John 7
New King James Version
Jesus’ Brothers Disbelieve
7 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, (A)because the [a]Jews sought to kill Him. 2 (B)Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 (C)His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For (D)even His (E)brothers did not believe in Him.
6 Then Jesus said to them, (F)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 (G)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me (H)because I testify of it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to this feast. I am not [b]yet going up to this feast, (I)for My time has not yet fully come.” 9 When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
The Heavenly Scholar
10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11 Then (J)the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” 12 And (K)there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. (L)Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” 13 However, no one spoke openly of Him (M)for fear of the Jews.
14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and (N)taught. 15 (O)And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”
16 [c]Jesus answered them and said, (P)“My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 (Q)If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. 18 (R)He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who (S)seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and (T)no unrighteousness is in Him. 19 (U)Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? (V)Why do you seek to kill Me?”
20 The people answered and said, (W)“You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”
21 Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. 22 (X)Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, (Y)but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because (Z)I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24 (AA)Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
Could This Be the Christ?
25 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to (AB)kill? 26 But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. (AC)Do the rulers know indeed that this is [d]truly the Christ? 27 (AD)However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”
28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, (AE)“You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and (AF)I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me (AG)is true, (AH)whom you do not know. 29 [e]But (AI)I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”
30 Therefore (AJ)they sought to take Him; but (AK)no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 And (AL)many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”
Jesus and the Religious Leaders
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said [f]to them, (AM)“I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I (AN)go to Him who sent Me. 34 You (AO)will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you (AP)cannot come.”
35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to (AQ)the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
37 (AR)On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, (AS)“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 (AT)He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, (AU)out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 (AV)But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those [g]believing in Him would receive; for the [h]Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet (AW)glorified.
Who Is He?
40 Therefore [i]many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is (AX)the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is (AY)the Christ.”
But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 (AZ)Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, (BA)where David was?” 43 So (BB)there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now (BC)some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Rejected by the Authorities
45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”
46 The officers answered, (BD)“No man ever spoke like this Man!”
47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus (BE)(he who came to [j]Jesus [k]by night, being one of them) said to them, 51 (BF)“Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”
52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for (BG)no prophet [l]has arisen out of Galilee.”
An Adulteress Faces the Light of the World
53 [m]And everyone went to his own house.
Footnotes
- John 7:1 The ruling authorities
- John 7:8 NU omits yet
- John 7:16 NU, M So Jesus
- John 7:26 NU omits truly
- John 7:29 NU, M omit But
- John 7:33 NU, M omit to them
- John 7:39 NU who believed
- John 7:39 NU omits Holy
- John 7:40 NU some
- John 7:50 Lit. Him
- John 7:50 NU before
- John 7:52 NU is to rise
- John 7:53 NU brackets 7:53 through 8:11 as not in the original text. They are present in over 900 mss. of John.
John 7
New Century Version
Jesus’ Brothers Don’t Believe
7 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because some evil people there wanted to kill him. 2 It was time for the Feast of Shelters. 3 So Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to Judea so your followers there can see the miracles you do. 4 Anyone who wants to be well known does not hide what he does. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him.)
6 Jesus said to his brothers, “The right time for me has not yet come, but any time is right for you. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I tell it the evil things it does. 8 So you go to the feast. I will not go yet[a] to this feast, because the right time for me has not yet come.” 9 After saying this, Jesus stayed in Galilee.
10 But after Jesus’ brothers had gone to the feast, Jesus went also. But he did not let people see him. 11 At the feast some people were looking for him and saying, “Where is that man?”
12 Within the large crowd there, many people were whispering to each other about Jesus. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others said, “No, he fools the people.” 13 But no one was brave enough to talk about Jesus openly, because they were afraid of the elders.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
14 When the feast was about half over, Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach. 15 The people were amazed and said, “This man has never studied in school. How did he learn so much?”
