John 14

1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust God; trust me too.

1Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

NoteThe Greek verb behind "ye believe" and "believe also" has the same form for a statement and for a command, and both clauses are equally ambiguous. The sentence can be read as "you believe in God, and you believe in me," as "believe in God, believe also in me," or as either mixture of the two. Translators have to pick one; the Greek does not.

2There are many rooms in my Father's house. If that were not true, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

2In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Note"Mansions" in 1611 meant simply a place to stay, from the Latin mansio, a lodging or stopping place on a journey. It carried nothing of the modern sense of a grand house. The Greek noun likewise means a dwelling or room, and it appears again in verse 23, where the King James renders it "abode." Ancient manuscripts have no punctuation, so the rest of the verse can be read as two statements, as the King James takes it, or as one question, as most modern versions do.

3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, so that you will be where I am.

3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

4You know the way to the place where I am going."

4And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Note"Whither" is old English for "where to," the destination rather than the place; "hence" in verse 31 is its opposite, "from here."

5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

5Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Note"No man" in 1611 English means "no person" of either sex. The King James uses "man" this way throughout, not to restrict the statement to males.

7If you had known me, you would have known my Father too. From now on you do know him, and you have seen him."

7If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

8Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."

8Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

9Jesus said to him, "Philip, I have been with you all this time, and you still do not know me? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

9Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not my own. It is the Father, who lives in me, who is doing his work.

10Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Note"I speak not of myself" does not mean "I do not speak about myself." In 1611 "of myself" meant "from myself, on my own authority," the sense the Greek carries here.

11Believe me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or else believe because of the works themselves.

11Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

Note"For the very works' sake" means "on account of the works themselves." In the King James, "for ... sake" regularly means "because of," not "for the benefit of." The "works" are the things Jesus has done, the healings and signs recorded earlier in this Gospel.

12I tell you the truth: whoever believes in me will do the same works I do. He will do even greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.

12Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Note"Verily, verily" translates the Hebrew word amen, doubled. Amen means something firm or reliable, and it was normally said by a listener to affirm someone else's words. In this Gospel Jesus uses it to open his own, a striking reversal of the ordinary usage.

13And whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, so that the Father may be honored through the Son.

13And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

NoteTo ask or act "in my name" was the language of authorized representation: a messenger or agent spoke in the name of the one who sent him, and his words carried that person's weight. It is not a formula attached to the end of a request.

14If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.

14If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

NoteThe manuscripts differ here. Some read "if ye shall ask any thing," as the King James has it; others read "if you ask me anything." The difference is a single word, and both readings are old.

15If you love me, you will keep my commands.

15If ye love me, keep my commandments.

NoteThe Greek verb here can be read either as a command, "keep my commandments," or as a prediction, "you will keep my commandments," and the manuscripts themselves vary between forms. The King James takes it as a command; the plain rendering takes it as a prediction.

16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to stay with you forever.

16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

NoteTwo old words. "Pray" here carries its ordinary 1611 sense of "ask" or "request," something one person could do of another, with no religious meaning attached. "Comforter" translates the Greek parakletos, literally someone called to your side: a supporter, a helper, and in a legal setting an advocate who speaks on the accused person's behalf. In 1611 "comforter" was still close to its Latin root confortare, to strengthen, rather than the modern sense of soothing someone.

17He is the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive him, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.

17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Note"The world" translates kosmos, which in this Gospel usually means the ordered human world, people and their societies as they are, rather than the planet or the natural creation.

18I will not leave you like children with no parents. I will come to you.

18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Note"Comfortless" translates a Greek word meaning orphaned, left as a child is left without parents. The same word was used of students left behind by the death of their teacher, which is the situation being described.

19In a little while the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too.

19Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

20At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

21Whoever has my commands and obeys them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and show myself to him."

21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Note"Manifest" means to make plain or show openly. "Loved of my Father" means "loved by my Father"; in 1611 English "of" often marked who performs an action, where modern English uses "by."

22Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, why are you going to show yourself to us and not to the world?"

22Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

NoteThe Gospels list two disciples named Judas. This one is identified only by not being Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus. Elsewhere he is called Judas son of James, or Thaddaeus. "Iscariot" is probably a place name, marking which Judas is meant.

23Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

23Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Note"Make our abode" means "take up residence." The noun is the same Greek word translated "mansions" in verse 2, and those two verses are the only places it occurs in the New Testament.

24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word you are hearing is not mine. It comes from the Father who sent me.

24He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

25I have told you all this while I am still here with you.

25These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

26But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

NoteIn 1611 "ghost" simply meant spirit or breath, with none of the modern sense of a haunting. "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" translate the identical Greek phrase.

27I leave you peace. I give you my peace. I do not give to you the way the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.

27Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

NoteThe everyday Hebrew word for both greeting and farewell was shalom, peace, and that ordinary parting word stands behind this. Shalom meant wholeness and wellbeing, a life in good order, not merely the absence of fighting.

28You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.

28Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

Note"If ye loved me" uses the Greek construction reserved for conditions the speaker treats as not actually the case, the same form as English "if you loved me, you would have said so." The King James "if ye loved" preserves this; a reader might otherwise take it as an open question.

29I have told you now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.

29And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

30I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no hold on me.

30Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

Note"Prince" translates archon, ruler or chief official, not a king's son. "Hath nothing in me" is an idiom, possibly legal in origin: he has no claim on me, nothing in me that belongs to him, no hold.

31But I do exactly what the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up. Let us go from here."

31But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

Note"Hence" means "from here." The instruction to get up and leave sits oddly where it does, since the speech continues without a break for three more chapters before anyone moves in chapter 18. Readers have noticed this since antiquity; the Gospel offers no explanation.