Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible





And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you always. It is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot obtain that Spirit, because it does not see it or recognize it; you recognize it because it stays with you and is within you. I am not going to leave you friendless. I am coming back to you.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done things before them that no one else ever did they would not be guilty of sin. But as it is, they have seen both me and my Father, and they have hated us both. But the saying of their Law, 'They hated me without cause,' must be fulfilled. When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father??hat Spirit of Truth that comes from the Father??e will bear testimony to me,

But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me where I am going, but your minds are full of sorrow because I have told you this. Yet it is only the truth when I tell you that it is better for you that I should go away. For if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you. read more.
When he comes, he will bring conviction to the world about sin and uprightness and judgment; about sin, as shown in their not believing in me; about uprightness, as shown by my going away to the Father, where you can no longer see me; and about judgment, as shown by the condemnation of the evil genius of this world. I have much more to tell you, but you cannot take it in now, but when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth, for he will not speak for himself but will tell what he hears, and will announce to you the things that are to come. He will do honor to me, for he will take what is mine and communicate it to you. All that the Father has belongs to me. That is why I said that he will take what is mine and communicate it to you.




If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you.



Therefore, "Come out from them, And separate from them, says the Lord, And touch nothing that is unclean. Then I will welcome you, Verse ConceptsParticipation, In SinSeparationTouchWorldlinessSeparation From Evil PeopleComing Out From EvilWelcomed By GodPeople Being UncleanPollution ForbiddenBeing Differentwelcome

We charge you, brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives in idleness, instead of following the teaching you received from us. Verse Conceptsevil, believers' responses toExcommunicationSluggardsTraditionsFellowship With WickedBad CompanyEvil AssociationsIn The Name Of ChristChristian TraditionsA Mans CharacterHaving No DealingsMen's OrdersChristians Being Called Brothers







Therefore, "Come out from them, And separate from them, says the Lord, And touch nothing that is unclean. Then I will welcome you, Verse ConceptsParticipation, In SinSeparationTouchWorldlinessSeparation From Evil PeopleComing Out From EvilWelcomed By GodPeople Being UncleanPollution ForbiddenBeing Differentwelcome

We charge you, brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives in idleness, instead of following the teaching you received from us. Verse Conceptsevil, believers' responses toExcommunicationSluggardsTraditionsFellowship With WickedBad CompanyEvil AssociationsIn The Name Of ChristChristian TraditionsA Mans CharacterHaving No DealingsMen's OrdersChristians Being Called Brothers









After this the Master appointed seventy-two others, and sent them on before him, two by two, to every town or place to which he intended to come. And he said to them, "The harvest is abundant enough, but the reapers are few. So pray to the owner of the harvest to send reapers to gather it. Now go. Here I send you out like lambs among wolves. read more.
Carry no purse nor wallet nor shoes, and do not stop to exchange civilities with anyone on the way. Whenever you go to stay at a house, first say, 'Peace to this household!' If there is anyone there who loves peace, your blessing will rest upon him, but if there is not, it will come back to you. Stay at the same house, eating and drinking what they offer you, for the workman deserves his pay. Do not change from one house to another. Whenever you come to a town and they welcome you, eat what is offered you, and cure the sick there, and say to them, 'The Kingdom of God is close upon you!' But whenever you come to a town and they do not welcome you, go out into the open streets and say, 'The very dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off in protest. But understand this: the Kingdom of God is at hand!' I tell you, on that Day Sodom will fare better than that town! Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the wonders that have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes! But Tyre and Sidon will fare better than you at the Judgment! And you, Capernaum! Are you to be exalted to the skies? You will go down among the dead! Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever disregards you disregards me, and whoever disregards me disregards him who sent me."






"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done things before them that no one else ever did they would not be guilty of sin. But as it is, they have seen both me and my Father, and they have hated us both. But the saying of their Law, 'They hated me without cause,' must be fulfilled.

