I Am the True Vine

1 “I am the ^rtrue vine, and my Father is ^sthe vinedresser. 2 ^tEvery branch in me that does not bear fruit ^uhe takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, ^vthat it may bear more fruit. 3 Already ^wyou are clean ^xbecause of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 ^yAbide ^zin me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; ^ayou are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that ^bbears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me ^che is thrown away like a branch and withers; ^dand the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If ^eyou abide in me, and my words abide in you, ^fask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 ^gBy this my Father is glorified, that you ^hbear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 ⁱAs the Father has loved me, ^jso have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 ^kIf you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as ^lI have kept ^mmy Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, ⁿthat my joy may be in you, and that ^oyour joy may be full.

12 ^p“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 ^qGreater love has no one than this, ^rthat someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are ^smy friends ^tif you do what I command you. 15 ^uNo longer do I call you servants,¹ for the servant ^wdoes not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^xall that I have heard from my Father ^yI have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but ^zI chose you and appointed you that you should go and ^abear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that ^bwhatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, ^cso that you will love one another.

The Hatred of the World

18 ^d“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 ^eIf you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because ^fyou are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ^g‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, ^hthey will also persecute you. ⁱIf they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But ^jall these things they will do to you ^kon account of my name, ^lbecause they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, ^mthey would not have been guilty of sin,² but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 ⁿWhoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 ^oIf I had not done among them the works that no one else did, ^mthey would not be guilty of sin, but now they have ^pseen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But ^qthe word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ^r‘They hated me without a cause.’

26 “But ^swhen the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, ^the will bear witness about me. 27 And ^uyou also will bear witness, ^vbecause you have been with me ^wfrom the beginning.

Taming the Tongue

1 ^cNot many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For ^dwe all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, ^ehe is a perfect man, ^fable also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put ^gbits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet ^hit boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And ⁱthe tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, ^jstaining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,¹ and set on fire by hell.² 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, ^kfull of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people ^lwho are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,³ these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Wisdom from Above

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? ^mBy his good conduct let him show his works ⁿin the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter ^ojealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not ^pthe wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, ^qdemonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But ^rthe wisdom from above is first pure, then ^speaceable, gentle, open to reason, ^tfull of mercy and good fruits, ^uimpartial and ^vsincere. 18 And ^wa harvest of righteousness ^xis sown in peace by those who make peace.

Warning Against Worldliness

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions¹ are ^yat war within you?² 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask ^zwrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 ^aYou adulterous people!³ Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^bTherefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit ^cthat he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But ^dhe gives more grace. Therefore it says, ^e“God opposes the proud but ^dgives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. ^fResist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 ^gDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. ^hCleanse your hands, you sinners, and ⁱpurify your hearts, ^jyou double-minded. 9 ^kBe wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 ^lHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

11 ^mDo not speak evil against one another, brothers.⁴ The one who speaks against a brother or ⁿjudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only ^oone lawgiver and ^pjudge, he who is able to save and ^qto destroy. But ^rwho are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, ^s“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^tyou are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, ^u“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^vAll such boasting is evil. 17 ^wSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Christ Our Advocate

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ^ywe have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 ^zHe is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but ^aalso for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ^bkeep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments ^cis a liar, and ^cthe truth is not in him, 5 but whoever ^dkeeps his word, in him truly ^ethe love of God is perfected. ^fBy this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he ^gabides in him ^hought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

7 Beloved, I am writing you ⁱno new commandment, but ^jan old commandment ^kthat you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is ^la new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because^{1 m}the darkness is passing away and ⁿthe true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and ^ohates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him² there is no ^pcause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and ^qwalks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Do Not Love the World

15 ^vDo not love the world or the things in the world. ^wIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—^xthe desires of the flesh and ^ythe desires of the eyes and pride of life³—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And ^zthe world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Warning Concerning Antichrists

18 Children, ^ait is the last hour, and as you have heard that ^bantichrist is coming, so now ^cmany antichrists have come. ^dTherefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 ^eThey went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^fif they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, ^gthat it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been ^hanointed by ⁱthe Holy One, and ^jyou all have knowledge.⁴ 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but ^khe who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is ^bthe antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 ^lNo one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let ^mwhat you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then ⁿyou too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us⁵—^oeternal life.

26 I write these things to you about ^pthose who are trying to deceive you. 27 But ^qthe anointing that you received from him abides in you, and ^ryou have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and ^sis true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that ^twhen he appears ^uwe may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his ^vcoming. 29 If you know that ^whe is righteous, you may be sure that ^xeveryone who practices righteousness has been born of him.