John 12:24

12:24 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹  unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone. ²  But if it dies, it produces ³  much grain. ⁴ 

John 15:4-5

15:4 Remain ⁵  in me, and I will remain in you. ⁶  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, ⁷  unless it remains ⁸  in ⁹  the vine, so neither can you unless you remain ¹⁰  in me.

15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains ¹¹  in me – and I in him – bears ¹²  much fruit, ¹³  because apart from me you can accomplish ¹⁴  nothing.

John 21:18

21:18 I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁵  when you were young, you tied your clothes around you ¹⁶  and went wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up ¹⁷  and bring you where you do not want to go.”

[12:24]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[12:24]  ² tn Or “it remains only a single kernel.”

[12:24]  ³ tn Or “bears.”

[12:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “much fruit.”

[15:4]  ⁵ tn Or “Reside.”

[15:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “and I in you.” The verb has been repeated for clarity and to conform to contemporary English style, which typically allows fewer ellipses (omitted or understood words) than Greek.

[15:4]  ⁷ sn The branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains connected to the vine, from which its life and sustenance flows. As far as the disciples were concerned, they would produce no fruit from themselves if they did not remain in their relationship to Jesus, because the eternal life which a disciple must possess in order to bear fruit originates with Jesus; he is the source of all life and productivity for the disciple.

[15:4]  ⁸ tn Or “resides.”

[15:4]  ⁹ tn While it would be more natural to say “on the vine” (so NAB), the English preposition “in” has been retained here to emphasize the parallelism with the following clause “unless you remain in me.” To speak of remaining “in” a person is not natural English either, but is nevertheless a biblical concept (cf. “in Christ” in Eph 1:3, 4, 6, 7, 11).

[15:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “you reside.”

[15:5]  ⁹ tn Or “resides.”

[15:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “yields.”

[15:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “in him, this one bears much fruit.” The pronoun “this one” has been omitted from the translation because it is redundant according to contemporary English style.

[15:5]  ¹² tn Or “do.”

[21:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[21:18]  ¹⁴ tn Or “you girded yourself.”

[21:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “others will gird you.”