18 “If the world hates you, you all know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If you belonged to this world, then the world would love you as it loves its own people, but you don’t belong to this world because I chose you out of it. That’s why they hate all of you. 20 [ref]Remember that I told you that slaves are not greater than their master. So if they persecuted me, they’ll also be persecuting you all. (If they’d obeyed my teaching, they would also obey your teaching.) 21 But they will do all these things against you because of my name, because they don’t know the father who sent me. 22 They wouldn’t be considered sinners except that I came and spoke to them, so now they don’t have any excuse for their sin. 23 Anyone who hates me, also hates my father. 24 If I hadn’t done miracles among them of the sort that no one else has done, they wouldn’t be considered to be sinners, but now they’ve observed me and hated both me and my father. 25 [ref]The writings of the prophets will certainly come to pass, that ‘they hated me undeservedly’.

26 “When the assistant arrives that I will send to you all from the father, the spirit of truth coming from the father, he will tell the truth about me. 27 You also will be able to tell the truth about me because you all were with me from the beginning.

16 “I’ve told you this so that you won’t stumble. 2 First they will ban you all from their religious services, then there’s a time coming when people will kill you thinking they’re actually doing a sacred service to God, 3 but they’ll be doing these things because they don’t know either the father or me. 4 I’ve told you these things so that when they happen in the future, you’ll remember that I’ve already told you about them.