Jesus the True Vine
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vintner. 2 He cuts off every branch that does not produce fruit in me, and he cuts back every branch that does produce fruit, so that it might produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of what I’ve spoken to you.
4 “Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Just as the branch cannot produce fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who abides in me while I abide in him[a] produces much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Unless a person abides in me, he is thrown away like a pruned[b] branch and dries up. People gather such branches,[c] throw them into a fire, and they are burned up.
7 “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask for anything you want, and you’ll receive it. 8 This is how my Father is glorified, when you produce a lot of fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. So abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you’ll abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I’ve told you this, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
12 “This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one shows[d] greater love than when he lays down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends, if you do what I command you. 15 I don’t call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. But I’ve called you friends, because I’ve made known to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father.
16 “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. I have appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last,[e] so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 17 I am giving you these commandments so that you may love one another.”
The World’s Hatred
18 “If the world hates you, you should realize that it hated me before you. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But because you do not belong to the world and I have chosen you out of it,[f] the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 They will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.
22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have any sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 The person who hates me also hates my Father. 24 If I hadn’t done among them the actions that no one else did, they wouldn’t have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But this happened so that[g] what has been written in their Law might be fulfilled: ‘They hated me for no reason.’[h]
26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father— the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father—he will testify on my behalf. 27 You will testify also, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Footnotes
- John 15:5 Lit. and I in him
- John 15:6 The Gk. lacks pruned
- John 15:6 Lit. They gather them
- John 15:13 Lit. has
- John 15:16 Lit. produce fruit, and your fruit is to last
- John 15:19 Lit. out of the world
- John 15:25 Lit. But so that
- John 15:25 Cf. Ps 35:19; 69:4