John 7
New American Standard Bible 1995
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
7 After these things Jesus (A)was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because (B)the Jews (C)were seeking to kill Him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews, (D)the Feast of Booths, was near. 3 Therefore His (E)brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your (F)disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret [a]when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For not even His (G)brothers were believing in Him. 6 So Jesus *said to them, “(H)My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. 7 (I)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that (J)its deeds are evil. 8 Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because (K)My time has not yet fully come.” 9 Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.
10 But when His (L)brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret. 11 (M)So the Jews (N)were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” 12 There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; (O)some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” 13 Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for (P)fear of the Jews.
14 But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to (Q)teach. 15 (R)The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man (S)become learned, having never been educated?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “(T)My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 (U)If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. 18 He who speaks from himself (V)seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
19 “(W)Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you (X)seek to kill Me?” 20 The crowd answered, “(Y)You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did (Z)one [b]deed, and you all marvel. 22 For this reason (AA)Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from (AB)the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23 (AC)If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? 24 Do not (AD)judge according to appearance, but [c]judge with righteous judgment.”
25 So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26 Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. (AE)The rulers do not really know that this is [d]the Christ, do they? 27 However, (AF)we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” 28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, (AG)teaching and saying, “(AH)You both know Me and know where I am from; and (AI)I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 (AJ)I know Him, because (AK)I am from Him, and (AL)He sent Me.” 30 So they (AM)were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His (AN)hour had not yet come. 31 But (AO)many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “(AP)When [e]the Christ comes, He will not perform more [f](AQ)signs than those which this man has, will He?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent (AR)officers to (AS)seize Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said, “(AT)For a little while longer I am with you, then (AU)I go to Him who sent Me. 34 (AV)You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 (AW)The Jews then said to one another, “(AX)Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to (AY)the Dispersion among (AZ)the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? 36 What is this statement that He said, ‘(BA)You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”
37 Now on (BB)the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “[g](BC)If anyone is thirsty, [h]let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, (BD)as the Scripture said, ‘From [i]his innermost being will flow rivers of (BE)living water.’” 39 But this He spoke (BF)of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for (BG)the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet (BH)glorified.
Division of People over Jesus
40 Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is (BI)the Prophet.” 41 Others were saying, “This is [j]the Christ.” Still others were saying, “(BJ)Surely [k]the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from (BK)the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So (BL)a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. 44 (BM)Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
45 The (BN)officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” 46 The (BO)officers answered, “(BP)Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” 47 The Pharisees then answered them, “(BQ)You have not also been led astray, have you? 48 (BR)No one of (BS)the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49 But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” 50 (BT)Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) *said to them, 51 “(BU)Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” 52 They answered him, “(BV)You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” 53 [[l]Everyone went to his home.
Footnotes
- John 7:4 Lit and
- John 7:21 Or work
- John 7:24 Lit judge the righteous judgment
- John 7:26 I.e. the Messiah
- John 7:31 I.e. the Messiah
- John 7:31 Or attesting miracles
- John 7:37 Vv 37-38 may also be read: If anyone is thirsty,...let him come..., he who believes in me as...
- John 7:37 Or let him keep coming to Me and let him keep drinking
- John 7:38 Lit out of his belly
- John 7:41 I.e. the Messiah
- John 7:41 I.e. the Messiah
- John 7:53 Later mss add the story of the adulterous woman, numbering it as John 7:53-8:11
John 7
International Children’s Bible
Jesus and His Brothers
7 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there wanted to kill him. 2 It was time for the Jewish Feast of Shelters. 3 So Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to Judea. Then your followers there can see the miracles you do. 4 Anyone 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.)
6 Jesus said to his brothers, “The right time for me has not yet come. But any time is right for you. 7 The world cannot hate you. But it hates me, because I tell about the evil things it does. 8 So you go to the feast. I will not go now. The right time for me has not yet come.” 9 After saying this, Jesus stayed in Galilee.
10 So Jesus’ brothers left to go to the feast. When they had gone, Jesus went, too. But he did not let people see him. 11 At the feast the Jews were looking for him. They said, “Where is that man?”
12 There was a large crowd of people there. Many of them were whispering to each other about Jesus. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others said, “No, he fools the people.” 13 But no one was brave enough to talk about Jesus openly. They were afraid of the Jews.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
14 The feast was about half over. Then Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed. They said, “This man has never studied in school. How did he learn so much?”
16 Jesus answered, “The things I teach are not my own. My teaching comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone chooses to do what God wants, then he will know that my teaching comes from God. He will know that this teaching is not my own. 18 He who teaches his own ideas is trying to get honor for himself. But he who tries to bring honor to the one who sent him—that person speaks the truth. There is nothing false in him. 19 Moses gave you the law,[a] but none of you obey that law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The people answered, “A demon has come into you. We are not trying to kill you.”
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Moses gave you the law about circumcision. (But really Moses did not give you circumcision. Circumcision came from our ancestors.) And yet you circumcise a baby boy on a Sabbath day. 23 This shows that a baby boy can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the law of Moses. So why are you angry at me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? 24 Stop judging by the way things look! Be fair, and judge by what is really right.”
Is Jesus the Christ?
25 Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “This is the man they are trying to kill. 26 But he is teaching where everyone can see and hear him. And no one is trying to stop him. Maybe the leaders have decided that he really is the Christ. 27 But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
28 Jesus was still teaching in the Temple. He 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. You don’t know him. 29 But I know him. I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 When Jesus said this, they tried to seize him. But no one was able to touch him. It was not yet the right time. 31 But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man has done?”
Some Leaders Try to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple guards to arrest him. 33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am.”
35 The Jews 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? Will he teach the Greek people there? 36 This man says, ‘You will look for me but you will not find me.’ He also says, ‘You cannot come where I am.’ What does this mean?”
Jesus Talks About the Spirit
37 The last day of the feast came. It was the most important day. On that day Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 If a person believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from his heart. This is what the Scripture says.” 39 Jesus 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
40 The people heard these things that Jesus said. Some of them said, “This man really is the Prophet.”[b]
41 Others said, “He is the Christ.”
Still others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee. 42 The Scripture says that the Christ will come from David’s family. And the Scripture says that the Christ will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” 43 So the people did not agree with each other about Jesus. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one was able to touch him.
The Leaders Won’t Believe
45 The Temple guards went back to the leading priests and the Pharisees. The priests and the Pharisees asked, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”
46 The Temple guards answered, “The things he says are greater than the words of any man!”
47 The Pharisees answered, “So Jesus has fooled you too! 48 Have any of the leaders or the Pharisees believed in him? No! 49 But those people, who know nothing about the law, are under God’s curse!”
50 But Nicodemus was there in that group. He was the one who had gone to see Jesus before.[c] Nicodemus said, 51 “Our law does not judge a man without hearing him. We cannot judge him until we know what he has done.”
52 They answered, “Are you from Galilee too? Study the Scriptures. You will learn that no prophet comes from Galilee.”
53 And everyone left and went home.[d]
Footnotes
- 7:19 law Moses gave God’s people the law that God gave him on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:29–32).
- 7:40 Prophet They probably meant the prophet that God told Moses he would send (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
- 7:50 But Nicodemus . . . before. The story about Nicodemus going and talking to Jesus is in John 3:1–21.
- 7:53 Some of the earliest surviving Greek copies do not contain 7:53–8:11.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
