John 7
7
Jesus’ Brothers Don’t Believe
1After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because some evil people there wanted to kill him. 2It was time for the Feast of Shelters. 3So Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to Judea so your followers there can see the miracles you do. 4Anyone who wants to be well known does not hide what he does. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5(Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him.)
6Jesus said to his brothers, “The right time for me has not yet come, but any time is right for you. 7The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I tell it the evil things it does. 8So you go to the feast. I will not go yet to this feast, because the right time for me has not yet come.” 9After saying this, Jesus stayed in Galilee.
10But after Jesus’ brothers had gone to the feast, Jesus went also. But he did not let people see him. 11At the feast some people were looking for him and saying, “Where is that man?”
12Within the large crowd there, many people were whispering to each other about Jesus. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others said, “No, he fools the people.” 13But no one was brave enough to talk about Jesus openly, because they were afraid of the elders.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
14When the feast was about half over, Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach. 15The people were amazed and said, “This man has never studied in school. How did he learn so much?”
16Jesus answered, “The things I teach are not my own, but they come from him who sent me. 17If people choose to do what God wants, they will know that my teaching comes from God and not from me. 18Those who teach their own ideas are trying to get honor for themselves. But those who try to bring honor to the one who sent them speak the truth, and there is nothing false in them. 19Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys that law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20The people answered, “A demon has come into you. We are not trying to kill you.”
21Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22Moses gave you the law about circumcision. (But really Moses did not give you circumcision; it came from our ancestors.) And yet you circumcise a baby boy on a Sabbath day. 23If a baby boy can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the law of Moses, why are you angry at me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? 24Stop judging by the way things look, but judge by what is really right.”
Is Jesus the Christ?
25Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “This is the man they are trying to kill. 26But he is teaching where everyone can see and hear him, and no one is trying to stop him. Maybe the leaders have decided he really is the Christ. 27But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
28Jesus, teaching in the Temple, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come by my own authority. I was sent by the One who is true, whom you don’t know. 29But I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
30When Jesus said this, they tried to seize him. But no one was able to touch him, because it was not yet the right time. 31But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man has done?”
The Leaders Try to Arrest Jesus
32The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple guards to arrest him. 33Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. 34You will look for me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am.”
35Some people said to each other, “Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live and teach the Greek people there? 36What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘You cannot come where I am’?”
Jesus Talks About the Spirit
37On the last and most important day of the feast Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from that person’s heart, as the Scripture says.” 39Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. But later, those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit.
The People Argue About Jesus
40When the people heard Jesus’ words, some of them said, “This man really is the Prophet.”
41Others said, “He is the Christ.”
Still others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee. 42The Scripture says that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” 43So the people did not agree with each other about Jesus. 44Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one was able to touch him.
Some Leaders Won’t Believe
45The Temple guards went back to the leading priests and the Pharisees, who asked, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”
46The guards answered, “The words he says are greater than the words of any other person who has ever spoken!”
47The Pharisees answered, “So Jesus has fooled you also! 48Have any of the leaders or the Pharisees believed in him? No! 49But these people, who know nothing about the law, are under God’s curse.”
50Nicodemus, who had gone to see Jesus before, was in that group. He said, 51“Our law does not judge a person without hearing him and knowing what he has done.”
52They answered, “Are you from Galilee, too? Study the Scriptures, and you will learn that no prophet comes from Galilee.”
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Some of the earliest surviving Greek copies do not contain 7:53—8:11.
[53And everyone left and went home.
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John 7: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
John 7
7
Jesus at the Feast of Booths
1After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because #ch. 5:18; 8:37, 40; 11:53the Jews#7:1 Or Judeans; Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time were seeking to kill him. 2Now #ch. 5:1; 6:4 the Jews’ Feast of #See Lev. 23:34Booths was at hand. 3#ver. 5, 10; See Matt. 12:46So his brothers#7:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10 said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, #[ch. 14:22; 18:20]show yourself to the world.” 5#[Matt. 13:57; Mark 3:21] For not even #ver. 3, 10his brothers believed in him. 6Jesus said to them, #[ver. 8, 30]; See ch. 2:4“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7The world cannot hate you, but #ch. 15:18, 24 it hates me because I testify about it that #ch. 3:19; [Col. 1:21; 1 John 3:12]its works are evil. 8You go up to the feast. I am not#7:8 Some manuscripts add yet going up to this feast, for #See ch. 2:4my time has not yet fully come.” 9After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
10But after #ver. 3, 5his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11#ver. 1 The Jews #ch. 11:56were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12And there was much #ver. 32 muttering about him among the people. #[ver. 40-43] While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, #ver. 47he is leading the people astray.” 13Yet #ch. 19:38; 20:19; [ch. 9:22; 12:42]for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
14About the middle of the feast Jesus went up #ver. 28into the temple and began teaching. 15The Jews therefore #[ver. 46; Luke 2:47; 4:22; Acts 4:13]marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,#7:15 Or this man knows his letters when he has never studied?” 16So Jesus answered them, #ch. 8:28; 12:49; 14:10, 24; [ch. 3:34] “My teaching is not mine, but his #See ch. 3:17who sent me. 17#[ch. 8:31, 32; 14:21, 23] If anyone’s will is to do God’s#7:17 Greek his will, #[ch. 8:43; Ps. 25:9; Dan. 12:10; Phil. 3:15] he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I #See ch. 5:30am speaking on my own authority. 18The one who speaks on his own authority #ch. 5:41; 8:50seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19#ver. 23; See ch. 1:17 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. #ver. 1Why do you seek to kill me?” 20The crowd answered, #ch. 8:48, 52; 10:20; [Matt. 11:18; Mark 3:22; Luke 7:33]“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21Jesus answered them, “I did #ver. 23; ch. 5:2-9one work, and you all marvel at it. 22#Lev. 12:3 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but #Gen. 17:10from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, #ch. 5:16; See Matt. 12:2are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? 24#ch. 8:15; [Isa. 11:3; 2 Cor. 10:7]; See Deut. 1:16, 17Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Can This Be the Christ?
25Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom #ver. 1they seek to kill? 26And here he is, #ch. 18:20 speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that #ver. 48the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27But #[ch. 6:42; 8:14, 19; 9:29] we know #ch. 19:9 where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, #[ver. 42]no one will know where he comes from.” 28So Jesus proclaimed, #ver. 14 as he taught in the temple, #[See ver. 27 above] “You know me, and you know where I come from. But #ch. 8:42; [ch. 5:43] I have not come of my own accord. #See ch. 8:26 He who sent me is true, #ch. 8:19; 15:21; [ch. 4:22; 8:55]and him you do not know. 29#ch. 8:55; See Matt. 11:27 I know him, for I come #ch. 6:46; 9:16, 33; [ch. 1:14] from him, and #See ch. 3:17he sent me.” 30#ver. 44; ch. 10:39; [Matt. 21:46] So they were seeking to arrest him, but #ch. 8:20 no one laid a hand on him, #ver. 6because his hour had not yet come. 31Yet #ch. 8:30; 10:42; 11:45; 12:11; [ch. 2:23; 12:42; Matt. 21:11] many of the people believed in him. They said, #Matt. 12:23“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus
32The Pharisees heard the crowd #ver. 12 muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent #ver. 45, 46officers to arrest him. 33Jesus then said, #ch. 12:35; 13:33; 14:19; 16:16-19 “I will be with you a little longer, and then #ch. 16:5I am going to him who sent me. 34#ch. 8:21; 13:33You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? #[ch. 8:22] Does he intend to go to #James 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1; [Isa. 11:12; Zeph. 3:10] the Dispersion among #ch. 12:20the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36What does he mean by saying, #ver. 34‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
Rivers of Living Water
37 #
Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35; Neh. 8:18 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, #Isa. 55:1; See ch. 4:14 “If anyone thirsts, let him #See ch. 6:35come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, #[Isa. 12:3; Ezek. 47:1] as#7:38 Or let him come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. As the Scripture has said, #ch. 4:14; [Prov. 18:4] ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of #See ch. 4:10living water.’” 39Now #Isa. 44:3; [1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:14] this he said about the Spirit, #Joel 2:28; Acts 2:16-18; [ch. 1:33; 20:22; Luke 24:49] whom those who believed in him were to receive, #Acts 2:4, 33 for as yet the Spirit had not been #ch. 3:34; Luke 11:13 given, #ch. 14:16, 17; 16:7because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Division Among the People
40When they heard these words, #See ver. 31 some of the people said, “This really is #ch. 1:21; 6:14; See Matt. 21:11the Prophet.” 41Others said, “This is #ver. 26 the Christ.” But some said, #[ver. 52; ch. 1:46]“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes #[Ps. 89:3, 4]; See Matt. 1:1 from the offspring of David, and comes #Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:1, 5; Luke 2:4 from Bethlehem, the village #1 Sam. 16:1where David was?” 43So there was #ch. 9:16; 10:19; [ver. 12]a division among the people over him. 44#ver. 30Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 # ver. 32 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46The officers answered, #See Matt. 7:29“No one ever spoke like this man!” 47The Pharisees answered them, #ver. 12“Have you also been deceived? 48#1 Cor. 1:20, 26; 2:8; [ch. 12:42]Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50#ch. 3:1; 19:39Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51#Deut. 17:6; 19:15; [Acts 23:3] “Does our law judge a man without first #Deut. 1:16; Prov. 18:13giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52They replied, #ver. 41 “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that #[2 Kgs. 14:25 with Josh. 19:13]no prophet arises from Galilee.”
[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.] # 7:53 Some manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11; others add the passage here or after 7:36 or after 21:25 or after Luke 21:38, with variations in the text
The Woman Caught in Adultery
53[[They went each to his own house,
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