John 15

1 ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower.

2 Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, so that it may bear more fruit.

3 You are already clean because of the message that I have given you.

4 Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me.

5 I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remains united to me, while I remain united to you – you bear fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me.

6 If anyone does not remain united to me, they are thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt.

7 If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it will be yours.

8 It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honoured.

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love.

10 If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father’s commands to heart and remain in his love.

11 I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete.

12 This is my command – love one another, as I have loved you.

13 No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down their life for their friends.

14 And you are my friends, if you do what I command you.

15 I no longer call you “servants,” because a servant does not know what their master is doing; but I have given you the name of “friends,” because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father.

16 It wasn’t you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my name.

17 I am giving you these commands that you may love one another.

18 If the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me.

19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world – that is why the world hates you.

20 Remember what I said to you – “A servant is not greater than their master.” If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also.

21 But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my name, for they do not know him who sent me.

22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin.

23 The person who hates me hates my Father also.

24 If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.

25 And so is fulfilled what is said in their Law – “They hated me without cause.”

26 But, when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth, who comes from the Father – will bear testimony to me;

27 yes, and you also are to bear testimony, because you have been with me from the first.