests and the Pharisees had spoken to the people about Jesus. They had told them, ‘If anyone knows where Jesus is, you must tell us.’ So then they could take hold of him to put him in a prison.

Jesus at Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover festival, Jesus went to Bethany, the village where Lazarus lived. He was the man who had been dead, but Jesus had raised him. ² Some friends prepared a special meal there for Jesus. Martha gave out the food, and Lazarus sat among the visitors, with Jesus. ³ Then Mary brought a pound of very expensive oil that had a very nice smell. They used nard to make it. She poured it over Jesus' feet and then she made his feet dry again with her hair. The nice smell of the oil filled the whole house.

⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' disciples, was there. He was the man who would sell Jesus to Jesus' enemies. ⁵ Judas said, ‘We could have sold this oil for 300 coins. That is as much money as someone would get for a year's work. Then we could have given that money to poor people.’ ⁶ He did not say this because he really wanted to help the poor people. No, he said it because he wanted the money himself. He kept the bag of money and sometimes he took money from it for himself. ⁷ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop her! She has kept this oil safe until now. She wanted it for the day when they will bury my dead body. ⁸ You will always have poor people with you. But you will not always have me with you.’

⁹ By this time, a large crowd of Jews had heard the news that Jesus was at Bethany. So they came there to see him. They came also to see Lazarus, because Jesus had made him alive again. ¹⁰ So the leaders of the priests decided to kill not only Jesus, but Lazarus too. ¹¹ They wanted to do that because many Jews now refused to obey them. Instead, these Jews believed in Jesus because of what he had done for Lazarus.

Jesus goes into Jerusalem

¹² The next day, a large crowd of people were in Jerusalem for the festival. They heard the news that Jesus was on the way there. ¹³ So they took branches from palm trees and they went out to meet Jesus. They were shouting, ‘We praise God! May the Lord God bless the king who comes with his authority. May he bless the king of Israel!’ ¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey, and he sat on it. This happened in the way that was written in the Bible long ago:

¹⁶ Jesus' disciples did not understand all this at that time. They understood only after Jesus had returned to God in heaven. Then they remembered that someone had written these things about him in the Bible. And they remembered that these things had now really happened to him. ¹⁷ The crowd that had been with Jesus before at Bethany continued to tell people about Lazarus. They said, ‘Jesus told Lazarus that he should come out of the hole in the rock. He made Lazarus alive again after he had died and his body had been put in there.’ ¹⁸ That is why many people came to meet Jesus. They had heard that he had done this miracle. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to each other, ‘This is not what we wanted.^[w] Look! All the people in the world have left us to go with him!’

Jesus says that he will soon die

²⁰ There were some Greek people among the people at the festival. They also had come to worship God. ²¹ These Greek people came to Philip, who was from a town in Galilee called Bethsaida. They said to him, ‘Please sir, we want to meet Jesus.’ ²² Philip went and he told Andrew this. Then Philip and Andrew went to Jesus and they told him.

²³ Jesus said to them, ‘God will show how great the Son of Man is. It is now time for that to happen. ²⁴ I tell you this: A seed of wheat continues to be only a single seed unless it falls into the ground. It must fall into the ground and then it must die. If it dies like that, it will grow to give a lot of seeds.

²⁵ Anyone who loves his own life will lose it. But anyone who hates his life in this world will have true life for ever with God. ²⁶ Anyone who wants to be my servant must follow me. Then he will be with me, where I am. My Father will praise anyone who is my servant. ²⁷ Now I have trouble in my mind. What will I say? I might say, “Father, save me from this time of trouble!” But this difficult time is the purpose for which I came to the world. ²⁸ So I will say, “Father, show how great and how good you are.” ’

Then a voice spoke from heaven and said, ‘I have shown how great and how good I am. And I will do it again.’ ²⁹ The crowd of people who were standing there heard the sound of this voice. They said that it was like the noise of thunder in a storm. But other people said, ‘An angel spoke to him!’

³⁰ Jesus said, ‘When this voice spoke, it was not so that it could help me. No, it spoke so that it could help you. ³¹ It is time now for God to judge the people in this world. Now he will throw out the ruler of this world. ³² But when people lift me up from the ground, then I will bring everyone to myself.’ ³³ Jesus said this to show in what way he would soon die.^[x]

³⁴ The crowd said, ‘The Bible tells us that the Messiah will continue for ever. So why do you say, “People must lift up the Son of Man”? Who is this Son of Man?’ ³⁵ Jesus answered, ‘The light will be with you for only a short time longer. So continue to walk while you still have the light. Do that, so that the dark will not come over you. Anyone who walks in the dark does not know where they are going. ³⁶ While you still have the light with you, believe in that light. So then you will become children of light.’ When Jesus had said this, he went away. He hid himself from them.^[y]

Many people still do not believe in Jesus

³⁷ Jesus had done many miracles that the people themselves had seen. But even then, they still did not believe in him. ³⁸ This showed that the prophet Isaiah had spoken true words when he said:^[z]

³⁹ Isaiah spoke also about why the people could not believe.^{[aa] 40} He said:

⁴¹ Long ago, Isaiah saw the great glory of Christ. That is why he said these things. He was speaking about Jesus.

