John 16
16
1 “These things I have spoken to you, so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out from the synagogues, but an hour is coming that everyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they do not know the Father nor Me. 4 But I have these things to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them.
The Work of the Spirit
“And I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
5 But now I am going to the One who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sadness has filled your heart. 7 But I say to you the truth, it is advantageous for you that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Intercessor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He comes, He will convict the world with respect to sin, righteousness, and judgment: * 9 with respect to sin, because they do not believe in Me, 10 and with respect to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me, 11 and with respect to judgment, because the ruler of this world has been tried and condemned. 12 I still have many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them at this time. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will declare to you the things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, because He will take from that which is Mine and will declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has is Mine; because of this, I said that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you.
Your Sadness Will Turn into Joy
16 “A little longer, and you will no longer see Me, and again a little longer, and you will see Me.” 17 So, some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this that He is saying to us, ‘A little longer, and you will not see Me, and again a little longer, and you will see Me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they continued to say, “What is this that He is saying, ‘A little longer’? We do not know what He is saying.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him a question, so He said to them, “Are you deliberating with one another regarding this—that I said, ‘A little longer, and you will not see Me, and again a little longer and you will see Me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will become sad, but your sadness will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish, on account of the joy that a child * has been born into the world. 22 So you also are having grief now, but I will see you again, and your heart will be glad, and no one will take away your joy from you. 23 And on that day, you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
I Have Overcome the World
25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative terms. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative terms, but I will speak to you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God. * 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
29 His disciples said, “Behold, now You are speaking plainly and are not speaking in figurative language. 30 Now we know that You know all things and have no need for anyone to question You. By this we believe that You have come from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Now do you believe? 32 Behold, an hour is coming, and has come, that you will be scattered, each to his own home, * and you will leave Me alone; but I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you have distress, but take courage, I have overcome the world.”
Notes
8 Greek …with respect to sin and with respect to righteousness and with respect to judgment
21 Greek a man
27 Some ancient manuscripts read Father
32 Greek to the own
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John 16: AFINTLIT
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
