Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want^[a] to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders^(A) there were looking for a way to kill him.^{(B) 2} But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles^(C) was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers^(D) said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. ⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.^(E)

⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time^(F) is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me^(G) because I testify that its works are evil.^{(H) 8} You go to the festival. I am not^[b] going up to this festival, because my time^(I) has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. ¹¹ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus^(J) and asking, “Where is he?”

¹² Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.”^{(K) 13} But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.^(L)

Jesus Teaches at the Festival

¹⁴ Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.^{(M) 15} The Jews^(N) there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning^(O) without having been taught?”^(P)

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.^{(Q) 17} Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out^(R) whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory,^(S) but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. ¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law?^(T) Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”^(U)

²⁰ “You are demon-possessed,”^(V) the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹ Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle,^(W) and you are all amazed. ²² Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision^(X) (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs),^(Y) you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ²³ Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”^(Z)

Division Over Who Jesus Is

²⁵ At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?^{(AA) 26} Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities^(AB) really concluded that he is the Messiah?^{(AC) 27} But we know where this man is from;^(AD) when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts,^(AE) cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from.^(AF) I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.^(AG) You do not know him, ²⁹ but I know him^(AH) because I am from him and he sent me.”^(AI)

³⁰ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him,^(AJ) because his hour had not yet come.^{(AK) 31} Still, many in the crowd believed in him.^(AL) They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs^(AM) than this man?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

³³ Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time,^(AN) and then I am going to the one who sent me.^{(AO) 34} You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”^(AP)

³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered^(AQ) among the Greeks,^(AR) and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”^(AS)

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival,^(AT) Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.^{(AU) 38} Whoever believes^(AV) in me, as Scripture has said,^(AW) rivers of living water^(AX) will flow from within them.”^{[c](AY) 39} By this he meant the Spirit,^(AZ) whom those who believed in him were later to receive.^(BA) Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.^(BB)

⁴⁰ On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”^(BC)

⁴¹ Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee?^{(BD) 42} Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants^(BE) and from Bethlehem,^(BF) the town where David lived?” ⁴³ Thus the people were divided^(BG) because of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.^(BH)

Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders

⁴⁵ Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

⁴⁶ “No one ever spoke the way this man does,”^(BI) the guards replied.

⁴⁷ “You mean he has deceived you also?”^(BJ) the Pharisees retorted. ⁴⁸ “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?^{(BK) 49} No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus,^(BL) who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ⁵¹ “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

⁵² They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”^(BM)

[The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53—8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.]

⁵³ Then they all went home, 8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.^(BN)

² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.^{(BO) 3} The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.^(BP) Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap,^(BQ) in order to have a basis for accusing him.^(BR)

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone^(BS) at her.”^{(BT) 8} Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”^(BU) Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”^(BV)

Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am^(BW) the light of the world.^(BX) Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”^(BY)

¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”^(BZ)

¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going.^(CA) But you have no idea where I come from^(CB) or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards;^(CC) I pass judgment on no one.^{(CD) 16} But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.^{(CE) 17} In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.^{(CF) 18} I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”^(CG)

¹⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,”^(CH) Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”^{(CI) 20} He spoke these words while teaching^(CJ) in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put.^(CK) Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.^(CL)

Dispute Over Who Jesus Is

²¹ Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die^(CM) in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”^(CN)

²² This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

²³ But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.^{(CO) 24} I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he,^(CP) you will indeed die in your sins.”

²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶ “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy,^(CQ) and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”^(CR)

²⁷ They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up^[d] the Son of Man,^(CS) then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.^{(CT) 29} The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone,^(CU) for I always do what pleases him.”^{(CV) 30} Even as he spoke, many believed in him.^(CW)

Dispute Over Whose Children Jesus’ Opponents Are

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching,^(CX) you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”^(CY)

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants^(CZ) and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.^{(DA) 35} Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.^{(DB) 36} So if the Son sets you free,^(DC) you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me,^(DD) because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence,^(DE) and you are doing what you have heard from your father.^[e]”^(DF)

³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,”^(DG) said Jesus, “then you would^[f] do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me,^(DH) a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.^(DI) Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”^(DJ)

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”^(DK)

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,^(DL) for I have come here from God.^(DM) I have not come on my own;^(DN) God sent me.^{(DO) 43} Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil,^(DP) and you want to carry out your father’s desires.^(DQ) He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.^{(DR) 45} Yet because I tell the truth,^(DS) you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.^(DT) The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jesus’ Claims About Himself

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan^(DU) and demon-possessed?”^(DV)

⁴⁹ “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I am not seeking glory for myself;^(DW) but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”^(DX)

⁵² At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed!^(DY) Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham?^(DZ) He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

⁵⁴ Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself,^(EA) my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.^{(EB) 55} Though you do not know him,^(EC) I know him.^(ED) If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.^{(EE) 56} Your father Abraham^(EF) rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it^(EG) and was glad.”

⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born,^(EH) I am!”^{(EI) 59} At this, they picked up stones to stone him,^(EJ) but Jesus hid himself,^(EK) slipping away from the temple grounds.