John 7
Christian Standard Bible
The Unbelief of Jesus’s Brothers
7 After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee,(A) since he did not want to travel in Judea(B) because the Jews(C) were trying to kill him.(D) 2 The Jewish Festival of Shelters[a](E) was near. 3 So his brothers(F) said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works(G) that you are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.)
6 Jesus told them, “My time(H) has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. 7 The world cannot hate(I) you, but it does hate me because I testify about it—that its works are evil. 8 Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to this festival,[b] because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said these things, he stayed in Galilee.
Jesus at the Festival of Shelters
10 After his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly but secretly. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was a lot of murmuring about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good(J) man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, he’s deceiving(K) the people.” 13 Still, nobody was talking publicly about him for fear of the Jews.
14 When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple(L) and began to teach. 15 Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How is this man so learned,(M) since he hasn’t been trained?”
16 Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t mine but is from the one who sent me.(N) 17 If anyone wants to do his will,(O) he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. 18 The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory;(P) but he who seeks the glory(Q) of the one who sent him is true,(R) and there is no unrighteousness in him.(S) 19 Didn’t Moses(T) give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.(U) Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 “You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21 “I performed one work,(V) and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. 22 “This is why Moses has given you circumcision(W) —not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers(X) —and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.(Y) 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath(Z) so that the law of Moses(AA) won’t be broken, are you angry at me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging(AB) according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”
The Identity of the Messiah
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem(AC) were saying, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Yet, look, he’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to him. Can it be true that the authorities(AD) know he is the Messiah?(AE) 27 But we know where this man is from.(AF) When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he is from.”
28 As he was teaching in the temple,(AG) Jesus cried out, “You know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me(AH) is true. You don’t know him;(AI) 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”(AJ)
30 Then they tried to seize him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. 31 However, many from the crowd believed in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t perform more signs than this man has done,(AK) will he?” 32 The Pharisees(AL) heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and so the chief priests(AM) and the Pharisees sent servants[c] to arrest him.
33 Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time.(AN) Then I’m going to the one who sent me.(AO) 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”(AP)
35 Then the Jews(AQ) said to one another, “Where does he intend to go that we won’t find him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Jewish people dispersed[d](AR) among the Greeks(AS) and teach the Greeks, does he? 36 What is this remark he made: ‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come’(AT)?”
The Promise of the Spirit
37 On the last and most important day of the festival,(AU) Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me[e](AV) and drink.(AW) 38 The one who believes in me,(AX) as the Scripture(AY) has said, will have streams of living water(AZ) flow(BA) from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit.(BB) Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit,(BC) for the Spirit[f] had not yet been given[g] because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
The People Are Divided over Jesus
40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This truly is the Prophet.”(BD) 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture(BE) say that the Messiah comes from David’s(BF) offspring[h] and from the town of Bethlehem,(BG) where David lived?” 43 So the crowd was divided(BH) because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize him,(BI) but no one laid hands on him.
Debate over Jesus’s Claims
45 Then the servants(BJ) came to the chief priests(BK) and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”
46 The servants answered, “No man ever spoke like this!” [i](BL)
47 Then the Pharisees responded to them, “Are you fooled(BM) too? 48 Have any of the rulers(BN) or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus(BO)—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?” (BP)
52 “You aren’t from Galilee(BQ) too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”(BR)
[The earliest mss do not include 7:53–8:11.]
[53 Then each one went to his house.[j]
Footnotes
- 7:2 Or Tabernacles, or Booths
- 7:8 Other mss add yet
- 7:32 Or temple police, or officers, also in vv. 45,46
- 7:35 Gk diaspora; Jewish people scattered throughout Gentile lands
- 7:37 Other mss omit to me
- 7:39 Other mss read Holy Spirit
- 7:39 Lit the Spirit was not yet
- 7:42 Lit seed
- 7:46 Other mss read like this man
- 7:53–8:11 Other mss include all or some of the passage after Jn 7:36,44,52; 21:25; or Lk 21:38.
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.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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.
