John 1:51

1:51 He continued,¹ “I tell all of you the solemn truth² – you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”³

John 3:5

3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth,⁴ unless a person is born of water and spirit,⁵ he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

John 5:24-25

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth,⁶ the one who hears⁷ my message⁸ and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned,⁹ but has crossed over from death to life. 5:25 I tell you the solemn truth,¹⁰ a time¹¹ is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

John 6:26

6:26 Jesus replied,¹² “I tell you the solemn truth,¹³ you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted.¹⁴

John 6:32

6:32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth,¹⁵ it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven.

John 6:53

6:53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth,¹⁶ unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,¹⁷ you have no life¹⁸ in yourselves.

John 12:24

12:24 I tell you the solemn truth,¹⁹ unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone.²⁰ But if it dies, it produces²¹ much grain.²²

John 14:12

14:12 I tell you the solemn truth,²³ the person who believes in me will perform²⁴ the miraculous deeds²⁵ that I am doing,²⁶ and will perform²⁷ greater deeds²⁸ than these, because I am going to the Father.

John 16:20

16:20 I tell you the solemn truth,²⁹ you will weep³⁰ and wail,³¹ but the world will rejoice; you will be sad,³² but your sadness will turn into³³ joy.

John 16:23

16:23 At that time³⁴ you will ask me nothing. I tell you the solemn truth,³⁵ whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.³⁶

John 21:18

21:18 I tell you the solemn truth,³⁷ when you were young, you tied your clothes around you³⁸ and went wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up³⁹ and bring you where you do not want to go.”

¹tn Grk “and he said to him.”

²tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

³sn The title Son of Man appears 13 times in John’s Gospel. It is associated especially with the themes of crucifixion (3:14; 8:28), revelation (6:27; 6:53), and eschatological authority (5:27; 9:35). The title as used in John’s Gospel has for its background the son of man figure who appears in Dan 7:13-14 and is granted universal regal authority. Thus for the author, the emphasis in this title is not on Jesus’ humanity, but on his heavenly origin and divine authority.

⁴tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

⁵tn Or “born of water and wind” (the same Greek word, πνεύματος [pneumatos], may be translated either “spirit/Spirit” or “wind”).

⁷tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

⁸tn Or “obeys.”

⁹tn Or “word.”

¹⁰tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”

¹⁰tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

¹¹tn Grk “an hour.”

¹³tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

¹⁴tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

¹⁵tn Grk “because you ate of the loaves of bread and were filled.”

¹⁶tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

¹⁹tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

²⁰sn Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. These words are at the heart of the discourse on the Bread of Life, and have created great misunderstanding among interpreters. Anyone who is inclined toward a sacramental viewpoint will almost certainly want to take these words as a reference to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist, because of the reference to eating and drinking. But this does not automatically follow: By anyone’s definition there must be a symbolic element to the eating which Jesus speaks of in the discourse, and once this is admitted, it is better to understand it here, as in the previous references in the passage, to a personal receiving of (or appropriation of) Christ and his work.

²¹tn That is, “no eternal life” (as opposed to physical life).

²²tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

²³tn Or “it remains only a single kernel.”

²⁴tn Or “bears.”

²⁵tn Grk “much fruit.”

²⁵tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

²⁶tn Or “will do.”

²⁷tn Grk “the works.”

²⁸tn Or “that I do.”

²⁹tn Or “will do.”

³⁰tn Grk “greater works.”

²⁸tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

²⁹tn Or “wail,” “cry.”

³⁰tn Or “lament.”

³¹tn Or “sorrowful.”

³²tn Grk “will become.”

³¹tn Grk “And in that day.”

³²tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

³³sn This statement is also found in John 15:16.

³⁴tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

³⁵tn Or “you girded yourself.”

³⁶tn Grk “others will gird you.”