John 15

1I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

2The Father cuts off every branch in me that does not give fruit. And the Father trims every branch that does give fruit, so that it will give even more.

3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

4Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. A branch cannot give fruit by itself; it must stay joined to the vine. In the same way, you cannot give fruit unless you stay joined to me.

5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever stays joined to me, and I to that person, will give much fruit. Without me you can do nothing.

6Whoever does not stay joined to me is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

7If you stay joined to me, and my words stay in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be done for you.

8This is how my Father is honored: that you give much fruit and show that you are my disciples.

9I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. Now stay in my love.

10If you obey my commands, you will stay in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and stay in my Father's love.

11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

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

13No one has greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

14You are my friends if you do what I command you.

15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. Instead, I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.

16You did not choose me; I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and give fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

17This is my command to you: love one another.

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

19If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world, so the world hates you.

20Remember what I told you: a servant is not greater than his master. If people treated me badly, they will treat you badly too. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too.

21They will do all this to you because of my name, because they do not know the One who sent me.

22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

23Whoever hates me also hates my Father.

24If I had not done among them the works that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these works, and still they have hated both me and my Father.

25But this happened so that the word written in their law would come true: They hated me for no reason.

26When the Helper comes, I will send the Helper to you from the Father. This Helper is the Spirit of truth, who comes from the Father, and the Spirit will tell people about me.

27And you also must tell people about me, because you have been with me from the beginning.