Gospel according to John 16

¹ ‘I have told you all this that your faith may not be shaken.

² They will expel you from the synagogues, and indeed the hour is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing a holy duty for God.

³ They will do these things because they have never known either the Father or myself.

⁴ But I have told you all this, so that when the time for it comes you may remember that I told you.

⁵ but now I am going to the one who sent me. Not one of you has asked, “Where are you going?”

⁶ Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this.

⁷ Still, I must tell you the truth: it is for your own good that I am going because unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I do go, I will send him to you.

⁸ And when he comes, he will show the world how wrong it was, about sin, and about who was in the right, and about judgement:

⁹ about sin: proved by their refusal to believe in me;

¹⁰ about who was in the right: proved by my going to the Father and your seeing me no more;

¹¹ about judgement: proved by the prince of this world being already condemned.

¹² I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now.

¹³ But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come.

¹⁴ He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.

¹⁵ Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tells you will be taken from what is mine.

¹⁶ ‘In a short time you will no longer see me, and then a short time later you will see me again.’

¹⁷ Then some of his disciples said to one another, ‘What does he mean, “In a short time you will no longer see me, and then a short time later you will see me again” and, “I am going to the Father”?

¹⁸ What is this “short time”? We don’t know what he means.’

¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to question him, so he said, ‘You are asking one another what I meant by saying: In a short time you will no longer see me, and then a short time later you will see me again.

²⁰ ‘I tell you most solemnly, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.

²¹ A woman in childbirth suffers, because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering in her joy that a man has been born into the world.

²² So it is with you: you are sad now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you.

²³ When that day comes, you will not ask me any questions. I tell you most solemnly, anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name.

²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete.

²⁵ I have been telling you all this in metaphors, the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in metaphors; but tell you about the Father in plain words.

²⁶ When that day comes you will ask in my name; and I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you,

²⁷ because the Father himself loves you for loving me and believing that I came from God.

²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world and now I leave the world to go to the Father.’

²⁹ His disciples said, ‘Now you are speaking plainly and not using metaphors!

³⁰ Now we see that you know everything, and do not have to wait for questions to be put into words; because of this we believe that you came from God.’

³¹ Jesus answered them: ‘Do you believe at last?

³² Listen; the time will come – in fact it has come already – when you will be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

³³ I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but be brave: I have conquered the world.’