"Here I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So you must be wise like serpents, and guileless like doves. But be on your guard against men, for they will give you up to their courts, and have you flogged in their synagogues, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to bear your testimony before them and the heathen. read more.
But when they give you up, you must have no anxiety about how to speak or what to say, for you will be told at the very moment what you ought to say, for it is not you who will speak, it is the Spirit of your Father that will speak through you. One brother will give up another to death, and a father his child, and children will turn against their parents, and have them put to death. You will be hated by everybody on my account, but the man who holds out to the very end will be saved.

And Jesus left the Temple and was going away, when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the Temple buildings. But he answered, "Do you see all this? I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another but shall be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him by themselves, and said to him, "Tell us when this is to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age." read more.
Jesus answered, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am the Christ,' and many will be misled by them. You will hear of wars and rumors of war; do not let yourselves be alarmed. They have to come, but that is not the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes here and there. All this is only the beginning of the sufferings. Then they will hand you over to persecution and they will put you to death, and you will be hated by all the heathen because you bear my name.

As he was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Master! What wonderful stones and buildings!" Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him, apart from the others, read more.
"Tell us when this is to happen, and what the sign will be when it is all just going to be carried out." And Jesus said to them, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. Many will come under my name and say 'I am he,' and many will be misled by them. But when you hear of wars and rumors of war, you must not be alarmed. They have to come, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes here and there, there will be famines. This is only the beginning of the sufferings. But you must be on your guard; they will hand you over to courts and you will be taken into synagogues and beaten, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to testify to them. For before the end the good news must be preached to all the heathen. When they are taking you off to trial do not worry beforehand about what you ought to say, but say whatever is given you when the time comes, for it is not you that will speak, but the holy Spirit. Brother will give up brother to be put to death, and the father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone, because you bear my name. But he who holds out to the end will be saved.

When some spoke about the Temple and its decoration with costly stone and votive offerings, he said, "As for all this that you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!" Then they asked him, "Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?" read more.
And he said, "Take care not to be misled. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am he,' and 'The time is at hand.' Do not follow them. But when you hear of wars and outbreaks, do not be alarmed. These have to come first, but the end does not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and pestilence and famine here and there. There will be horrors and great signs in the sky. But before all this, men will arrest you and persecute you, and hand you over to synagogues and prisons and have you brought before kings and governors on my account. It will all lead to your testifying. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense, for I will give you such wisdom of utterance as none of your opponents will be able to resist or dispute. You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you.

When Jesus had said all this he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Do honor to your son, that your son may do honor to you, just as you have done in giving him power over all mankind, so that he may give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And eternal life means knowing you as the only true God, and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ. read more.
I have done honor to you here on earth, by completing the work which you gave me to do. Now, Father, do such honor to me in your presence as I had done me there before the world existed. "I have revealed your real self to the men you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your message. Now at last they know that all that you have given me comes from you, for I have given them the truths that you gave me, and they have accepted them and been convinced that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me. I have a request to make for them. I make no request for the world, but only for those whom you have given me, for they are yours??10 all that is mine is yours and what is yours is mine??nd they have done me honor. Now I am to be no longer in this world, but they are to remain in the world, while I return to you. Holy Father, keep them by your power which you gave me, so that they may be one just as we are. As long as I was with them I kept them by your power which you gave me, and I protected them, and not one of them was lost (except the one who was destined to be lost), so that what the Scripture says might come true. But now I am coming to you, and I say this here in this world in order that they may have the happiness that I feel fully realized in their own hearts. I have given them your message, and the world has come to hate them, for they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

For the message you have heard from the beginning is this: We must love one another. We must not be like Cain who was a child of the evil one, and butchered his brother. And why did he butcher him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's upright. You must not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you!

