John 7:37-8:30

English Standard Version

Rivers of Living Water

^37 (A)On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^(B)“If anyone thirsts, let him ^(C)come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, ^(D)as^[a] the Scripture has said, ^(E)‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of ^(F)living water.’” ³⁹ Now ^(G)this he said about the Spirit, ^(H)whom those who believed in him were to receive, ^(I)for as yet the Spirit had not been ^(J)given, ^(K)because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

⁴⁰ When they heard these words, ^(L)some of the people said, “This really is ^(M)the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is ^(N)the Christ.” But some said, ^(O)“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes ^(P)from the offspring of David, and comes ^(Q)from Bethlehem, the village ^(R)where David was?” ⁴³ So there was ^(S)a division among the people over him. ^44 (T)Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

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

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

The Woman Caught in Adultery

[[⁵³ They went each to his own house, 8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ^2 (AD)Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and ^(AE)he sat down and taught them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ Now ^(AF)in the Law, Moses commanded us ^(AG)to stone such women. So what do you say?” ⁶ This they said ^(AH)to test him, ^(AI)that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ^(AJ)“Let him who is without sin among you ^(AK)be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ 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, ^(AL)“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on ^(AM)sin no more.”]]

I Am the Light of the World

^12 (AN)Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^(AO)“I am the light of the world. Whoever ^(AP)follows me will not ^(AQ)walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ¹³ So the Pharisees said to him, ^(AR)“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” ¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, ^(AS)my testimony is true, for I know ^(AT)where I came from and ^(AU)where I am going, but ^(AV)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ^15 (AW)You judge according to the flesh; ^(AX)I judge no one. ¹⁶ Yet even if I do judge, ^(AY)my judgment is true, for ^(AZ)it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father^[c] who sent me. ^17 (BA)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 ^(BB)the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” ¹⁹ They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, ^(BC)“You know neither me nor my Father. ^(BD)If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰ These words he spoke in ^(BE)the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but ^(BF)no one arrested him, because ^(BG)his hour had not yet come.

²¹ So he said to them again, ^(BH)“I am going away, and ^(BI)you will seek me, and ^(BJ)you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²² So the Jews said, ^(BK)“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³ He said to them, ^(BL)“You are from below; I am from above. ^(BM)You are of this world; ^(BN)I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you ^(BO)would die in your sins, for ^(BP)unless you believe that ^(BQ)I am he you will die in your sins.” ²⁵ So they said to him, ^(BR)“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have much to say about you and much to judge, but ^(BS)he who sent me is true, and I declare ^(BT)to the world ^(BU)what I have heard from him.” ²⁷ They did not understand that ^(BV)he had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said to them, “When you have ^(BW)lifted up the Son of Man, ^(BX)then you will know that ^(BY)I am he, and that ^(BZ)I do nothing on my own authority, but ^(CA)speak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹ And ^(CB)he who sent me is with me. ^(CC)He has not left me alone, for ^(CD)I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ³⁰ As he was saying these things, ^(CE)many believed in him.