161 These things I have spoken unto you that ye may not be offended. 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues; but the hour is coming that every one who kills you will think to render service to God; 3 and these things they will do because they have not known the Father nor me. 4 But I have spoken these things to you, that when their hour shall have come, ye may remember them, that I have said [them] unto you. But I did not say these things unto you from [the] beginning, because I was with you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

5 But now I go to him that has sent me, and none of you demands of me, Where goest thou? 6 But because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

7 But I say the truth to you, It is profitable for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you. 8 And having come, he will bring demonstration to the world, of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe on me; 10 of righteousness, because I go away to [my] Father, and ye behold me no longer; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 I have yet many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming. 14 He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall announce [it] to you. 15 All things that the Father has are mine; on account of this I have said that he receives of mine and shall announce [it] to you.

Sorrow to Turn into Joy

16 A little while and ye do not behold me; and again a little while and ye shall see me, [because I go away to the Father]. 17 [Some] of his disciples therefore said to one another, What is this he says to us, A little while and ye do not behold me; and again a little while and ye shall see me, and, Because I go away to the Father? 18 They said therefore, What is this which he says [of] the little while? We do not know [of] what he speaks. 19 Jesus knew therefore that they desired to demand of him, and said to them, Do ye inquire of this among yourselves that I said, A little while and ye do not behold me; and again a little while and ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say to you, that ye shall weep and lament, ye, but the world shall rejoice; and ye will be grieved, but your grief shall be turned to joy. 21 A woman, when she gives birth to a child, has grief because her hour has come; but when the child is born, she no longer remembers the trouble, on account of the joy that a man has been born into the world. 22 And ye now therefore have grief; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one takes from you.

23 And in that day ye shall demand nothing of me: verily, verily, I say to you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24 Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

I Have Overcome the World

25 These things I have spoken to you in allegories; the hour is coming that I will no longer speak to you in allegories, but will declare to you openly concerning the Father. 26 In that day ye shall ask in my name; and I say not to you that I will demand of the Father for you, 27 for the Father himself has affection for you, because ye have had affection for me, and have believed that I came out from God.

28 I came out from the Father and have come into the world; again, I leave the world and go to the Father. 29 His disciples say to him, Lo, now thou speakest openly and utterest no allegory. 30 Now we know that thou knowest all things, and hast not need that any one should demand of thee. By this we believe that thou art come from God. 31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 32 Behold, [the] hour is coming, and has come, that ye shall be scattered, each to his own, and shall leave me alone; and [yet] I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 These things have I spoken to you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye have tribulation; but be of good courage: I have overcome the world.

Jesus and Nicodemus

31 But there was a man from among the Pharisees, his name Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 he came to him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from God, for none can do these signs that thou doest unless God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said to him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus says to him, How can a man be born being old? can he enter a second time into the womb of his mother and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not wonder that I said to thee, It is needful that ye should be born anew. 8 The wind blows where it will, and thou hearest its voice, but knowest not whence it comes and where it goes: thus is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said to him, Thou art the teacher of Israel and knowest not these things! 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and we bear witness of that which we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have said the earthly things to you, and ye believe not, how, if I say the heavenly things to you, will ye believe? 13 And no one has gone up into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up, 15 that every one who believes on him may [not perish, but] have life eternal.

God So Loved the World

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal. 17 For God has not sent his Son into the world that he may judge the world, but that the world may be saved through him. 18 He that believes on him is not judged: but he that believes not has been already judged, because he has not believed on the name of the only-begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light; for their works were evil. 20 For every one that does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light that his works may not be shewn as they are; 21 but he that practises the truth comes to the light, that his works may be manifested that they have been wrought in God.

He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease

22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he abode with them and baptised. 23 And John also was baptising in Aenon, near Salim, because there was a great deal of water there; and they came to [him] and were baptised: 24 for John was not yet cast into prison. 25 There was therefore a reasoning of the disciples of John with a Jew about purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, he baptises, and all come to him. 27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing unless it be given him out of heaven. 28 Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him. 29 He that has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices in heart because of the voice of the bridegroom: this my joy then is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

The Testimony from Heaven

31 He who comes from above is above all. He who has his origin in the earth is of the earth, and speaks [as] of the earth. He who comes out of heaven is above all, 32 [and] what he has seen and has heard, this he testifies; and no one receives his testimony. 33 He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true; 34 for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives not the Spirit by measure. 35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things [to be] in his hand. 36 He that believes on the Son has life eternal, and he that is not subject to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him.