When Jesus had said all this he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Do honor to your son, that your son may do honor to you, just as you have done in giving him power over all mankind, so that he may give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And eternal life means knowing you as the only true God, and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ. read more.
I have done honor to you here on earth, by completing the work which you gave me to do. Now, Father, do such honor to me in your presence as I had done me there before the world existed. "I have revealed your real self to the men you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your message. Now at last they know that all that you have given me comes from you, for I have given them the truths that you gave me, and they have accepted them and been convinced that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me. I have a request to make for them. I make no request for the world, but only for those whom you have given me, for they are yours??10 all that is mine is yours and what is yours is mine??nd they have done me honor. Now I am to be no longer in this world, but they are to remain in the world, while I return to you. Holy Father, keep them by your power which you gave me, so that they may be one just as we are. As long as I was with them I kept them by your power which you gave me, and I protected them, and not one of them was lost (except the one who was destined to be lost), so that what the Scripture says might come true. But now I am coming to you, and I say this here in this world in order that they may have the happiness that I feel fully realized in their own hearts. I have given them your message, and the world has come to hate them, for they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask you to take them away from the world, but to keep them from evil. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you.

Then Jesus said to them, "It is not yet time for me to act, but any time is suitable for you. It is impossible for the world to hate you, but it does hate me for testifying that its ways are wrong.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done things before them that no one else ever did they would not be guilty of sin. But as it is, they have seen both me and my Father, and they have hated us both. But the saying of their Law, 'They hated me without cause,' must be fulfilled.

Then Jesus said to them, "It is not yet time for me to act, but any time is suitable for you. It is impossible for the world to hate you, but it does hate me for testifying that its ways are wrong. As for you, go up to the festival; I am not going up to this festival as yet, for it is not quite time for me to go."



"Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and denounce you and spurn the name you bear as evil, on account of the Son of Man. Verse ConceptsFaultsReproachClaimsHatredSeparationSpiritual Warfare, Enemies InHated SaintsExcommunicationNames Blotted OutExclusionPeople Being HatedBlessing OthersRejectionhaters



and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name. Verse ConceptsHated SaintsPeople Being Hated



If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you.

It was he, Jesus Christ himself, who came in water and in blood; not in water only, but in water and in blood. The Spirit also testifies to this, for the Spirit is truth. Verse ConceptsBlood, of Jesus ChristGospel, Transmission OfRevelation, In NtThe Witness Of The Holy SpiritWater For BaptismSymbols of the Holy SpiritThe Spirit Of TruthThe Blood Of Jesustestifying

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done things before them that no one else ever did they would not be guilty of sin. But as it is, they have seen both me and my Father, and they have hated us both. But the saying of their Law, 'They hated me without cause,' must be fulfilled. When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father??hat Spirit of Truth that comes from the Father??e will bear testimony to me,


In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit itself pleads for us with inexpressible yearnings, and he who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit means, for it pleads for God's people in accordance with his will. We know that in everything God works with those who love him, whom he has called in accordance with his purpose, to bring about what is good.

But, as the Scripture says, there are things "Which no eye ever saw and no ear ever heard, And never occurred to the human mind, Which God has provided for those who love him." For God revealed them to us through his Spirit, for the Spirit fathoms everything, even the depths of God himself.

"I have told you this to keep you from faltering. They will exclude you from their synagogues; why, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing religious service to God. They will do this because they do not know the Father or me. read more.
But I have told you about these things in order that when the time comes for them to happen, you may remember that I told you of them. I did not tell you this at first because I was still staying with you. But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me where I am going, but your minds are full of sorrow because I have told you this. Yet it is only the truth when I tell you that it is better for you that I should go away. For if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you. When he comes, he will bring conviction to the world about sin and uprightness and judgment; about sin, as shown in their not believing in me; about uprightness, as shown by my going away to the Father, where you can no longer see me; and about judgment, as shown by the condemnation of the evil genius of this world. I have much more to tell you, but you cannot take it in now, but when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth, for he will not speak for himself but will tell what he hears, and will announce to you the things that are to come. He will do honor to me, for he will take what is mine and communicate it to you.