⁴² But even at that time, many of the Jewish leaders did believe in Jesus. But they were afraid of the Pharisees. So they did not tell people that they believed. They were afraid that the Pharisees would send them away from their meeting places. ⁴³ The Pharisees wanted other people to praise them, more than they wanted God to praise them.

Jesus' message warns people

⁴⁴ Jesus said in a loud voice, ‘Anyone who believes in me does not believe only in me. That person believes also in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ Anyone who looks at me does not see only me. They see also him who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world to be a light for people. Everyone who believes in me will not remain in the dark. That is why I came. ⁴⁷ Not everyone who hears my words will obey them. I will not judge anyone who is like that. I did not come to judge the people in the world. I came to save them. ⁴⁸ But there is something that will judge people who refuse to believe in me. Those are people who do not accept my message. The message that I have spoken will itself judge people like that on the last day. ⁴⁹ The words that I have spoken did not come from me myself. They came from the Father, who sent me. He told me what message I must speak. He told me the words I must say. ⁵⁰ The message that the Father has given me causes people to have life for ever. I know that. So I speak only those things that the Father has said to me.’

Jesus washes his disciples' feet

13 It was nearly time for the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that he would soon leave this world and to go to the Father. He had always loved those who were his own people in the world. He continued to love them to the end.

² Jesus and his disciples were eating supper. The Devil had already put an idea into the mind of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son. The idea was to sell Jesus to his enemies. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given him power over everything. He knew that he had come from God. And he knew that he would soon return to God. ⁴ So, during the meal, he stood up. He took off the coat that he wore over his other clothes. He tied a piece of cloth round himself. ⁵ Then he poured water into a bowl and he began to wash the disciples' feet. Jesus made their feet dry with the cloth that was round him.

⁶ Jesus came to Simon Peter. Peter asked him, ‘Lord, will you really wash my feet?’ ⁷ Jesus answered him, ‘You do not understand now what I am doing. But you will understand in the future.’ ⁸ Peter said, ‘No! You will never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered, ‘If I do not wash you, you do not belong with me.’ ⁹ Simon Peter replied, ‘So Lord, do not wash my feet only! Wash my hands and my head too!’ ¹⁰ Jesus said, ‘A person who has washed his whole body is completely clean. He needs only to wash his feet. And all of you are clean, except one of you.’ ¹¹ Jesus knew already who would sell him to his enemies. That is why he said, ‘Not every one of you is clean.’

¹² When he had finished washing the disciples' feet, Jesus put on his coat. He returned to his place at the meal. He asked them, ‘I want you to understand what I have just done for you. ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right. That is what I am. ¹⁴ I am your Teacher and your Lord, but I have washed your feet. So you also should wash each other's feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example. You should do the same for others as I have done for you. ¹⁶ I tell you this: No servant is more important than his master is. No messenger is more important than the person who sent him with a message. ¹⁷ Now you understand these things. So you should do them, and God will bless you.’

¹⁸ Jesus then said, ‘I am not talking about all of you. I know the people that I have chosen. The Bible says, “Someone who ate food with me has turned against me.”^{[ab] 19} I am telling you this now, before it happens. So then, when it does happen, you will believe me. You will believe that “I am who I am”.^{[ac] 20} I tell you this: Anyone who accepts someone that I send to them is also accepting me. Anyone who accepts me is also accepting my Father God who sent me.’

Jesus tells the disciples what will happen to him

²¹ After Jesus had said this, he felt very upset. He said to the disciples very seriously, ‘I tell you this: One of you will help my enemies to take hold of me.’ ²² The disciples looked at each other. They did not know which of them Jesus was speaking about. ²³ The disciple that Jesus loved was sitting very near to Jesus. ²⁴ Simon Peter looked towards that disciple and said to him, ‘Ask Jesus who he is speaking about.’ ²⁵ So that disciple moved even nearer to Jesus and he asked, ‘Who is it, Lord?’ ²⁶ Jesus answered, ‘I will put a piece of bread in the dish of food. Then I will give the bread to him. That is the man.’ So he put a piece of bread in the dish. Then he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

²⁷ When Judas had taken the bread, Satan came into him. Then Jesus said to Judas, ‘Do quickly what you want to do.’ ²⁸ None of the other disciples who were sitting at the meal understood this. They did not know why Jesus said this to Judas. ²⁹ Judas kept the bag of money on behalf of the group of disciples. So some of them thought that Jesus had asked Judas to buy some things. Maybe he should buy what they needed for the festival. Or maybe he should go and give some money to the poor people.

