¹⁷ Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out^(A) 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,^(B) 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?^(C) Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”^(D)

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

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

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?^{(J) 26} Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities^(K) really concluded that he is the Messiah?^{(L) 27} But we know where this man is from;^(M) when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

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

³⁰ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him,^(S) because his hour had not yet come.^{(T) 31} Still, many in the crowd believed in him.^(U) They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs^(V) 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,^(W) and then I am going to the one who sent me.^{(X) 34} You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”^(Y)

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^(Z) among the Greeks,^(AA) 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’?”^(AB)

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival,^(AC) Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.^{(AD) 38} Whoever believes^(AE) in me, as Scripture has said,^(AF) rivers of living water^(AG) will flow from within them.”^{[a](AH) 39} By this he meant the Spirit,^(AI) whom those who believed in him were later to receive.^(AJ) Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.^(AK)

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

⁴¹ Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

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

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,”^(AR) the guards replied.

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

⁵⁰ Nicodemus,^(AU) 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.”^(AV)

[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.^(AW)

² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.^{(AX) 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.^(AY) Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap,^(AZ) in order to have a basis for accusing him.^(BA)

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^(BB) at her.”^{(BC) 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,”^(BD) Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”^(BE)

Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

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

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

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.^(BJ) But you have no idea where I come from^(BK) or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards;^(BL) I pass judgment on no one.^{(BM) 16} But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.^(BN)