7 After this, Jesus went from place to place in Galilee, for He would not travel in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.

² Now the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was drawing near.

³ So His brothers said to Him, Leave here and go into Judea, so that ^[a]Your disciples [there] may also see the works that You do. [This is no place for You.]

⁴ For no one does anything in secret when he wishes to be conspicuous and secure publicity. If You [must] do these things [if You must act like this], show Yourself openly and make Yourself known to the world!

⁵ For [even] His brothers did not believe in or adhere to or trust in or rely on Him either.

⁶ Whereupon Jesus said to them, My time (opportunity) has not come yet; but any time is suitable for you and your opportunity is ready any time [is always here].

⁷ The world cannot [be expected to] hate you, but it does hate Me because I denounce it for its wicked works and reveal that its doings are evil.

⁸ Go to the Feast yourselves. I am not [yet] going up to the Festival, because My time is not ripe. [My term is not yet completed; it is not time for Me to go.]

⁹ Having said these things to them, He stayed behind in Galilee.

¹⁰ But afterward, when His brothers had gone up to the Feast, He went up also, not publicly [not with a caravan], but by Himself quietly and as if He did not wish to be observed.

¹¹ Therefore the Jews kept looking for Him at the Feast and asking, Where can He be? [Where is that Fellow?]

¹² And there was among the mass of the people much whispered discussion and hot disputing about Him. Some were saying, He is good! [He is a good Man!] Others said, No, He misleads and deceives the people [gives them false ideas]!

¹³ But no one dared speak out boldly about Him for fear of [the leaders of] the Jews.

¹⁴ When the Feast was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple [^[b]court] and began to teach.

¹⁵ The Jews were astonished. They said, How is it that this Man has learning [is so versed in the sacred Scriptures and in theology] when He has never studied?

¹⁶ Jesus answered them by saying, My teaching is not My own, but His Who sent Me.

¹⁷ If any man desires to do His will (God’s pleasure), he will know (have the needed illumination to recognize, and can tell for himself) whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking from Myself and of My own accord and on My own authority.

¹⁸ He who speaks on his own authority seeks to win honor for himself. [He whose teaching originates with himself seeks his own glory.] But He Who seeks the glory and is eager for the honor of Him Who sent Him, He is true; and there is no unrighteousness or falsehood or deception in Him.

¹⁹ Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not one of you keeps the Law. [If that is the truth] why do you seek to kill Me [for not keeping it]?

²⁰ The crowd answered Him, You are possessed by a demon! [You are raving!] Who seeks to kill You?

²¹ Jesus answered them, I did one work, and you all are astounded.^(A)

²² Now Moses established circumcision among you—though it did not originate with Moses but with the previous patriarchs—and you circumcise a person [even] on the Sabbath day.

²³ If, to avoid breaking the Law of Moses, a person undergoes circumcision on the Sabbath day, have you any cause to be angry with (indignant with, bitter against) Me for making a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath?

²⁴ Be honest in your judgment and do not decide at a glance (superficially and by appearances); but judge fairly and righteously.

²⁵ Then some of the Jerusalem people said, Is not this the Man they seek to kill?

²⁶ And here He is speaking openly, and they say nothing to Him! Can it be possible that the rulers have discovered and know that this is truly the Christ?

²⁷ No, we know where this Man comes from; when the Christ arrives, no one is to know from what place He comes.

²⁸ Whereupon Jesus called out as He taught in the temple [^[c]porches], Do you know Me, and do you know where I am from? I have not come on My own authority and of My own accord and as self-appointed, but the One Who sent Me is true (real, genuine, steadfast); and Him you do not know!

²⁹ I know Him [Myself] because I come from His [very] presence, and it was He [personally] Who sent Me.

³⁰ Therefore they were eager to arrest Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, for His hour (time) had not yet come.

³¹ And besides, many of the multitude believed in Him [adhered to Him, trusted in Him, relied on Him]. And they kept saying, When the Christ comes, will He do [can He be expected to do] more miracles and produce more proofs and signs than what this Man has done?

³² The Pharisees learned how the people were saying these things about Him under their breath; and the chief priests and Pharisees sent attendants (guards) to arrest Him.

³³ Therefore Jesus said, For a little while I am [still] with you, and then I go back to Him Who sent Me.

³⁴ You will look for Me, but you will not [be able to] find Me; where I am, you cannot come.

³⁵ Then the Jews said among themselves, Where does this Man intend to go that we shall not find Him? Will He go to the Jews who are scattered in the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

³⁶ What does this statement of His mean, You will look for Me and not be able to find Me, and, Where I am, you cannot come?

³⁷ Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!

³⁸ He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.

³⁹ But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).

⁴⁰ Listening to those words, some of the multitude said, This is certainly and beyond doubt the Prophet!^(B)

⁴¹ Others said, This is the Christ (the Messiah, Anointed One)! But some said, What? Does the Christ come out of Galilee?

⁴² Does not the Scripture tell us that the Christ will come from the offspring of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?^(C)

⁴³ So there arose a division and dissension among the people concerning Him.

⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one [ventured and] laid hands on Him.

⁴⁵ Meanwhile the attendants (guards) had gone back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, Why have you not brought Him here with you?

⁴⁶ The attendants replied, Never has a man talked as this Man talks! [No mere man has ever spoken as He speaks!]

⁴⁷ The Pharisees said to them, Are you also deluded and led astray? [Are you also swept off your feet?]

⁴⁸ Has any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in Him?

⁴⁹ As for this multitude (rabble) that does not know the Law, they are contemptible and doomed and accursed!

⁵⁰ Then Nicodemus, who came to Jesus before at night and was one of them, asked,

⁵¹ Does our Law convict a man without giving him a hearing and finding out what he has done?

