John 16:16-33 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Sorrow Turned to Joy

¹⁶ “A little while and you will no longer see me; again a little while and you will see me.”^[a]

¹⁷ Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he’s telling us: ‘A little while and you will not see me; again a little while and you will see me,’ and, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They said, “What is this he is saying,^[b] ‘A little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

¹⁹ Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me; again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. ²¹ When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. ²² So you also have sorrow^[c] now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.

²³ “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

Jesus the Victor

²⁵ “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.^{[d] 28} I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Look, now you’re speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. ³⁰ Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.”

³¹ Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? ³² Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. ³³ I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”