Jn 16:16-24

16“A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.”ⁱ 17So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ [of which he speaks]? We do not know what he means.” 19Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.^j 21When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.^k 22So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.^l 23On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.^m 24Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.