28 As He was teaching in the temple complex,(A) Jesus cried out, “You know Me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me(B) is true. You don’t know Him;(C) 29 I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”(D)

30 Then they tried to seize Him. Yet no one laid a hand on Him because His hour[a] had not yet come. 31 However, many from the crowd believed in Him and said, “When the Messiah comes, He won’t perform more signs than this man has done,(E) will He?”

32 The Pharisees(F) heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, so the chief priests(G) and the Pharisees sent temple police to arrest Him.

33 Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time.(H) Then I’m going to the One who sent Me.(I) 34 You will look for Me, but you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”(J)

35 Then the Jews(K) said to one another, “Where does He intend to go so we won’t find Him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Dispersion[b](L) among the Greeks(M) and teach the Greeks, does He? 36 What is this remark He made: ‘You will look for Me, and you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’(N)?”

The Promise of the Spirit

37 On the last and most important day of the festival,(O) Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me[c](P) and drink!(Q) 38 The one who believes in Me,(R) as the Scripture(S) has said,[d] will have streams of living water(T) flow(U) from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit.(V) Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit,(W) for the Spirit[e] had not yet been received[f][g] because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The People Are Divided over Jesus

40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This really is the Prophet!”[h](X) 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah!” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does He? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture(Y) say that the Messiah comes from David’s(Z) offspring[i] and from the town of Bethlehem,(AA) where David once lived?” 43 So a division(AB) occurred among the crowd because of Him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize Him,(AC) but no one laid hands on Him.

Debate over Jesus’ Claims

45 Then the temple police(AD) came to the chief priests(AE) and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why haven’t you brought Him?”

46 The police answered, “No man ever spoke like this!”[j](AF)

47 Then the Pharisees responded to them: “Are you fooled(AG) too? 48 Have any of the rulers(AH) or Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed!”

50 Nicodemus(AI)—the one who came to Him previously, being one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?”(AJ)

52 “You aren’t from Galilee(AK) too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”[k](AL)

[53 So each one went to his house.

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Footnotes

  1. John 7:30 The time of His sacrificial death and exaltation; Jn 2:4; 8:20; 12:23,27; 13:1; 17:1
  2. John 7:35 Jewish people scattered throughout Gentile lands who spoke Gk and were influenced by Gk culture
  3. John 7:37 Other mss omit to Me
  4. John 7:38 Jesus may have had several OT passages in mind; Is 58:11; Ezk 47:1-12; Zch 14:8
  5. John 7:39 Other mss read Holy Spirit
  6. John 7:39 Other mss read had not yet been given
  7. John 7:39 Lit the Spirit was not yet; the word received is implied from the previous clause.
  8. John 7:40 Probably the Prophet in Dt 18:15
  9. John 7:42 Lit seed
  10. John 7:46 Other mss read like this man
  11. John 7:52 Jonah and probably other prophets did come from Galilee; 2Kg 14:25

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

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

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(M) among the Greeks,(N) 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’?”(O)

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival,(P) Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.(Q) 38 Whoever believes(R) in me, as Scripture has said,(S) rivers of living water(T) will flow from within them.”[a](U) 39 By this he meant the Spirit,(V) whom those who believed in him were later to receive.(W) Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.(X)

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

41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

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

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,”(AE) the guards replied.

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

50 Nicodemus,(AH) 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.”(AI)


[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,

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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.”