John 16

₁Jesus also said: ‘I told you all of this so that you will not stop believing. ₂The people will chase you away from the synagogues. The time will come when people will kill you and they will think that God told them to do it. ₃They will kill you because they do not know the Father and they do not know Me. ₄I say this to you now, because when the time comes and the people do these things, you will remember that I told you it would happen.’

Jesus told his disciples: ‘I did not tell you all these things before because I was with you. ₅Now I am going back to the Father who has sent Me to the world, but not one of you has asked Me where I am going. ₆You are very sad because of all the things that I told you. ₇But I tell you the truth: It is better for you that I go away. If I don't go away, then the Helper, the Holy_Spirit, will not come to you. But if I go away, I will send Him to you.

₈When the Helper comes, He will show the people of the world that they are wrong and He will show them the truth about sin and about what God wants us to do, and about the judgement of God. ₉The people of the world are wrong when they think about sin because they do not believe in Me. ₁₀They are wrong when they think about what God wants us to do, because I am going to the Father and you will not see Me again. ₁₁And they are wrong when they think about the judgement of God, because God has already judged Satan, the ruler of the people of the world.

₁₂There are a lot of other things that I want to tell you, but you will not understand them now. ₁₃When the Helper, the Holy_Spirit, comes, He will show you everything. He will tell you the truth. He will not use his own words. He will say to you what the Father and I tell Him to say. He will also help you understand the things that will happen later. ₁₄The Helper will show that I am God, because everything that He tells you will come from Me. ₁₅Everyone who belongs to the Father also belongs to Me. This is why I say that every word that the Holy_Spirit will say to you comes from Me.’

₁₆Jesus told his disciples: ‘It will not be long, then you will not see Me. And then after a short time you will see Me again.’

₁₇Some of Jesus' disciples said to each other: ‘We do not understand what Jesus is saying. He says it will not be long, then we will not see Him and then after a short while we will see Him again. What does it mean when He says He is going to the Father? ₁₈What does it mean when He says it will not be long? We don't understand.’

₁₉Jesus knew what they wanted to ask Him. He then asked them: ‘Do you want to know what I mean when I say it will not be long, then you will not see Me and after a short while you will see Me again? ₂₀I tell you this and it is sure: You will cry and mourn, but the people of the world will be happy. You will be sad but later you will be happy.

₂₁When a woman has a child, she has a lot of pain. But when the baby is born, she does not think about the pain. She is happy that she is the mother of the child. ₂₂You are sad now but when I see you again, you will be very happy. You will be so happy that no one will be able to take away your happiness. ₂₃On that day you will no longer ask Me anything. I tell you this and it is sure: On that day you can ask the Father anything because you belong to Me, and the Father will give it to you. ₂₄You belong to Me, but before today you have not asked anything in my name. But from now on you may ask the Father and He will give it to you. Then you will really be happy.

₂₅Before today, I have used parables and words that are difficult when I explained something to you, but soon I will no longer use parables. I will tell you about the Father so that you will understand every word. ₂₆On that day you will pray to the Father and you will ask Him things because you belong to Me. I will not have to ask the Father. No, you will pray to Him yourselves. ₂₇The Father loves you because you love Me and you believe that I came from God. ₂₈I went away from the Father and I came to the people of the world. Now I am going away from the people of the world and I am going back to the Father.’

₂₉The disciples said to Jesus: ‘Now you talk so that we can understand. You do not use parables. ₃₀Now we are sure that You know everything. You don't have to ask people what they are thinking. You know what they want to ask. Now we believe that You came from God.’

₃₁Jesus said to them: ‘You say you believe now, ₃₂but the time will come when you will suffer a lot, and that time is here already. People will chase you away and you will run away to your homes. You will leave Me alone, but I will not_really be alone, because the Father is with Me. ₃₃I tell you all of this so that you can have peace because you belong to Me. The people of the world will make you suffer a lot, but you must be strong. I have defeated the world.’