John 7
The Voice
7 After these events, it was time for Jesus to move on. He began a long walk through the Galilean countryside. He was purposefully avoiding Judea because of the violent threats made against Him by the Jews there who wanted to kill Him. 2 It was fall, the time of year when the Jews celebrated the Festival of Booths.
On this holiday, everyone camps in temporary quarters, called booths, to remember that God was with their ancestors when they wandered for 40 years without a home.
Brothers of Jesus (to Jesus): 3 Let’s get out of here and go south to Judea so You can show Your disciples there what You are capable of doing. 4 No one who seeks the public eye is content to work in secret. If You want to perform these signs, then step forward on the world’s stage; don’t hide up here in the hills, Jesus.
5 Jesus’ own brothers were speaking contemptuously; they did not yet believe in Him, just as the people in His hometown did not see Him as anything more than Joseph’s son.
Jesus: 6 My time has not yet arrived; but for you My brothers, by all means, it is always the right time. 7 You have nothing to worry about because the world doesn’t hate you, but it despises Me because I am always exposing the dark evil in its works. 8 Go on to the feast without Me; I am not going right now because My time is not yet at hand.
9 This conversation came to an abrupt end, and Jesus stayed in Galilee 10 until His brothers were gone. Then He, too, went up to Jerusalem. But He traveled in secret to avoid drawing any public attention. 11 Some Jewish leaders were searching for Him at the feast and asking the crowds where they could find Him. 12 The crowds would talk in groups: some favored Jesus and thought He was a good man; others disliked Him and thought He was leading people astray. 13 All of these conversations took place in whispers. No one was willing to speak openly about Jesus for fear of the religious leaders.
14 In the middle of the festival, Jesus marched directly into the temple and started to teach. 15 Some of the Jews who heard Him were amazed at Jesus’ ability, and people questioned repeatedly:
Jews: How can this man be so wise about the Hebrew Scriptures? He has never had a formal education.
Jesus: 16 I do not claim ownership of My words; they are a gift from the One who sent Me. 17 If anyone is willing to act according to His purposes and is open to hearing truth, he will know the source of My teaching. Does it come from God or from Me? 18 If a man speaks his own words, constantly quoting himself, he is after adulation. But I chase only after glory for the One who sent Me. My intention is authentic and true. You’ll find no wrong motives in Me.
19 Moses gave you the law, didn’t he? Then how can you blatantly ignore the law and look for an opportunity to murder Me?
Notice how Jesus changes in tone and subject. This shift seems abrupt because the Pharisees’ plotting is yet to be exposed.
Crowd: 20 You must be possessed with a demon! Who is trying to kill You?
Jesus: 21 Listen, all it took was for Me to do one thing, heal a crippled man, and you all were astonished. 22 Don’t you remember how Moses passed down circumcision as a tradition of our ancestors? When you pick up a knife to circumcise on the Sabbath, isn’t that work? 23 If a male is circumcised on the Sabbath to keep the law of Moses intact, how can making one man whole on the Sabbath be a cause for your violent rage? 24 You should not judge by outward appearance. When you judge, search for what is right and just.
Some People of Jerusalem: 25 There is the man they are seeking to kill; surely He must be the one. 26 But here He is, speaking out in the open to the crowd, while they have not spoken a word to stop or challenge Him. Do these leaders now believe He is the Anointed One? 27 But He can’t be; we know where this man comes from, but the true origin of the Anointed will be a mystery to all of us.
Jesus (speaking aloud as He teaches on the temple’s porch): 28 You think you know Me and where I have come from, but I have not come here on My own. I have been sent by the One who embodies truth. You do not know Him. 29 I know Him because I came from Him. He has sent Me.
30 Some were trying to seize Him because of His words, but no one laid as much as a finger on Him—His time had not yet arrived. 31 In the crowd, there were many in whom faith was taking hold.
Believers in the Crowd: When the Anointed arrives, will He perform any more signs than this man has done?
