John
Chapter 17
On his last night with his friends, Jesus stops teaching and prays out loud. He prays for himself, that his Father will honor him now that his work is done. Then he prays for his eleven followers, that God will protect them and keep them together after he is gone. Last, he prays for everyone who will ever believe because of what those followers say.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
1After Jesus said these things, he looked up toward heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Show how great your Son is, so that your Son can show how great you are."
2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
2"You gave him authority over all people, so that he can give life that never ends to everyone you have given him."
3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
3"And this is that life that never ends: to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent."
4I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
4"I have shown people on earth how great you are. I finished the work you gave me to do."
5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
5"So now, Father, honor me at your own side. Give me back the greatness I had with you before the world began."
6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
6"I have shown who you are to the people you took out of the world and gave to me. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word."
"Your name" in this prayer means far more than a label. It stands for who God is: his character and everything he is like.
7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
7"Now they know that everything you gave me really comes from you."
8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
8"I gave them the words you gave me, and they took them in. They know for sure that I came from you, and they believe you sent me."
9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
9"I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world right now, but for the ones you gave me, because they belong to you."
10And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
10"Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine. And people can see how great I am through them."
11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
11"I will not be in the world much longer, but they are still in it, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me. Then they will be one, the way you and I are one."
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
12"While I was with them, I protected them by your name. I kept them safe, and not one was lost, except the one who was headed for ruin. That happened so what the Scriptures said would come true."
The KJV calls Judas "the son of perdition." That old phrase means a person headed for destruction, not someone's actual son.
13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
13"Now I am coming to you. I am saying all this while I am still in the world, so my joy can fill them up."
14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
14"I gave them your word, and the world has hated them. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world."
15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
15"I am not asking you to take them out of the world. I am asking you to keep them safe from the evil one."
16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
16"They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world."
17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
17"Set them apart for yourself by the truth. Your word is truth."
"Sanctify" means to set a person apart for God's own use, like keeping a special tool for one job only.
18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
18"You sent me into the world, and in the same way I have sent them into the world."
19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
19"For their sake I set myself apart for you, so that they too may be set apart by the truth."
20Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
20"I am not praying only for these men. I am also praying for everyone who will believe in me because of what they say."
21That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
21"I pray that all of them will be one. Father, you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so the world will believe that you sent me."
22And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
22"I have given them the greatness you gave me, so they may be one, just as you and I are one."
23I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
23"I in them and you in me, so they may be joined together completely. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them just as you have loved me."
24Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
24"Father, I want the ones you gave me to be with me where I am. I want them to see how great you have made me, because you loved me before the world was made."
25O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
25"Father, you always do what is right. The world has not known you, but I know you, and these men know that you sent me."
26And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
26"I have shown them who you are, and I will keep on showing them. Then the love you have for me will be in them, and I will be in them."
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