316 316 Quotes

New Testament

John

John tells the story of Jesus more slowly and reflectively than the other Gospels, circling around seven signs and seven great "I am" sayings. Its aim is stated plainly: that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, and have life in his name.

John 1

John 1:1-18

The Word Was With God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognise him. He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The Word became flesh and lived amongst us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’” From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realised through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only born Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.”

John 1:14

The Word Became Flesh

“The Word became flesh and lived amongst us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Passages discussed across 316Quotes

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  • John 1:1
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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  • John 1:1-18
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognise him. He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The Word became flesh and lived amongst us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’” From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realised through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only born Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
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  • John 1:4
    In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
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  • John 1:4-5
    In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.
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  • John 1:5
    The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.
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  • John 1:9
    The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
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  • John 1:14
    The Word became flesh and lived amongst us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
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  • John 1:18
    No one has seen God at any time. The only born Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
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  • John 1:23
    He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
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  • John 1:29
    The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
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  • John 1:40-42
    One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter).
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John 2

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John 3

Passages discussed across 316Quotes

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  • John 3:1-2
    Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”
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  • John 3:3
    Jesus answered him, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
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  • John 3:14-15
    As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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  • John 3:16
    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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  • John 3:17
    For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
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  • John 3:18
    He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God.
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  • John 3:19
    This is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil.
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  • John 3:19-20
    This is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.
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  • John 3:19-21
    This is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”
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John 6

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  • John 6:8
    One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
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  • John 6:53
    Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves.
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  • John 6:66
    At this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
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John 7

Passages discussed across 316Quotes

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  • John 7:2
    Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand.
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  • John 7:5
    For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
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  • John 7:37-38
    Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.”
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  • John 7:50-51
    Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?”
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John 8

Passages discussed across 316Quotes

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  • John 8:6
    They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger.
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  • John 8:9
    They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle.
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  • John 8:11
    She said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more.”
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  • John 8:12
    Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
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  • John 8:14-18
    Jesus answered them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don’t know where I came from, or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. Even if I do judge, my judgement is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. It’s also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid. I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
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  • John 8:20
    Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
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  • John 8:24
    I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
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  • John 8:31
    Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.
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  • John 8:31-36
    Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
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  • John 8:33
    They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
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  • John 8:34
    Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin.
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  • John 8:35
    A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever.
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  • John 8:36
    If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
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  • John 8:37
    I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.
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  • John 8:44
    You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
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  • John 8:48
    Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
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  • John 8:57
    The Jews therefore said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?”
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  • John 8:58
    Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.”
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  • John 8:58-59
    Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.” Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hid himself and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
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  • John 8:59
    Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hid himself and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
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John 9

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  • John 9:5
    While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
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John 10

Passages discussed across 316Quotes

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  • John 10:9
    I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.
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  • John 10:11
    “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
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  • John 10:12-13
    He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep.
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  • John 10:17-18
    Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
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  • John 10:18
    No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
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  • John 10:28-29
    I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
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John 11

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John 13

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  • John 13:1-2
    Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,
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  • John 13:5
    Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
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  • John 13:8
    Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
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  • John 13:23
    One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against Jesus’ breast.
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  • John 13:30
    Therefore having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.
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  • John 13:34-35
    A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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  • John 13:38
    Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won’t crow until you have denied me three times.
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John 14

Passages discussed across 316Quotes

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  • John 14:1
    “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
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  • John 14:2
    In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
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  • John 14:5
    Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
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  • John 14:6
    Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
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  • John 14:8
    Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
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  • John 14:9
    Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
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  • John 14:16
    I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor, that he may be with you forever:
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  • John 14:16-18
    I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor, that he may be with you forever: the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive, for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him. You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.
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  • John 14:26
    But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.
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  • John 14:27
    Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
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  • John 14:31
    But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let’s go from here.
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John 15

John 15:1

I Am The True Vine

““I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.”

John 15:1-17

The Vine and the Branches

““I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burnt. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. “I command these things to you, that you may love one another.”

