John 6:52-8:20
English Standard Version
52 The Jews then (A)disputed among themselves, saying, (B)“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of (C)the Son of Man and drink his blood, you (D)have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood (E)has eternal life, and (F)I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood (G)abides in me, and I in him. 57 As (H)the living Father (I)sent me, and (J)I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 (K)This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread[a] the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus[b] said these things in the synagogue, as he taught (L)at Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 (M)When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, (N)knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see (O)the Son of Man (P)ascending to (Q)where he was before? 63 (R)It is the Spirit who gives life; (S)the flesh is no help at all. (T)The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But (U)there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus (V)knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and (W)who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you (X)that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66 (Y)After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to (Z)the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have (AA)the words of eternal life, 69 and (AB)we have believed, and have come to know, that (AC)you are (AD)the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, (AE)“Did I not choose you, (AF)the twelve? And yet one of you is (AG)a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas (AH)the son of Simon Iscariot, for (AI)he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
Jesus at the Feast of Booths
7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because (AJ)the Jews[c] were seeking to kill him. 2 Now (AK)the Jews' Feast of (AL)Booths was at hand. 3 (AM)So his brothers[d] said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, (AN)show yourself to the world.” 5 (AO)For not even (AP)his brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, (AQ)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but (AR)it hates me because I testify about it that (AS)its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not[e] going up to this feast, for (AT)my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
10 But after (AU)his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 (AV)The Jews (AW)were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much (AX)muttering about him among the people. (AY)While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, (AZ)he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet (BA)for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up (BB)into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore (BC)marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,[f] when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, (BD)“My teaching is not mine, but his (BE)who sent me. 17 (BF)If anyone's will is to do God's[g] will, (BG)he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I (BH)am speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority (BI)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 (BJ)Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. (BK)Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, (BL)“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did (BM)one work, and you all marvel at it. 22 (BN)Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but (BO)from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, (BP)are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? 24 (BQ)Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Can This Be the Christ?
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom (BR)they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, (BS)speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that (BT)the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But (BU)we know (BV)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, (BW)no one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, (BX)as he taught in the temple, (BY)“You know me, and you know where I come from. But (BZ)I have not come of my own accord. (CA)He who sent me is true, (CB)and him you do not know. 29 (CC)I know him, for I come (CD)from him, and (CE)he sent me.” 30 (CF)So they were seeking to arrest him, but (CG)no one laid a hand on him, (CH)because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet (CI)many of the people believed in him. They said, (CJ)“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd (CK)muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent (CL)officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, (CM)“I will be with you a little longer, and then (CN)I am going to him who sent me. 34 (CO)You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? (CP)Does he intend to go to (CQ)the Dispersion among (CR)the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, (CS)‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
Rivers of Living Water
37 (CT)On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, (CU)“If anyone thirsts, let him (CV)come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, (CW)as[h] the Scripture has said, (CX)‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of (CY)living water.’” 39 Now (CZ)this he said about the Spirit, (DA)whom those who believed in him were to receive, (DB)for as yet the Spirit had not been (DC)given, (DD)because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Division Among the People
40 When they heard these words, (DE)some of the people said, “This really is (DF)the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is (DG)the Christ.” But some said, (DH)“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes (DI)from the offspring of David, and comes (DJ)from Bethlehem, the village (DK)where David was?” 43 So there was (DL)a division among the people over him. 44 (DM)Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 (DN)The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, (DO)“No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, (DP)“Have you also been deceived? 48 (DQ)Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 (DR)Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 (DS)“Does our law judge a man without first (DT)giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, (DU)“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that (DV)no prophet arises from Galilee.”
[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.][i]
The Woman Caught in Adultery
53 [[They went each to his own house, 8 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 (DW)Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and (DX)he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now (DY)in the Law, Moses commanded us (DZ)to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said (EA)to test him, (EB)that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, (EC)“Let him who is without sin among you (ED)be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But 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. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, (EE)“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on (EF)sin no more.”]]
I Am the Light of the World
12 (EG)Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, (EH)“I am the light of the world. Whoever (EI)follows me will not (EJ)walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, (EK)“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, (EL)my testimony is true, for I know (EM)where I came from and (EN)where I am going, but (EO)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 (EP)You judge according to the flesh; (EQ)I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, (ER)my judgment is true, for (ES)it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father[j] who sent me. 17 (ET)In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and (EU)the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, (EV)“You know neither me nor my Father. (EW)If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in (EX)the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but (EY)no one arrested him, because (EZ)his hour had not yet come.
Footnotes
- John 6:58 Greek lacks the bread
- John 6:59 Greek He
- John 7:1 Or Judeans; Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time
- John 7:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10
- John 7:8 Some manuscripts add yet
- John 7:15 Or this man knows his letters
- John 7:17 Greek his
- John 7:38 Or let him come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. As
- John 7:53 Some manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11; others add the passage here or after 7:36 or after 21:25 or after Luke 21:38, with variations in the text
- John 8:16 Some manuscripts he
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.