³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

¹⁶ Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.”

² This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

²¹ For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

²⁴ So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this,^[a] because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”

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^[a] from Galilee!”

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.”^{[a] 41} Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee?

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.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet.