Jesus at the Feast of Booths

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

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Footnotes

  1. John 7:1 Or Judeans; Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time
  2. John 7:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10
  3. John 7:8 Some manuscripts add yet

Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

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) But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles(C) was near, Jesus’ brothers(D) said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him.(E)

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

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Footnotes

  1. John 7:1 Some manuscripts not have authority
  2. John 7:8 Some manuscripts not yet

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

51 When the days drew near for (A)him to be taken up, (B)he set his face (C)to go to Jerusalem. 52 And (D)he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of (E)the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But (F)the people did not receive him, because (G)his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell (H)fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”[a] 55 But he turned and rebuked them.[b] 56 And they went on to another village.

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 9:54 Some manuscripts add as Elijah did
  2. Luke 9:55 Some manuscripts add And he said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of; 56for the Son of Man came not to destroy people's lives but to save them”

Samaritan Opposition

51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,(A) Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.(B) 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan(C) village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John(D) saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?”(E) 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 9:54 Some manuscripts them, just as Elijah did

The Cost of Following Jesus

18 Now (A)when Jesus saw a crowd around him, (B)he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 (C)And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave (D)the dead to bury their own dead.”

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The Cost of Following Jesus(A)

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.(B) 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man(C) has no place to lay his head.”

21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me,(D) and let the dead bury their own dead.”

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The Cost of Following Jesus

57 As they were going (A)along the road, (B)someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus[a] said to him, “Leave (C)the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and (D)proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, (E)but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, (F)“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 9:60 Greek he

The Cost of Following Jesus(A)

57 As they were walking along the road,(B) a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man(C) has no place to lay his head.”

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”(D)

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”(E)

61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”(F)

62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

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10 But after (A)his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 (B)The Jews (C)were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much (D)muttering about him among the people. (E)While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, (F)he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet (G)for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up (H)into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore (I)marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,[a] when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, (J)“My teaching is not mine, but his (K)who sent me. 17 (L)If anyone's will is to do God's[b] will, (M)he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I (N)am speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority (O)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 (P)Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. (Q)Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, (R)“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did (S)one work, and you all marvel at it. 22 (T)Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but (U)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, (V)are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? 24 (W)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 (X)they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, (Y)speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that (Z)the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But (AA)we know (AB)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, (AC)no one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, (AD)as he taught in the temple, (AE)“You know me, and you know where I come from. But (AF)I have not come of my own accord. (AG)He who sent me is true, (AH)and him you do not know. 29 (AI)I know him, for I come (AJ)from him, and (AK)he sent me.” 30 (AL)So they were seeking to arrest him, but (AM)no one laid a hand on him, (AN)because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet (AO)many of the people believed in him. They said, (AP)“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 (AQ)muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent (AR)officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, (AS)“I will be with you a little longer, and then (AT)I am going to him who sent me. 34 (AU)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? (AV)Does he intend to go to (AW)the Dispersion among (AX)the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, (AY)‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

37 (AZ)On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, (BA)“If anyone thirsts, let him (BB)come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, (BC)as[c] the Scripture has said, (BD)‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of (BE)living water.’” 39 Now (BF)this he said about the Spirit, (BG)whom those who believed in him were to receive, (BH)for as yet the Spirit had not been (BI)given, (BJ)because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

40 When they heard these words, (BK)some of the people said, “This really is (BL)the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is (BM)the Christ.” But some said, (BN)“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes (BO)from the offspring of David, and comes (BP)from Bethlehem, the village (BQ)where David was?” 43 So there was (BR)a division among the people over him. 44 (BS)Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

45 (BT)The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, (BU)“No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, (BV)“Have you also been deceived? 48 (BW)Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 (BX)Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 (BY)“Does our law judge a man without first (BZ)giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, (CA)“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that (CB)no prophet arises from Galilee.”

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

The Woman Caught in Adultery

53 [[They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. (CC)Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and (CD)he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now (CE)in the Law, Moses commanded us (CF)to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said (CG)to test him, (CH)that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, (CI)“Let him who is without sin among you (CJ)be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 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, (CK)“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on (CL)sin no more.”]]

I Am the Light of the World

12 (CM)Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, (CN)“I am the light of the world. Whoever (CO)follows me will not (CP)walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, (CQ)“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, (CR)my testimony is true, for I know (CS)where I came from and (CT)where I am going, but (CU)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 (CV)You judge according to the flesh; (CW)I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, (CX)my judgment is true, for (CY)it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father[e] who sent me. 17 (CZ)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 (DA)the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, (DB)“You know neither me nor my Father. (DC)If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in (DD)the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but (DE)no one arrested him, because (DF)his hour had not yet come.

Footnotes

  1. John 7:15 Or this man knows his letters
  2. John 7:17 Greek his
  3. John 7:38 Or let him come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. As
  4. 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
  5. John 8:16 Some manuscripts he

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(A) 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.”(B) 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.(C)

Jesus Teaches at the Festival

14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.(D) 15 The Jews(E) there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning(F) without having been taught?”(G)

16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.(H) 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out(I) 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,(J) 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?(K) Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”(L)

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

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle,(N) and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision(O) (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs),(P) 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.”(Q)

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?(R) 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities(S) really concluded that he is the Messiah?(T) 27 But we know where this man is from;(U) when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts,(V) cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from.(W) I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.(X) You do not know him, 29 but I know him(Y) because I am from him and he sent me.”(Z)

30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him,(AA) because his hour had not yet come.(AB) 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him.(AC) They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs(AD) 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,(AE) and then I am going to the one who sent me.(AF) 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”(AG)

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(AH) among the Greeks,(AI) 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’?”(AJ)

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival,(AK) Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.(AL) 38 Whoever believes(AM) in me, as Scripture has said,(AN) rivers of living water(AO) will flow from within them.”[a](AP) 39 By this he meant the Spirit,(AQ) whom those who believed in him were later to receive.(AR) Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.(AS)

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

41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

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

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,”(AZ) the guards replied.

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

50 Nicodemus,(BC) 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.”(BD)


[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, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.(BE)

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

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 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(BJ) at her.”(BK) Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

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,”(BL) Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”(BM)


Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

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

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

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.(BR) But you have no idea where I come from(BS) or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards;(BT) I pass judgment on no one.(BU) 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.(BV) 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.(BW) 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”(BX)

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

“You do not know me or my Father,”(BY) Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”(BZ) 20 He spoke these words while teaching(CA) in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put.(CB) Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.(CC)

Footnotes

  1. John 7:38 Or me. And let anyone drink 38 who believes in me.” As Scripture has said, “Out of him (or them) will flow rivers of living water.”