John 7-8 (English Standard Version)

John 7

Jesus at the Feast of Booths

 ¹After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because^(A) the Jews^[a] were seeking to kill him. ²Now^(B) the Jews’ Feast of^(C) Booths was at hand. ^3(D) So his brothers^[b] said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. ⁴For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things,^(E) show yourself to the world." ^5(F) For not even^(G) his brothers believed in him. ⁶Jesus said to them, ^(H) "My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷The world cannot hate you, but^(I) it hates me because I testify about it that^(J) its works are evil. ⁸You go up to the feast. I am not^[c] going up to this feast, for^(K) my time has not yet fully come." ⁹After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

 ¹⁰But after^(L) his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. ^11(M) The Jews^(N) were looking for him at the feast, and saying, "Where is he?" ¹²And there was much^(O) muttering about him among the people.^(P) While some said, "He is a good man," others said, "No,^(Q) he is leading the people astray." ¹³Yet^(R) for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

 ¹⁴About the middle of the feast Jesus went up^(S) into the temple and began teaching. ¹⁵The Jews therefore^(T) marveled, saying, "How is it that this man has learning,^[d] when he has never studied?" ¹⁶So Jesus answered them, ^(U) "My teaching is not mine, but his^(V) who sent me. ^17(W) If anyone’s will is to do God’s^[e] will,^(X) he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I^(Y) am speaking on my own authority. ¹⁸The one who speaks on his own authority^(Z) seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. ^19(AA) Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.^(AB) Why do you seek to kill me?" ²⁰The crowd answered,^(AC) "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?" ²¹Jesus answered them, "I did^(AD) one work, and you all marvel at it. ^22(AE) Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but^(AF) from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken,^(AG) are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? ^24(AH) Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."

Can This Be the Christ?

 ²⁵Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom^(AI) they seek to kill? ²⁶And here he is,^(AJ) speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that^(AK) the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷But^(AL) we know^(AM) where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears,^(AN) no one will know where he comes from." ²⁸So Jesus proclaimed,^(AO) as he taught in the temple, ^(AP) "You know me, and you know where I come from? But^(AQ) I have not come of my own accord.^(AR) He who sent me is true,^(AS) and him you do not know. ^29(AT) I know him, for I come^(AU) from him, and^(AV) he sent me." ^30(AW) So they were seeking to arrest him, but^(AX) no one laid a hand on him,^(AY) because his hour had not yet come. ³¹Yet^(AZ) many of the people believed in him. They said,^(BA) "When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?"

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

 ³²The Pharisees heard the crowd^(BB) muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent^(BC) officers to arrest him. ³³Jesus then said, ^(BD) "I will be with you a little longer, and then^(BE) I am going to him who sent me. ^34(BF) You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come." ³⁵The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him?^(BG) Does he intend to go to^(BH) the Dispersion among^(BI) the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶What does he mean by saying, ^(BJ) 'You will seek me and you will not find me,' and, 'Where I am you cannot come'?"

Rivers of Living Water

 ^37(BK) On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^(BL) "If anyone thirsts, let him^(BM) come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me,^(BN) as^[f] the Scripture has said,^(BO) 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of^(BP) living water.'" ³⁹Now^(BQ) this he said about the Spirit,^(BR) whom those who believed in him were to receive,^(BS) for as yet the Spirit had not been^(BT) given,^(BU) because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

 ⁴⁰When they heard these words,^(BV) some of the people said, "This really is^(BW) the Prophet." ⁴¹Others said, "This is^(BX) the Christ." But some said,^(BY) "Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴²Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes^(BZ) from the offspring of David, and comes^(CA) from Bethlehem, the village^(CB) where David was?" ⁴³So there was^(CC) a division among the people over him. ^44(CD) Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

 ^45(CE) The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" ⁴⁶The officers answered,^(CF) "No one ever spoke like this man!" ⁴⁷The Pharisees answered them,^(CG) "Have you also been deceived? ^48(CH) Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed." ^50(CI) Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ^51(CJ) "Does our law judge a man without first^(CK) giving him a hearing and learning what he does?" ⁵²They replied,^(CL) "Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that^(CM) no prophet arises from Galilee."