John 15:5

Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing

“I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:13

Greater Love Has No One

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

Passages discussed across 316Quotes

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  • John 15:1
    “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.
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  • John 15:1-5
    “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
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  • John 15:1-17
    “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burnt. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. “I command these things to you, that you may love one another.
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  • John 15:2
    Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
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  • John 15:4-5
    Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
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  • John 15:5
    I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
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  • John 15:6
    If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burnt.
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  • John 15:8
    “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.
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  • John 15:9-12
    Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
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  • John 15:11
    I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.
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  • John 15:12
    “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
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  • John 15:13
    Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
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  • John 15:14
    You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.
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  • John 15:15
    No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.
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  • John 15:16
    You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
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  • John 15:18
    If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.
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  • John 15:18-20
    If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
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John 16

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  • John 16:2
    They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.
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  • John 16:32
    Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
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  • John 16:33
    I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
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John 17

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  • John 17:3
    This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
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  • John 17:4
    I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
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  • John 17:11
    I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
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John 18

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  • John 18:1
    When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered.
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  • John 18:18
    Now the servants and the officers were standing there, having made a fire of coals, for it was cold. They were warming themselves. Peter was with them, standing and warming himself.
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John 19

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  • John 19:39
    Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds.
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  • John 19:41
    Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb in which no man had ever yet been laid.
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John 20

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  • John 20:25
    The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
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  • John 20:27
    Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.”
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  • John 20:28
    Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
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  • John 20:31
    but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
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John 21

Passages discussed across 316Quotes

Use this list to find the article where each passage is explained or placed in context.

  • John 21:9
    So when they got out on the land, they saw a fire of coals there, with fish and bread laid on it.
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  • John 21:19
    Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. When he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
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More about John

John feels different from the moment you open it, and it is meant to. Where the other Gospels start with a birth or a baptism, John reaches right back before time and speaks of the Word who was with God and was God, and who became flesh and lived among us. The pace is slower and more reflective, the conversations longer, the images returning again and again: light and darkness, water, bread, the vine. This is a Gospel to sit with rather than rush through. It circles its subject the way you might walk slowly around something beautiful, looking at it from one angle and then another.

John builds his account around seven signs, miracles that point beyond themselves, and seven great sayings where Jesus begins, 'I am'. He is the bread of life, the light of the world (8:12), the good shepherd, the resurrection, the way and the truth and the life (14:6), the true vine (15:1). These are not riddles meant to confuse but pictures meant to draw you in. When Jesus says that the truth will set you free, and that if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed (8:36), he is offering something deeper than information. He is offering himself, and a freedom that no circumstance can take away.

The writer tells us plainly why he wrote, which is rare and helpful. Near the end he says these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. That is the whole purpose, and it shapes how we should read. John is not a neutral record but a loving argument, an old friend taking you by the arm and saying, look at this, do you see who he is? The most quoted verse in the Bible sits at its heart: that God so loved the world he gave his only Son (3:16), so that whoever believes in him should not perish.

There is enormous comfort in the later chapters, written for friends who were about to lose Jesus to the cross. He promises a peace unlike the world's, telling them not to let their hearts be troubled (14:27). He calls them to love one another as he has loved them, saying that by this love everyone will know they are his (13:34-35), and he reminds them that no one shows greater love than the one who lays down his life for his friends (15:13). On the very edge of suffering he tells them he has overcome the world (16:33). If you are facing something hard, those farewell words were written for you too. Read them slowly, and let them do their gentle work.

Questions about John

Why is John so different from Matthew, Mark and Luke?
The first three Gospels share a great deal of material and a similar approach, which is why they are often grouped together. John takes a different path. It includes many episodes the others leave out, dwells on long conversations and discourses, and is far more reflective in tone. Its focus is consistently on who Jesus is, gathered around seven signs and seven 'I am' sayings. John was probably written later, with time to ponder the meaning of it all. So rather than contradicting the others, it complements them, offering a deeper, more contemplative portrait of the same Jesus.
What does John 3:16 actually mean?
John 3:16 is perhaps the best known verse in the Bible: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. At its heart it tells us why Jesus came. The driving force was love, not duty or anger, and the love is for the whole world, not a chosen few. The gift cost God dearly, his own Son. And the way to receive it is simply to trust him. It is the gospel in a single sentence, which is why so many people have found their faith beginning here.
Why did John write his Gospel?
John tells us himself, near the end of the book. He writes that these things are recorded so that readers may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing they may have life in his name. That is unusually direct. It means the Gospel is not meant to be read as a neutral chronicle but as an invitation. Everything in it, the signs, the sayings, the long conversations, is chosen to help you see who Jesus is and to put your trust in him. If you read it with that purpose in mind, you are reading it as John hoped.

Topics in John

The themes these verses speak to. Follow one to find related verses from right across the Bible.