32 Some Pharisees were hanging back in the crowd, overhearing the gossip about Him. The temple authorities and the Pharisees took action and sent officers to arrest Jesus.
Jesus: 33 I am going to be with you for a little while longer; then I will return to the One who sent Me. 34 You will look for Me, but you will not be able to find Me. Where I am, you are unable to come.
Some Jews in the Crowd (to each other): 35 Where could He possibly go that we could not find Him? You don’t think He’s about to go into the Dispersion[a] and teach our people scattered among the Greeks, do you? 36 What do you think He means, “You will look for Me, but you will not be able to find Me,” and, “Where I am, you are unable to come”?
37 On the last day, the biggest day of the festival, Jesus stood again and spoke aloud.
Jesus: If any of you is thirsty, come to Me and drink. 38 If you believe in Me, the Hebrew Scriptures say that rivers of living water will flow from within you.[b]
39 Jesus was referring to the realities of life in the Spirit made available to everyone who believes in Him. But the Spirit had not yet arrived because Jesus had not been glorified.
The Holy Spirit connects believers to the Father and His Son. So any fear about being disconnected from God may be abandoned; the Creator of the Universe dwells within His people, sustains them, and will accomplish the impossible through them.
Some of the Crowd: 40 This man is definitely the Prophet.
Others: 41 This is God’s Anointed, the Liberating King!
Still Others: Is it possible for the Anointed to come from Galilee? 42 Don’t the Hebrew Scriptures say that He will come from Bethlehem,[c] King David’s village, and be a descendant of King David?
43 Rumors and opinions about the true identity of Jesus divided the crowd. 44 Some wanted to arrest Him, but no one dared to touch Him.
45 The officers who had been sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to take Jesus into custody returned empty-handed, and they faced some hard questions.
Chief Priest and Pharisees: Where is Jesus? Why didn’t you capture Him?
Officers: 46 We listened to Him. Never has a man spoken like this man.
Pharisees: 47 So you have also been led astray? 48 Can you find one leader or educated Pharisee who believes this man? Of course not. 49 This crowd is plagued by ignorance about the teachings of the law; that is why they will listen to Him. That is also why they are under God’s curse.