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.]^[g]

The Woman Caught in Adultery

 ⁵³[[They went each to his own house,

John 8

 ¹but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ^2(CN) Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and^(CO) he sat down and taught them. ³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵Now^(CP) in the Law Moses commanded us^(CQ) to stone such women. So what do you say?" ⁶This they said^(CR) to test him,^(CS) that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ^(CT) "Let him who is without sin among you^(CU) be the first to throw a stone at her." ⁸And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" ¹¹She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, ^(CV) "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on^(CW) sin no more."]]

I Am the Light of the World

 ^12(CX) Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^(CY) "I am the light of the world. Whoever^(CZ) follows me will not^(DA) walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." ¹³So the Pharisees said to him,^(DB) "You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true." ¹⁴Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness about myself,^(DC) my testimony is true, for I know^(DD) where I came from and^(DE) where I am going, but^(DF) you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ^15(DG) You judge according to the flesh;^(DH) I judge no one. ¹⁶Yet even if I do judge,^(DI) my judgment is true, for^(DJ) it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father^[h] who sent me. ^17(DK) In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸I am the one who bears witness about myself, and^(DL) the Father who sent me bears witness about me." ¹⁹They said to him therefore, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, ^(DM) "You know neither me nor my Father.^(DN) If you knew me, you would know my Father also." ²⁰These words he spoke in^(DO) the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but^(DP) no one arrested him, because^(DQ) his hour had not yet come.

 ²¹So he said to them again, ^(DR) "I am going away, and^(DS) you will seek me, and^(DT) you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come." ²²So the Jews said,^(DU) "Will he kill himself, since he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?" ²³He said to them, ^(DV) "You are from below; I am from above.^(DW) You are of this world;^(DX) I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you^(DY) would die in your sins, for^(DZ) unless you believe that^(EA) I am he you will die in your sins." ²⁵So they said to him,^(EB) "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶I have much to say about you and much to judge, but^(EC) he who sent me is true, and I declare^(ED) to the world^(EE) what I have heard from him." ²⁷They did not understand that^(EF) he had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said to them, "When you have^(EG) lifted up the Son of Man,^(EH) then you will know that^(EI) I am he, and that^(EJ) I do nothing on my own authority, but^(EK) speak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹And^(EL) he who sent me is with me.^(EM) He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him." ³⁰As he was saying these things,^(EN) many believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

 ³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ^(EO) "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will^(EP) know the truth, and the truth^(EQ) will set you free." ³³They answered him,^(ER) "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?"

 ³⁴Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you,^(ES) everyone who commits sin is a slave^[i] to sin. ^35(ET) The slave does not remain in the house forever;^(EU) the son remains forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet^(EV) you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ^38(EW) I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard^(EX) from your father."

You Are of Your Father the Devil

 ³⁹They answered him,^(EY) "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, ^(EZ) "If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, ⁴⁰but now^(FA) you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth^(FB) that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹You are doing the works your father did." They said to him,^(FC) "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have^(FD) one Father—even God." ⁴²Jesus said to them, ^(FE) "If God were your Father, you would love me, for^(FF) I came from God and^(FG) I am here.^(FH) I came not of my own accord, but^(FI) he sent me. ^43(FJ) Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot^(FK) bear to hear my word. ^44(FL) You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.^(FM) He was a murderer from the beginning, and^(FN) has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him.^(FO) When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ^47(FP) Whoever is of God hears the words of God.^(FQ) The reason why you do not hear them is that^(FR) you are not of God."

Before Abraham Was, I Am

 ⁴⁸The Jews answered him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and^(FS) have a demon?" ⁴⁹Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon, but^(FT) I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰Yet^(FU) I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹Truly, truly,^(FV) I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never^(FW) see death." ⁵²The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon!^(FX) Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet^(FY) you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will never^(FZ) taste death.' ^53(GA) Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?" ⁵⁴Jesus answered, ^(GB) "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.^(GC) It is my Father who glorifies me,^(GD) of whom you say, 'He is our God.'^{[j] 55}But^(GE) you have not known him.^(GF) I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be^(GG) a liar^(GH) like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. ^56(GI) Your father Abraham^(GJ) rejoiced^(GK) that he would see my day.^(GL) He saw it and was glad." ⁵⁷So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"^{[k] 58}Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was,^(GM) I am." ⁵⁹So^(GN) they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.