John 3:16-16:16
View Full Chapter17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. 24(This was before John was put in prison.) 25An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.
26They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
30He must become greater; I must become less.”
Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman 1Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.
3So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her,
8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
10Jesus answered her,
12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13Jesus answered,
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15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16He told her,
17“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her,
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20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
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25The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26Then Jesus declared,
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus 27Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
32But he said to them,
33Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
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41And because of his words many more became believers.
42They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son 43After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)
45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there. 46Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
47When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
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49The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
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53Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him,
The Healing at the Pool
1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.
2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda
6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him,
7“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8Then Jesus said to him,
10and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
11But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me,
12So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
13The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him,
15The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
17In his defense Jesus said to them,
18For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
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Testimonies About Jesus
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Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand 1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
4The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip,
6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,
10Jesus said,
11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples,
13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 14After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.
18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.
19When they had rowed about three or four miles,
Jesus the Bread of Life
25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26Jesus answered,
28Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29Jesus answered,
31Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
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34“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35Then Jesus declared,
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42They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say,
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52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53Jesus said to them,
59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them,
65He went on to say,
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
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69We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70Then Jesus replied,
Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles
1After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want
5For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6Therefore Jesus told them,
9After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
11Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”
12Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.”
13But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.
Jesus Teaches at the Festival 14Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.
15The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”
16Jesus answered,
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20“You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21Jesus said to them,
Division Over Who Jesus Is
25At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?
26Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah?
28Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out,
31Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”
32The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33Jesus said,
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36What did he mean when he said,
39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
44Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders 45Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. 48“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?
49No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” 50Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked,
51“Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” [The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.] 53Then they all went home,
1but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony
12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,
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19Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”
20He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
Dispute Over Who Jesus Is
21Once more Jesus said to them,
22This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says,
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30Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
Dispute Over Whose Children Jesus’ Opponents Are
31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said,
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33They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34Jesus replied,
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39“Abraham is our father,” they answered.
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Jesus’ Claims About Himself
48The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”
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53Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54Jesus replied,
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57“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
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2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
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9Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
10“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
15Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”
16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.
17Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” 18They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 20“We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.
23That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
25He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
26Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” 28Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses!
29We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.” 30The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.
33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
36“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37Jesus said,
38Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39Jesus said,
40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41Jesus said,
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
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6Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
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20Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
21But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Further Conflict Over Jesus’ Claims
22Then came the Festival of Dedication
24The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
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32but Jesus said to them,
33“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34Jesus answered them,
39Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. 40Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42And in that place many believed in Jesus.
The Death of Lazarus
1Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
2(This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)
4When he heard this, Jesus said,
7and then he said to his disciples,
8“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9Jesus answered,
11After he had said this, he went on to tell them,
13Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
16Then Thomas (also known as Didymus
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
17On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
18Now Bethany was less than two miles
23Jesus said to her,
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27“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” 28After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
31When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
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35Jesus wept.
36Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead 38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
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40Then Jesus said,
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44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them,
The Plot to Kill Jesus 45Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs.
48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” 49Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all!
50You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” 51He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
53So from that day on they plotted to take his life. 55When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.
Jesus Anointed at Bethany 1Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
3Then Mary took about a pint
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11for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King 12The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!
14Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. 17Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him.
19So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
Jesus Predicts His Death 20Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
22Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23Jesus replied,
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29The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30Jesus said,
33He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
35Then Jesus told them,
Belief and Unbelief Among the Jews 37Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.
38This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”
41Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. 42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;
43for they loved human praise more than praise from God.
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Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet 1It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
8“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered,
9“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
10Jesus answered,
11For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
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Jesus Predicts His Betrayal
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25Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 28But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.
30As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
31When he was gone, Jesus said,
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36Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied,
37Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38Then Jesus answered,
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Jesus the Way to the Father 5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
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Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
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22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23Jesus replied,
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The Vine and the Branches
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