Such is the confidence that I have through Christ in my relations to God. Not that I am of myself qualified to claim anything as originating with me. My qualification is from God, and he has qualified me to serve him in the interests of a new agreement, not in writing but of spirit. For what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life.


"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done things before them that no one else ever did they would not be guilty of sin. But as it is, they have seen both me and my Father, and they have hated us both. But the saying of their Law, 'They hated me without cause,' must be fulfilled. When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father??hat Spirit of Truth that comes from the Father??e will bear testimony to me, and you must bear testimony too, because you have been with me from the first.

The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him. God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things."

I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there, except that in every town I visit, the holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and persecution are awaiting me.

This is why I, Paul, whom Jesus the Christ has made a prisoner for the sake of you heathen??2 if at least you have heard how I dealt with the mercy of God that was given me for you, and how the secret was made known to me by revelation, as I have just briefly written. As you read that, you will be able to understand the insight I have into the secret of the Christ read more.
(which in past ages was not disclosed to mankind as fully as it has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets)

And we have the testimony of the holy Spirit to this, for after saying, Verse ConceptsThe Witness Of The SpiritTaught By The Spirit

For who is there that is victorious over the world except the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? It was he, Jesus Christ himself, who came in water and in blood; not in water only, but in water and in blood. The Spirit also testifies to this, for the Spirit is truth. For there are three that testify to it,


For it seems to me, God has exhibited us apostles at the very end of the procession, like the men condemned to die in the arena. For we have become a spectacle to the whole universe, angels as well as men. We are made fools of, for the sake of Christ, while you are men of sense, through being united with him. We are weak, you are strong. You are distinguished, we are despised. To this day we have gone hungry, thirsty, and ill-clad; we have had rough usage, we have had no home, read more.
we have worked with our hands for a living. When people abuse us, we bless them, when they persecute us, we put up with it, when they slander us, we try to conciliate them. We have come to be like the scum of the earth, the dregs of the world, and we are so now.

As he was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Master! What wonderful stones and buildings!" Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him, apart from the others, read more.
"Tell us when this is to happen, and what the sign will be when it is all just going to be carried out." And Jesus said to them, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. Many will come under my name and say 'I am he,' and many will be misled by them. But when you hear of wars and rumors of war, you must not be alarmed. They have to come, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes here and there, there will be famines. This is only the beginning of the sufferings. But you must be on your guard; they will hand you over to courts and you will be taken into synagogues and beaten, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to testify to them. For before the end the good news must be preached to all the heathen. When they are taking you off to trial do not worry beforehand about what you ought to say, but say whatever is given you when the time comes, for it is not you that will speak, but the holy Spirit. Brother will give up brother to be put to death, and the father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone, because you bear my name. But he who holds out to the end will be saved.

"Here I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So you must be wise like serpents, and guileless like doves. But be on your guard against men, for they will give you up to their courts, and have you flogged in their synagogues, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to bear your testimony before them and the heathen. read more.
But when they give you up, you must have no anxiety about how to speak or what to say, for you will be told at the very moment what you ought to say, for it is not you who will speak, it is the Spirit of your Father that will speak through you. One brother will give up another to death, and a father his child, and children will turn against their parents, and have them put to death. You will be hated by everybody on my account, but the man who holds out to the very end will be saved. But when they persecute you in one town, make your escape to another, for I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man arrives. A pupil is not better than his teacher, nor a slave better than his master. A pupil should be satisfied to come to be like his teacher, or a slave, to come to be like his master. If men have called the head of the house Beelzebub, how much worse names will they give to the members of his household!

