John 15
1 [Jesus talked to us as we were walking along. Speaking figuratively of the need for us to live in a way that God wants us to, he said], “I am like [MET] a genuine vine, [not like those Jewish leaders who do not teach the truth]. My father is like [MET] a gardener who [works to] take care of a vineyard.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
2 [Just like a gardener] cuts off the branches that bear no grapes [MET], [God gets rid of those who do not please him even though they say that they belong to him]. Those branches that bear fruit, [the gardener] trims so that they may bear more grapes. [Similarly, my Father disciplines/corrects those who live as he wants them to live].
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will bear more fruit.
3 You are already [like] the branches [that a gardener] trims because [you have believed] the message that I have told you.
You have already been pruned by the word I have spoken to you.
4 Remain having a close relationship with me. [If you do that], I will remain having a close relationship with you. A branch [of a vine] cannot bear fruit [if it is cut off and left] by itself. To bear fruit, it must remain attached to the vine. Similarly, you cannot [live the way that God wants you to] if you do not remain united to me [MET].
Abide in me, and I will abide in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me.
5 I am [like] [MET] a vine. You are [like] [MET] the branches. All those who have a close relationship with me and with whom I have a close relationship will [do much that pleases God, like] [MET] [a vine that] bears much fruit. [Remember that] you can do nothing [HYP] [that truly pleases God] without my [help].
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
6 [A gardener cuts off and] throws away useless branches. Then, after they dry up, [he] picks them up and throws them into a fire and burns them [SIM]. Similarly, everyone who does not remain having a close relationship with me, [God] will get rid of.
If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown out like a branch and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
7 If you remain having a close relationship with me and you keep [living in accordance with] my message, you can ask [God to do] anything for you, and he will do it.
If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 The way my Father is honored is by your {The way you honor my Father is by} doing much that pleases him [MET], and by doing that, you will show that you are my disciples.
My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit, and by doing so you will be my disciples.
9 I have loved you just as [my] Father has loved me. Now keep living in [a way that is appropriate for those whom] I love.
Just as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love.
10 If you obey what I have commanded you, you will be acting in [a way that is appropriate for those whom] I love, just like I have obeyed what my Father has commanded me and I act [in a way that is appropriate for someone] whom he loves.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
11 I have told you these things so that you may be joyful as I [am joyful], and that you may be completely joyful.
I have told you these things so that my joy may abide in you, and so that your joy may be full.
12 What I am commanding you is this: Love each other just like I have loved you.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
13 The best way that people can show that they love someone is to die for that person. There is no way that you can love someone in a greater way than that.
No one has greater love than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14 You [show that you] are my friends if you keep doing what I have commanded you.
You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.
15 I will no longer call you my servants, because servants do not know [why] their masters [want them to] do things. Instead, I have said that you are my friends, because I, [acting like a friend], have revealed to you everything that my Father told me.
No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.
16 You did not decide to become my [disciples]. Instead, I chose you, so that you would do many things that please him [MET]. The results of what you do will last [forever]. I also chose you so that [my] Father will do for you whatever you, using my authority, ask him to do [MTY].
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask of the Father in my name he will give you.
17 [I repeat what] I have commanded you: Love each other.”
I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
18 “The people who are opposed to God will hate you. When that happens, remember that they hated me first.
“If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If you belonged to those who are opposed to God [MTY], they would love [you like they love] those who belong to them. But you do not belong to those who are opposed to God [MTY]. Instead, I chose you so that you would separate yourselves from [MTY] them. That is why those who are opposed to God [MTY] hate you.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.
20 Remember these words that I told you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ [That means that you, who are like my servants, cannot expect people to treat you better than they treat me]. So, since they have (persecuted me/caused me to suffer), they will (persecute you/cause you to suffer) also. If they had paid attention to the things I taught them, they would pay attention to what you teach them.
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.
21 They will treat you like that because you [belong to] me [MTY], and because they do not know the one who sent me.
But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken [God’s message] to them, they would not be guilty [of rejecting me and my message]. But now [I have come and told them God’s message, so] they will have no excuse [when God judges them] for their sin.
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 All those who hate me, [it is as though] they hate my Father as well.
Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the [miracles] that no one else ever did, they would not be guilty of the sin [of rejecting me]. But now, [although] they have seen [those miracles], they have hated both me and my Father.
If I had not done among them the works that no one else had done, they would have no sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this has happened in order that these words that have been written in their Scriptures might be fulfilled {to fulfill this that [(someone/the Psalmist]) wrote in their Scriptures}: ‘They hated me for no reason.’
But this has happened to fulfill what is written in their law: ‘They hated me for no reason.’
26 [Later] I will send to you from [my] Father the one who will (encourage/be like a legal counsel for) you. He is the Spirit [who will teach you God’s] truth. He will come from my Father. He will tell people about me.
“When the Helper comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.
27 But you [disciples] must also tell people [about me], because you have been with me from the time when I started [my ministry] [MTY].”
You must also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
