John 7:25-52 English Standard Version

Can This Be the Christ?

²⁵Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^(A)they seek to kill? ²⁶And here he is, ^(B)speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^(C)the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷But ^(D)we know ^(E)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^(F)no one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸So Jesus proclaimed, ^(G)as he taught in the temple, ^(H)“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^(I)I have not come of my own accord. ^(J)He who sent me is true, ^(K)and him you do not know. ²⁹^(L)I know him, for I come ^(M)from him, and ^(N)he sent me.” ³⁰^(O)So they were seeking to arrest him, but ^(P)no one laid a hand on him, ^(Q)because his hour had not yet come. ³¹Yet ^(R)many of the people believed in him. They said, ^(S)“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd ^(T)muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent ^(U)officers to arrest him. ³³Jesus then said, ^(V)“I will be with you a little longer, and then ^(W)I am going to him who sent me. ³⁴^(X)You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” ³⁵The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? ^(Y)Does he intend to go to ^(Z)the Dispersion among ^(AA)the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶What does he mean by saying, ^(AB)‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

³⁷^(AC)On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^(AD)“If anyone thirsts, let him ^(AE)come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, ^(AF)as^[a] the Scripture has said, ^(AG)‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of ^(AH)living water.’” ³⁹Now ^(AI)this he said about the Spirit, ^(AJ)whom those who believed in him were to receive, ^(AK)for as yet the Spirit had not been ^(AL)given, ^(AM)because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

⁴⁰When they heard these words, ^(AN)some of the people said, “This really is ^(AO)the Prophet.” ⁴¹Others said, “This is ^(AP)the Christ.” But some said, ^(AQ)“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴²Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes ^(AR)from the offspring of David, and comes ^(AS)from Bethlehem, the village ^(AT)where David was?” ⁴³So there was ^(AU)a division among the people over him. ⁴⁴^(AV)Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

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