And Jesus left the Temple and was going away, when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the Temple buildings. But he answered, "Do you see all this? I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another but shall be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him by themselves, and said to him, "Tell us when this is to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age." read more.
Jesus answered, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am the Christ,' and many will be misled by them. You will hear of wars and rumors of war; do not let yourselves be alarmed. They have to come, but that is not the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes here and there. All this is only the beginning of the sufferings. Then they will hand you over to persecution and they will put you to death, and you will be hated by all the heathen because you bear my name. Then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

When some spoke about the Temple and its decoration with costly stone and votive offerings, he said, "As for all this that you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!" Then they asked him, "Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?" read more.
And he said, "Take care not to be misled. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am he,' and 'The time is at hand.' Do not follow them. But when you hear of wars and outbreaks, do not be alarmed. These have to come first, but the end does not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and pestilence and famine here and there. There will be horrors and great signs in the sky. But before all this, men will arrest you and persecute you, and hand you over to synagogues and prisons and have you brought before kings and governors on my account. It will all lead to your testifying. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense, for I will give you such wisdom of utterance as none of your opponents will be able to resist or dispute. You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name. Yet not a hair of your head will perish! It is by your endurance that you will win your souls.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too.

"I have told you this to keep you from faltering. They will exclude you from their synagogues; why, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing religious service to God. They will do this because they do not know the Father or me. read more.
But I have told you about these things in order that when the time comes for them to happen, you may remember that I told you of them. I did not tell you this at first because I was still staying with you.

When they heard it, with one impulse they all raised their voices to God and said, "Master, it was you who made heaven, earth, and sea, and everything that is in them, and who said through the holy Spirit by the lips of our forefather David, your slave, " 'Why did the heathen rage, And the peoples form vain designs? The kings of the earth stood by, And the rulers assembled Against the Lord and against his Christ.' read more.
For they have assembled here in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you had consecrated??erod and Pontius Pilate, with the heathen and the peoples of Israel,

Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest, and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there who belonged to the Way, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem. But on his journey, as he was approaching Damascus, a sudden light flashed around him from heaven, read more.
and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, sir?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," said the voice.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done things before them that no one else ever did they would not be guilty of sin. But as it is, they have seen both me and my Father, and they have hated us both. But the saying of their Law, 'They hated me without cause,' must be fulfilled.

The man went and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. This was why the Jews used to persecute Jesus, because he did things like this on the Sabbath. But he answered them, "My Father is still at work, and I work too." read more.
On account of this the Jews were all the more eager to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath but actually called God his Father, thus putting himself on an equality with God.

But on my way, as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly about noon, a blaze of light flashed around me from heaven, and I fell upon the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' I answered, 'Who are you, sir?' 'I am Jesus of Nazareth,' he said, 'whom you are persecuting.'





"Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and denounce you and spurn the name you bear as evil, on account of the Son of Man. Verse ConceptsFaultsReproachClaimsHatredSeparationSpiritual Warfare, Enemies InHated SaintsExcommunicationNames Blotted OutExclusionPeople Being HatedBlessing OthersRejectionhaters



and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name. Verse ConceptsHated SaintsPeople Being Hated


Therefore, "Come out from them, And separate from them, says the Lord, And touch nothing that is unclean. Then I will welcome you, Verse ConceptsParticipation, In SinSeparationTouchWorldlinessSeparation From Evil PeopleComing Out From EvilWelcomed By GodPeople Being UncleanPollution ForbiddenBeing Differentwelcome

We charge you, brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives in idleness, instead of following the teaching you received from us. Verse Conceptsevil, believers' responses toExcommunicationSluggardsTraditionsFellowship With WickedBad CompanyEvil AssociationsIn The Name Of ChristChristian TraditionsA Mans CharacterHaving No DealingsMen's OrdersChristians Being Called Brothers







"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done things before them that no one else ever did they would not be guilty of sin. But as it is, they have seen both me and my Father, and they have hated us both. But the saying of their Law, 'They hated me without cause,' must be fulfilled. When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father??hat Spirit of Truth that comes from the Father??e will bear testimony to me, and you must bear testimony too, because you have been with me from the first.

And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you always. It is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot obtain that Spirit, because it does not see it or recognize it; you recognize it because it stays with you and is within you. I am not going to leave you friendless. I am coming back to you. read more.
In a little while the world will not see me any more, but you will still see me, because I shall live on, and you will live on too.

