To indicate that the first you of this verse is singular in the Greek text, Good News Translation introduces the noun of address, Philip.

For a discussion of I am in the Father and the Father is in me see 10.38. The meaning may be expressed by translating “I am one with the Father, and the Father is one with me.” In 10.38 Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “I live in the Father and the Father lives in me,” while here it has “that you meet the Father in me.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch‘s rendering is very good in 10.38, but in the present passage it lacks the idea of the reciprocal relationship and focuses attention on another aspect which is not primary. In some languages the relationship between the Father and Jesus may be expressed as “my Father is united with me, and I am united with my Father” or “my Father and I are just as though we were one.”

You in I have spoken to you is plural, and Good News Translation indicates this by adding Jesus said to his disciples. Here again it is necessary to mark explicitly the change from singular to plural, since in English you may be either. Anchor translates you as “you men.”

Do not come from me is literally “not from myself” (see 7.17) and is emphatic in the Greek sentence structure. It may be difficult in some languages to speak of words coming from a person, but the idea may be expressed as “The words that I have spoken to you, these are not what I myself have just thought” or “… they do not just come from my mind” or “these are not just my thoughts.”

The Father, who remains in me, does his own work is a fairly literal rendering of the Greek text. These words indicate that Jesus’ miracles were not accomplished by his own power or initiative (see 8.28); rather, they reveal his union with the Father. A number of translators attempt a dynamic translation: New English Bible has “it is the Father who dwells in me doing his own work”; New American Bible “it is the Father who lives in me accomplishing his works”; Moffatt “it is the Father who remains ever in me, who is performing his own deeds”; Goodspeed “but the Father who is united with me is doing these things himself.”

However, it may be difficult to speak of the Father “doing his own work.” The reference is obviously very broad, for it includes both miracles and sayings. Sometimes one can employ such an expression as “my Father who remains in me causes these happenings.” But in other instances a more satisfactory rendering may be “… does what he decides to do.” Such a rendering indicates clearly that the agency and the initiative rest with God.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .