John 15

₁‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ₂He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ₃You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ₄Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

₅‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ₆If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ₇If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ₈This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

₉‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ₁₀If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ₁₁I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ₁₂My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. ₁₃Greater love has no-one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ₁₄You are my friends if you do what I command. ₁₅I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ₁₆You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ₁₇This is my command: love each other.

₁₈‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ₁₉If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ₂₀Remember what I told you: “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ₂₁They will treat you this way because of my name, for 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 hates my Father as well. ₂₄If I had not done among them the works no-one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ₂₅But this is to fulfil what is written in their Law: “They hated me without reason.”

₂₆‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me. ₂₇And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.