But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me where I am going, but your minds are full of sorrow because I have told you this. Yet it is only the truth when I tell you that it is better for you that I should go away. For if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you. read more.
When he comes, he will bring conviction to the world about sin and uprightness and judgment; about sin, as shown in their not believing in me; about uprightness, as shown by my going away to the Father, where you can no longer see me; and about judgment, as shown by the condemnation of the evil genius of this world. I have much more to tell you, but you cannot take it in now, but when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth, for he will not speak for himself but will tell what he hears, and will announce to you the things that are to come.


"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done things before them that no one else ever did they would not be guilty of sin. But as it is, they have seen both me and my Father, and they have hated us both. But the saying of their Law, 'They hated me without cause,' must be fulfilled. When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father??hat Spirit of Truth that comes from the Father??e will bear testimony to me, and you must bear testimony too, because you have been with me from the first.

The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him. God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things."

I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there, except that in every town I visit, the holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and persecution are awaiting me.

This is why I, Paul, whom Jesus the Christ has made a prisoner for the sake of you heathen??2 if at least you have heard how I dealt with the mercy of God that was given me for you, and how the secret was made known to me by revelation, as I have just briefly written. As you read that, you will be able to understand the insight I have into the secret of the Christ read more.
(which in past ages was not disclosed to mankind as fully as it has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets)

And we have the testimony of the holy Spirit to this, for after saying, Verse ConceptsThe Witness Of The SpiritTaught By The Spirit

For who is there that is victorious over the world except the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? It was he, Jesus Christ himself, who came in water and in blood; not in water only, but in water and in blood. The Spirit also testifies to this, for the Spirit is truth. For there are three that testify to it,

"Here I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So you must be wise like serpents, and guileless like doves. But be on your guard against men, for they will give you up to their courts, and have you flogged in their synagogues, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to bear your testimony before them and the heathen. read more.
But when they give you up, you must have no anxiety about how to speak or what to say, for you will be told at the very moment what you ought to say, for it is not you who will speak, it is the Spirit of your Father that will speak through you. One brother will give up another to death, and a father his child, and children will turn against their parents, and have them put to death. You will be hated by everybody on my account, but the man who holds out to the very end will be saved.

And Jesus left the Temple and was going away, when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the Temple buildings. But he answered, "Do you see all this? I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another but shall be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him by themselves, and said to him, "Tell us when this is to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age." read more.
Jesus answered, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am the Christ,' and many will be misled by them. You will hear of wars and rumors of war; do not let yourselves be alarmed. They have to come, but that is not the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes here and there. All this is only the beginning of the sufferings. Then they will hand you over to persecution and they will put you to death, and you will be hated by all the heathen because you bear my name.

As he was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Master! What wonderful stones and buildings!" Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him, apart from the others, read more.
"Tell us when this is to happen, and what the sign will be when it is all just going to be carried out." And Jesus said to them, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. Many will come under my name and say 'I am he,' and many will be misled by them. But when you hear of wars and rumors of war, you must not be alarmed. They have to come, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes here and there, there will be famines. This is only the beginning of the sufferings. But you must be on your guard; they will hand you over to courts and you will be taken into synagogues and beaten, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to testify to them. For before the end the good news must be preached to all the heathen. When they are taking you off to trial do not worry beforehand about what you ought to say, but say whatever is given you when the time comes, for it is not you that will speak, but the holy Spirit. Brother will give up brother to be put to death, and the father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone, because you bear my name. But he who holds out to the end will be saved.

When some spoke about the Temple and its decoration with costly stone and votive offerings, he said, "As for all this that you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!" Then they asked him, "Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?" read more.
And he said, "Take care not to be misled. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am he,' and 'The time is at hand.' Do not follow them. But when you hear of wars and outbreaks, do not be alarmed. These have to come first, but the end does not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and pestilence and famine here and there. There will be horrors and great signs in the sky. But before all this, men will arrest you and persecute you, and hand you over to synagogues and prisons and have you brought before kings and governors on my account. It will all lead to your testifying. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense, for I will give you such wisdom of utterance as none of your opponents will be able to resist or dispute. You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you.

