John 7
New Living Translation
Jesus and His Brothers
7 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. 2 But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, 3 and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! 4 You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” 5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
6 Jesus replied, “Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime. 7 The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil. 8 You go on. I’m not going[a] to this festival, because my time has not yet come.” 9 After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee.
Jesus Teaches Openly at the Temple
10 But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. 11 The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him. 12 There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some argued, “He’s a good man,” but others said, “He’s nothing but a fraud who deceives the people.” 13 But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.
14 Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. 15 The people[b] were surprised when they heard him. “How does he know so much when he hasn’t been trained?” they asked.
16 So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me. 17 Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. 18 Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies. 19 Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me.”
20 The crowd replied, “You’re demon possessed! Who’s trying to kill you?”
21 Jesus replied, “I did one miracle on the Sabbath, and you were amazed. 22 But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses’ law of circumcision. (Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of Moses.) 23 For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath? 24 Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”
Is Jesus the Messiah?
25 Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each other, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing to him. Could our leaders possibly believe that he is the Messiah? 27 But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from.”
28 While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him. 29 But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you.” 30 Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time[c] had not yet come.
31 Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”
32 When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest Jesus. 33 But Jesus told them, “I will be with you only a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me. 34 You will search for me but not find me. And you cannot go where I am going.”
35 The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement. “Where is he planning to go?” they asked. “Is he thinking of leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands?[d] Maybe he will even teach the Greeks! 36 What does he mean when he says, ‘You will search for me but not find me,’ and ‘You cannot go where I am going’?”
Jesus Promises Living Water
37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”[e] 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given,[f] because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
Division and Unbelief
40 When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.”[g] 41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.”[h] 43 So the crowd was divided about him. 44 Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.
47 “Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. 48 “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? 49 This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!”
50 Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. 51 “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes[i] from Galilee!”
[The most ancient Greek manuscripts do not include John 7:53–8:11.]
53 Then the meeting broke up, and everybody went home.
Footnotes
- 7:8 Some manuscripts read not yet going.
- 7:15 Greek Jewish people.
- 7:30 Greek his hour.
- 7:35 Or the Jews who live among the Greeks?
- 7:37-38 Or “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from the heart of anyone who believes in me.’”
- 7:39 Several early manuscripts read But as yet there was no Spirit. Still others read But as yet there was no Holy Spirit.
- 7:40 See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
- 7:42 See Mic 5:2.
- 7:52 Some manuscripts read the prophet does not come.
John 7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Unbelief of Jesus’s Brothers
7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him.(A) 2 Now the Jewish Festival of Booths[a] was near.(B) 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing,(C) 4 for no one who wants[b] to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.)(D) 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.(E) 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil.(F) 8 Go to the festival yourselves. I am not[c] going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
Jesus at the Festival of Booths
10 But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but, as it were,[d] in secret. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.”(G) 13 Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.(H)
14 About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. 15 The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?”(I) 16 Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me.(J) 17 Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.(K) 18 Those who speak on their own seek their own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing unjust in him.(L)
19 “Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?”(M) 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?”(N) 21 Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. 22 Because of this Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.(O) 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?(P) 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”(Q)
Is This the Christ?
25 Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?[e] 27 Yet we know where this man is from, but when the Messiah[f] comes no one will know where he is from.”(R) 28 Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him.(S) 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”(T) 30 Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him because his hour had not yet come.(U) 31 Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Messiah[g] comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?”[h](V)
Officers Are Sent to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.(W) 34 You will search for me, but you will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come.”(X) 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?(Y) 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will search for me, but you will not find me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
Rivers of Living Water
37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,(Z) 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As[i] the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart[j] shall flow rivers of living water.’ ”(AA) 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit[k] because Jesus was not yet glorified.(AB)
Division among the People
40 When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.”[l] But some asked, “Surely the Messiah[m] does not come from Galilee, does he?(AC) 42 Has not the scripture said that the Messiah[n] is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”(AD) 43 So there was a division in the crowd because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
The Unbelief of Those in Authority
45 Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” 46 The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” 47 Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived, too, have you? 48 Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him?(AE) 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law, they are accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus[o] before and who was one of them, asked, 51 “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?”(AF) 52 They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”
The Woman Caught in Adultery
[[53 Then each of them went home,
Footnotes
- 7.2 Or Tabernacles
- 7.4 Other ancient authorities read wants it
- 7.8 Other ancient authorities add yet
- 7.10 Other ancient authorities lack as it were
- 7.26 Or the Christ
- 7.27 Or the Christ
- 7.31 Or the Christ
- 7.31 Other ancient authorities read is doing
- 7.38 Or come to me and drink.
The one who believes in me, as - 7.38 Gk out of his belly
- 7.39 Other ancient authorities read for as yet the Spirit (others, Holy Spirit) had not been given
- 7.41 Or the Christ
- 7.41 Or the Christ
- 7.42 Or the Christ
- 7.50 Gk him
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.