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 husbandman:

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 beareth not fruit He taketh away, and every one that beareth fruit, He purgeth, that it may 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.

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto 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 therefore in me, and I will abide in you: for as the branch cannot bear fruit of it self, unless it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye 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, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, beareth much fruit: but without me ye 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 any one abide not in me, he is cast out as a useless branch and withereth: and they gather them up, and throw them into the fire, and they are burnt.

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 ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask what ye will, and it shall be granted 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.

Herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye 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.

As the Father hath loved me, and I have loved you, continue 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.

and if ye keep my commandments ye will continue in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and continue 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.

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy in you may continue, and 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 ye love one another, 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.

Greater love hath no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends:

14 You [show that you] are my friends if you keep doing what I have commanded you.

and ye are my friends, if ye do what 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.

I no longer stile you servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth: but I have called you friends; for whatsoever I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you.

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].

Ye did not first choose me, but I chose you, and have appointed you to go forth, and bear fruit, and that your fruit should be lasting: that whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name, He may give it you.

17 [I repeat what] I have commanded you: Love each other.”

These commands I give you, that ye should 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 hate you, ye know that it hated me first.

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 ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth 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 said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have observed my word, they will also observe yours.

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 all these things will they do unto you, on my account, because they know not Him that 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 unto them, they had not had 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.

He that hateth me, hateth 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 such works as no other ever did, they had not comparatively had sin: but now they have both 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 thus it is that the word might be fulfilled, which is written in their law, they hated me without a cause.

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.

But when the comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, (even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, ) He shall testify of 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].”

And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.