When Jesus had said all this he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Do honor to your son, that your son may do honor to you, just as you have done in giving him power over all mankind, so that he may give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And eternal life means knowing you as the only true God, and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ. read more.
I have done honor to you here on earth, by completing the work which you gave me to do. Now, Father, do such honor to me in your presence as I had done me there before the world existed. "I have revealed your real self to the men you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your message. Now at last they know that all that you have given me comes from you, for I have given them the truths that you gave me, and they have accepted them and been convinced that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me. I have a request to make for them. I make no request for the world, but only for those whom you have given me, for they are yours??10 all that is mine is yours and what is yours is mine??nd they have done me honor. Now I am to be no longer in this world, but they are to remain in the world, while I return to you. Holy Father, keep them by your power which you gave me, so that they may be one just as we are. As long as I was with them I kept them by your power which you gave me, and I protected them, and not one of them was lost (except the one who was destined to be lost), so that what the Scripture says might come true. But now I am coming to you, and I say this here in this world in order that they may have the happiness that I feel fully realized in their own hearts. I have given them your message, and the world has come to hate them, for they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

For the message you have heard from the beginning is this: We must love one another. We must not be like Cain who was a child of the evil one, and butchered his brother. And why did he butcher him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's upright. You must not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you!

When Jesus had said all this he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Do honor to your son, that your son may do honor to you, just as you have done in giving him power over all mankind, so that he may give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And eternal life means knowing you as the only true God, and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ. read more.
I have done honor to you here on earth, by completing the work which you gave me to do. Now, Father, do such honor to me in your presence as I had done me there before the world existed. "I have revealed your real self to the men you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your message. Now at last they know that all that you have given me comes from you, for I have given them the truths that you gave me, and they have accepted them and been convinced that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me. I have a request to make for them. I make no request for the world, but only for those whom you have given me, for they are yours??10 all that is mine is yours and what is yours is mine??nd they have done me honor. Now I am to be no longer in this world, but they are to remain in the world, while I return to you. Holy Father, keep them by your power which you gave me, so that they may be one just as we are. As long as I was with them I kept them by your power which you gave me, and I protected them, and not one of them was lost (except the one who was destined to be lost), so that what the Scripture says might come true. But now I am coming to you, and I say this here in this world in order that they may have the happiness that I feel fully realized in their own hearts. I have given them your message, and the world has come to hate them, for they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask you to take them away from the world, but to keep them from evil. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you.

Then Jesus said to them, "It is not yet time for me to act, but any time is suitable for you. It is impossible for the world to hate you, but it does hate me for testifying that its ways are wrong.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you. Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they do not understand him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done things before them that no one else ever did they would not be guilty of sin. But as it is, they have seen both me and my Father, and they have hated us both. But the saying of their Law, 'They hated me without cause,' must be fulfilled.

Then Jesus said to them, "It is not yet time for me to act, but any time is suitable for you. It is impossible for the world to hate you, but it does hate me for testifying that its ways are wrong. As for you, go up to the festival; I am not going up to this festival as yet, for it is not quite time for me to go."

Therefore, "Come out from them, And separate from them, says the Lord, And touch nothing that is unclean. Then I will welcome you, Verse ConceptsParticipation, In SinSeparationTouchWorldlinessSeparation From Evil PeopleComing Out From EvilWelcomed By GodPeople Being UncleanPollution ForbiddenBeing Differentwelcome

We charge you, brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives in idleness, instead of following the teaching you received from us. Verse Conceptsevil, believers' responses toExcommunicationSluggardsTraditionsFellowship With WickedBad CompanyEvil AssociationsIn The Name Of ChristChristian TraditionsA Mans CharacterHaving No DealingsMen's OrdersChristians Being Called Brothers