³⁰ Judas took the bread and he ate it. Then he went out immediately. By now it was night.

Jesus' new rule

³¹ When Judas had left, Jesus said, ‘Now people will see how great the Son of Man is. Because of him, they will also see how great God is. ³² The Son will show how great God is. Then God will take the Son to himself and he will show how great the Son is. He will do that very soon.

³³ My children, I will be with you for only a short time now. You will look for me. But I tell you now what I told the Jews. You cannot go where I am now going. ³⁴ I give a new rule to you. Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. ³⁵ In this way, everyone will know that you are my disciples. They will know it, if you really love each other.’

³⁶ Simon Peter asked him, ‘Lord, where will you go?’ Jesus replied, ‘You cannot follow now where I will go. But some time after this, you will follow.’ ³⁷ Peter said, ‘Lord, why can I not go with you now? I would even die for you.’ ³⁸ Jesus answered, ‘You say that you would die for me. But I tell you this: Soon you will say that you do not know me. Before the cockerel sings early tomorrow morning, you will say that three times.’

Jesus is the way to the Father

14 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not be sad or afraid. Believe in God, and also believe in me. ² There are many rooms in my Father's house. I will go now so that I can prepare a place for you there. If it was not true, I would not have told you this. ³ After I have prepared a place for you, I will return. Then I will take you so that you will be with me. You will be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I will go.’

⁵ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you will go. So how can we know the way to get there?’ ⁶ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Nobody comes to the Father except by me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him.’

⁸ Philip said, ‘Lord, show the Father to us. That is all that we need.’ ⁹ Jesus answered, ‘I have been with all of you for a long time. But still you do not seem to know me, Philip! Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, “Show the Father to us”? ¹⁰ I am in the Father and the Father is in me. You should believe that. The words that I say to you do not come from me myself. But the Father lives in me, and he is doing his work. ¹¹ I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Believe me when I say that. You have seen the things that I have done. So, if you do not believe my words, believe because of my work. ¹² I tell you this: Whoever believes in me will do the same things that I have been doing. Yes, he will do even greater things than these, because I will go to my Father. ¹³ Ask me to help you. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it for you. In that way, the Son will show everyone how great the Father is. ¹⁴ Yes, you should ask me for anything in my name.^[ad] I will do it for you.’

Jesus promises to send God's Spirit

¹⁵ Jesus then said, ‘If you love me, do what I have told you to do. ¹⁶ I will ask the Father to help you with this. He will send another Helper to be with you. That Helper will stay with you for ever. ¹⁷ He is God's Spirit and he shows you what is true. The people who belong to this world cannot receive him. That is because they cannot see him. They cannot know who he is. But you know him because he stays with you. And he will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not let you remain alone, like children without parents. I will come to you.

¹⁹ Soon, the people who belong to this world will not see me any more. But you will see me. Because I continue to live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day, you will know that I am in my Father. You will know that you are in me and I am in you. ²¹ Those people who obey my commands are the ones who really love me. They accept my words and they do what I say. My Father will love everyone who loves me. I also will love them and I will show myself to them.’

²² Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, ‘Lord, why will you show yourself only to us? Why will you not show yourself also to the people who belong to this world?’

²³ Jesus replied, ‘Everyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. And my Father and I will come to them and we will make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my message. These words that you hear are not my own. No, they come from the Father, who sent me. ²⁵ I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Father will send the Holy Spirit to be with you. He will be your Helper. He will come in my name, and he will teach you all things.^[ae] He will help you to remember everything that I have told you.

²⁷ I will go away but I will give you a gift of peace. It is mine to give and yours to keep. It is not like a gift that this world gives. Do not let yourselves be sad. Do not be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, “I will go away, but I will return to you.” If you loved me, you would be happy because of that. You would be happy because I will go to the Father. And he is greater than I am. ²⁹ I have told you this now, before it happens. So then, when it does happen, you will believe. ³⁰ I will not talk with you much more, because the ruler of this world will come soon. He has no power over me. ³¹ But the people who belong to this world must learn about me. They must know that I love the Father. I do everything that he tells me to do. I must show that to them. Now get up, we must go from here.’

The branches must stay in the vine

15 Jesus said, ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.^{[af] 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.^[ag]

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.^{[ah] 17} This is what I tell you to do: You must love each other.’