⁵² They answered him, Are you too from Galilee? Search [the Scriptures yourself], and you will see that no prophet comes (will rise to prominence) from Galilee.

^53 [d]And they went [back], each to his own house.

8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

² Early in the morning (at dawn), He came back into the temple [^[a]court], and the people came to Him in crowds. He sat down and was teaching them,

³ When the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They made her stand in the middle of the court and put the case before Him.

⁴ Teacher, they said, This woman has been caught in the very act of adultery.

⁵ Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such [women—offenders] shall be stoned to death. But what do You say [to do with her—what is Your sentence]?^(A)

⁶ This they said to try (test) Him, hoping they might find a charge on which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger.

⁷ However, when they persisted with their question, He raised Himself up and said, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.

⁸ Then He bent down and went on writing on the ground with His finger.

⁹ They listened to Him, and then they began going out, conscience-stricken, one by one, from the oldest down to the last one of them, till Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing there before Him in the center of the court.

¹⁰ When Jesus raised Himself up, He said to her, Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you?

¹¹ She answered, No one, Lord! And Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. Go on your way and from now on sin no more.

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18 After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.

² So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.

³ And Ahab called Obadiah, who was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly;

⁴ For when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.)

⁵ And Ahab said to Obadiah, Go into the land to all the fountains of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, that we lose none of the beasts.

⁶ So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went one way and Obadiah went another way, each by himself.

⁷ As Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. He recognized him and fell on his face and said, Are you my lord Elijah?

⁸ He answered him, It is I. Go tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

⁹ And he said, What sin have I committed, that you would deliver your servant into the hands of Ahab to be slain?

¹⁰ As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they said, He is not here, he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they had not found you.

¹¹ And now you say, Go tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

¹² And as soon as I have gone out from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared and revered the Lord from my youth.

¹³ Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water?

¹⁴ And now you say, Go tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here; and he will kill me.

¹⁵ Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts lives, before Whom I stand, I will surely show myself to Ahab today.

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Are you he who troubles Israel?

¹⁸ Elijah replied, I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, by forsaking the commandments of the Lord and by following the Baals.

¹⁹ Therefore send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of [the goddess] Asherah, who eat at [Queen] Jezebel’s table.

²⁰ So Ahab sent to all the Israelites and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel.

²¹ Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you halt and limp between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.

²² Then Elijah said to the people, I, I only, remain a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.

²³ Let two bulls be given us; let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood but put no fire to it. I will dress the other bull, lay it on the wood, and put no fire to it.

²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the One Who answers by fire, let Him be God. And all the people answered, It is well spoken.

²⁵ Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bull for yourselves and dress it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.

²⁶ So they took the bull given them, dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear and answer us! But there was no voice; no one answered. And they leaped upon or limped about the altar they had made.

²⁷ At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.

²⁸ And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with knives and lances until the blood gushed out upon them.

²⁹ Midday passed, and they played the part of prophets until the time for offering the evening sacrifice, but there was no voice, no answer, no one who paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near him. And he repaired the [old] altar of the Lord that had been broken down [by Jezebel].^(A)

³¹ Then Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be your name.^(B)

³² And with the stones Elijah built an altar in the name [and self-revelation] of the Lord. He made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two measures of seed.

³³ He put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood and said, Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and the wood.

³⁴ And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

³⁵ The water ran round about the altar, and he filled the trench also with water.

³⁶ At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and that I have done all these things at Your word.

³⁷ Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You, the Lord, are God, and have turned their hearts back [to You].

³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and also licked up the water that was in the trench.

³⁹ When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!

⁴⁰ And Elijah said, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one escape. They seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and [as God’s law required] slew them there.^(C)

⁴¹ And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain.

⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees

⁴³ And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, There is nothing. Elijah said, Go again seven times.

⁴⁴ And at the seventh time the servant said, A cloud as small as a man’s hand is arising out of the sea. And Elijah said, Go up, say to Ahab, Hitch your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.

⁴⁵ In a little while, the heavens were black with wind-swept clouds, and there was a great rain. And Ahab went to Jezreel.

⁴⁶ The hand of the Lord was on Elijah. He girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel [nearly twenty miles].

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had slain all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword.

² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.

³ Then he was afraid and arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba of Judah [over eighty miles, and out of Jezebel’s realm] and left his servant there.

⁴ But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a lone broom or juniper tree and asked that he might die. He said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.

⁵ As he lay asleep under the broom or juniper tree, behold, an angel touched him and said to him, Arise and eat.

⁶ He looked, and behold, there was a cake baked on the coals, and a bottle of water at his head. And he ate and drank and lay down again.

⁷ The angel of the Lord came the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.

⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

⁹ There he came to a cave and lodged in it; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?

¹⁰ He replied, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

¹¹ And He said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;

¹² And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice.

¹³ When Elijah heard the voice, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?

¹⁴ He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword. And I, I only, am left, and they seek my life, to destroy it.

¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.

¹⁶ And anoint Jehu son of Nimshi to be king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah to be prophet in your place.

¹⁷ And him who escapes from the sword of ^[a]Hazael Jehu shall slay, and him who escapes the sword of Jehu Elisha shall slay.

¹⁸ Yet I will leave Myself 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.

¹⁹ So Elijah left there and found Elisha son of Shaphat, whose plowing was being done with twelve yoke of oxen, and he drove the twelfth. Elijah crossed over to him and cast his mantle upon him.

²⁰ He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, Let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you. And he [testing Elisha] said, Go on back. What have I done to you? [Settle it for yourself.]

²¹ So Elisha went back from him. Then he took a yoke of oxen, slew them, boiled their flesh with the oxen’s yoke [as fuel], and gave to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, followed Elijah, and served him.^(D)