1'I AM THE REAL VINE, and my Father is the gardener. 2Every barren branch of mine he cuts away; and every fruiting branch he cleans, to make it more fruitful still. 3You have already been cleansed by the word that I spoke to you. 4Dwell in me, as I in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, but only if it remains united with the vine; no more can you bear fruit, unless you remain united with me.
5'I am the vine, and you the branches. He who dwells in me, as I dwell in him, bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing. 6He who does not dwell in me is thrown away like a withered branch. The withered branches are heaped together, thrown on the fire, and burnt.
7'If you dwell in me, and my words dwell in you, ask what you will, and you shall have it. 8This is my Father's glory, that you may bear fruit in plenty and so be my disciples. 9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Dwell in my love. 10If you heed my commands, you will dwell in my love, as I have heeded my Father's commands and dwell in his love.
11'I have spoken thus to you, so that my joy may be in you, and your joy complete. 12This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. 13There is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends, if you do what I command you. 15I call you servants no longer; a servant does not know what his master is about. I have called you friends, because I have disclosed to you everything that I heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me: I chose you. I appointed you to go on and bear fruit, fruit that shall last; so that the Father may give you all that you ask in my name. 17This is my commandment to you: love one another.
18'If the world hates you, it hated me first, as you know well. 19If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because I have chosen you out of the world, for that reason the world hates you. 20Remember what I said: "A servant is not greater than his master." As they persecuted me, they will persecute you; they will follow your teaching as little as they have followed mine. 21It is on my account that they will treat you thus, because they do not know the One who sent me.
22'If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for a their sin: 23he who hates me, hates my Father. 24If I had not worked among them and accomplished what no other man has done, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 [ Ps.35.19, Ps.69.4. ] However, this text in their Law had to come true: "They hated me without reason."
26'But when your Advocate has come, whom I will send you from the Father—the Spirit of truth that issues from the Father—he will bear witness to me. 27And you also are my witnesses, because you have been with me from the first.
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