John 7:40-52

Common English Bible

⁴⁰ When some in the crowd heard these words, they said, “This man is truly the prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “He’s the Christ.” But others said, “The Christ can’t come from Galilee, can he? ⁴² Didn’t the scripture say that the Christ comes from David’s family and from Bethlehem, David’s village?” ⁴³ So the crowd was divided over Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some wanted to arrest him, but no one grabbed him.

⁴⁵ The guards returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked, “Why didn’t you bring him?”

⁴⁶ The guards answered, “No one has ever spoken the way he does.”

⁴⁷ The Pharisees replied, “Have you too been deceived? ⁴⁸ Have any of the leaders believed in him? Has any Pharisee? ⁴⁹ No, only this crowd, which doesn’t know the Law. And they are under God’s curse!”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who was one of them and had come to Jesus earlier, said, ⁵¹ “Our Law doesn’t judge someone without first hearing him and learning what he is doing, does it?”

⁵² They answered him, “You are not from Galilee too, are you? Look it up and you will see that the prophet doesn’t come from Galilee.”