16 Jesus answered, “The things I teach are not my own, but they come from him who sent me. 17 If people choose to do what God wants, they will know that my teaching comes from God and not from me. 18 Those who teach their own ideas are trying to get honor for themselves. But those who try to bring honor to the one who sent them speak the truth, and there is nothing false in them. 19 Moses gave you the law,[b] but none of you obeys that law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The people answered, “A demon has come into you. We are not trying to kill you.”
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Moses gave you the law about circumcision. (But really Moses did not give you circumcision; it came from our ancestors.) And yet you circumcise a baby boy on a Sabbath day. 23 If a baby boy can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the law of Moses, why are you angry at me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? 24 Stop judging by the way things look, but judge by what is really right.”
Is Jesus the Christ?
25 Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “This is the man they are trying to kill. 26 But he is teaching where everyone can see and hear him, and no one is trying to stop him. Maybe the leaders have decided he really is the Christ. 27 But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
28 Jesus, teaching in the Temple, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come by my own authority. I was sent by the One who is true, whom you don’t know. 29 But I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 When Jesus said this, they tried to seize him. But no one was able to touch him, because it was not yet the right time. 31 But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man has done?”
The Leaders Try to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple guards to arrest him. 33 Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am.”
35 Some people said to each other, “Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live and teach the Greek people there? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘You cannot come where I am’?”
Jesus Talks About the Spirit
37 On the last and most important day of the feast Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from that person’s heart, as the Scripture says.” 39 Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. But later, those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit.
The People Argue About Jesus
40 When the people heard Jesus’ words, some of them said, “This man really is the Prophet.”[c]
41 Others said, “He is the Christ.”
Still others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee. 42 The Scripture says that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” 43 So the people did not agree with each other about Jesus. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one was able to touch him.
Some Leaders Won’t Believe
45 The Temple guards went back to the leading priests and the Pharisees, who asked, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”
46 The guards answered, “The words he says are greater than the words of any other person who has ever spoken!”
47 The Pharisees answered, “So Jesus has fooled you also! 48 Have any of the leaders or the Pharisees believed in him? No! 49 But these people, who know nothing about the law, are under God’s curse.”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to see Jesus before, was in that group.[d] He said, 51 “Our law does not judge a person without hearing him and knowing what he has done.”
52 They answered, “Are you from Galilee, too? Study the Scriptures, and you will learn that no prophet comes from Galilee.”
Some of the earliest surviving Greek copies do not contain 7:53—8:11.
[53 And everyone left and went home.
Footnotes
- 7:8 yet Some Greek copies do not have this word.
- 7:19 law Moses gave God’s people the Law that God gave him on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:29–32).
- 7:40 Prophet They probably meant the prophet God told Moses he would send (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
- 7:50 Nicodemus . . . group. The story about Nicodemus going and talking to Jesus is in John 3:1–21.
John 7
English Standard Version
Jesus at the Feast of Booths
7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because (A)the Jews[a] were seeking to kill him. 2 Now (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. 4 For 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. 6 Jesus said to them, (H)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but (I)it hates me because I testify about it that (J)its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not[c] going up to this feast, for (K)my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
10 But 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?” 12 And 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.” 13 Yet (R)for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up (S)into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore (T)marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,[d] when he has never studied?” 16 So 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. 18 The 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?” 20 The crowd answered, (AC)“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus 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. 23 If 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?
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom (AI)they seek to kill? 26 And 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? 27 But (AL)we know (AM)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, (AN)no one will know where he comes from.” 28 So 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. 31 Yet (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
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd (BB)muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent (BC)officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus 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.” 35 The 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? 36 What 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. 38 Whoever believes in me, (BN)as[f] the Scripture has said, (BO)‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of (BP)living water.’” 39 Now (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
40 When they heard these words, (BV)some of the people said, “This really is (BW)the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is (BX)the Christ.” But some said, (BY)“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has 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?” 43 So 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?” 46 The officers answered, (CF)“No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, (CG)“Have you also been deceived? 48 (CH)Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But 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?” 52 They 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,
Footnotes
- 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
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
