VERSE STUDY • KJV

John 16:7-13

⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ⁸ And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ Of sin, because they believe not on me; ¹⁰ Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; ¹¹ Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. ¹² I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. ¹³ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ⁸ And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ Of sin, because they believe not on me; ¹⁰ Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; ¹¹ Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. ¹² I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. ¹³ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; ¹¹ and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned. ¹² I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. ¹³ However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.

WEB World English Bible

⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment; ⁹ about sin, because they don’t believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more; ¹¹ about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged. ¹² “I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. ¹³ However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.

ASV American Standard Version

⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. ⁸ And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they believe not on me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged. ¹² I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. ¹³ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

⁷ ‘But I tell you the truth; it is better for you that I go away, for if I may not go away, the Comforter will not come unto you, and if I go on, I will send Him unto you; ⁸ and having come, He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment; ⁹ concerning sin indeed, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ and concerning righteousness, because unto my Father I go away, and no more do ye behold me; ¹¹ and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world hath been judged. ¹² I have yet many things to say to you, but ye are not able to bear them now; ¹³ and when He may come—the Spirit of truth—He will guide you to all the truth, for He will not speak from Himself, but as many things as He will hear He will speak, and the coming things He will tell you;

Surrounding context — John 16

4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?

6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.

15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.

16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.

Read the whole chapter → · About John →

HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

Compare classic commentaries on John 16:7-13

Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.

Compare commentaries →

CLASSIC COMMENTARY & PREACHING

Spurgeon on John 16:7-13

Read Charles H. Spurgeon material whose primary Scripture is this verse or passage.

See all indexed Spurgeon material for this passage →