50 Nicodemus, the Pharisee who approached Jesus under the cloak of darkness, was present when the officers returned empty-handed. He addressed the leaders.
Nicodemus: 51 Does our law condemn someone without first giving him a fair hearing and learning something about him?
Pharisees (ignoring Nicodemus’s legal point): 52 Are you from Galilee too? Look it up for yourself; no real prophet is supposed to come from Galilee.
[53 The time came for everyone to go home.
Footnotes
- 7:35 Literally, the Diaspora (Greek for “scattering”). The Diaspora refers to those Jews who were exiled or settled outside the traditional lands of Israel.
- 7:38 Isaiah 44:3; 55:1; 58:11
- 7:42 Micah 5:1–2
約翰福音 7
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Traditional)
7 這事以後，耶穌在加利利遊行，不願在猶太遊行，因為猶太人想要殺他。 2 當時猶太人的住棚節近了， 3 耶穌的弟兄就對他說：「你離開這裡上猶太去吧，叫你的門徒也看見你所行的事。 4 人要顯揚名聲，沒有在暗處行事的。你如果行這些事，就當將自己顯明給世人看。」 5 因為連他的弟兄說這話，是因為不信他。 6 耶穌就對他們說：「我的時候還沒有到，你們的時候常是方便的。 7 世人不能恨你們，卻是恨我，因為我指證他們所做的事是惡的。 8 你們上去過節吧！我現在不上去過這節，因為我的時候還沒有滿。」 9 耶穌說了這話，仍舊住在加利利。
眾人為耶穌紛紛議論
10 但他弟兄上去以後，他也上去過節，不是明去，似乎是暗去的。 11 正在節期，猶太人尋找耶穌，說：「他在哪裡？」 12 眾人為他紛紛議論，有的說：「他是好人。」有的說：「不然，他是迷惑眾人的。」 13 只是沒有人明明地講論他，因為怕猶太人。
14 到了節期，耶穌上殿裡去教訓人。 15 猶太人就稀奇說：「這個人沒有學過，怎麼明白書呢？」 16 耶穌說：「我的教訓不是我自己的，乃是那差我來者的。 17 人若立志遵著他的旨意行，就必曉得這教訓或是出於神，或是我憑著自己說的。 18 人憑著自己說，是求自己的榮耀；唯有求那差他來者的榮耀，這人是真的，在他心裡沒有不義。
不可按外貌定是非
19 「摩西豈不是傳律法給你們嗎？你們卻沒有一個人守律法！為什麼想要殺我呢？」 20 眾人回答說：「你是被鬼附著了！誰想要殺你？」 21 耶穌說：「我做了一件事，你們都以為稀奇。 22 摩西傳割禮給你們（其實不是從摩西起的，乃是從祖先起的），因此你們也在安息日給人行割禮。 23 人若在安息日受割禮，免得違背摩西的律法，我在安息日叫一個人全然好了，你們就向我生氣嗎？ 24 不可按外貌斷定是非，總要按公平斷定是非。」
25 耶路撒冷人中有的說：「這不是他們想要殺的人嗎？ 26 你看，他還明明地講道，他們也不向他說什麼，難道官長真知道這是基督嗎？ 27 然而我們知道這個人從哪裡來，只是基督來的時候，沒有人知道他從哪裡來。」 28 那時，耶穌在殿裡教訓人，大聲說：「你們也知道我，也知道我從哪裡來。我來並不是由於自己，但那差我來的是真的，你們不認識他。 29 我卻認識他，因為我是從他來的，他也是差了我來。」
打發差役捉拿耶穌
30 他們就想要捉拿耶穌，只是沒有人下手，因為他的時候還沒有到。 31 但眾人中間有好些信他的，說：「基督來的時候，他所行的神蹟豈能比這人所行的更多嗎？」 32 法利賽人聽見眾人為耶穌這樣紛紛議論，祭司長和法利賽人就打發差役去捉拿他。 33 於是耶穌說：「我還有不多的時候和你們同在，以後就回到差我來的那裡去。 34 你們要找我，卻找不著，我所在的地方你們不能到。」 35 猶太人就彼此對問說：「這人要往哪裡去，叫我們找不著呢？難道他要往散住希臘中的猶太人那裡去教訓希臘人嗎？ 36 他說『你們要找我，卻找不著，我所在的地方你們不能到』，這話是什麼意思呢？」
渴者當來就耶穌
37 節期的末日，就是最大之日，耶穌站著高聲說：「人若渴了，可以到我這裡來喝！ 38 信我的人就如經上所說，從他腹中要流出活水的江河來。」 39 耶穌這話是指著信他之人要受聖靈說的。那時還沒有賜下聖靈來，因為耶穌尚未得著榮耀。 40 眾人聽見這話，有的說：「這真是那先知！」 41 有的說：「這是基督。」但也有的說：「基督豈是從加利利出來的嗎？ 42 經上豈不是說基督是大衛的後裔，從大衛本鄉伯利恆出來的嗎？」 43 於是眾人因著耶穌起了紛爭。 44 其中有人要捉拿他，只是無人下手。
沒有人像耶穌說話
45 差役回到祭司長和法利賽人那裡，他們對差役說：「你們為什麼沒有帶他來呢？」 46 差役回答說：「從來沒有像他這樣說話的！」 47 法利賽人說：「你們也受了迷惑嗎？ 48 官長或是法利賽人豈有信他的呢？ 49 但這些不明白律法的百姓是被咒詛的！」 50 內中有尼哥迪慕，就是從前去見耶穌的，對他們說： 51 「不先聽本人的口供，不知道他所做的事，難道我們的律法還定他的罪嗎？」 52 他們回答說：「你也是出於加利利嗎？你且去查考，就可知道加利利沒有出過先知。」
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Global Bible Initiative