³²The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, so they and the chief priests sent some guards to arrest him. ³³Jesus said, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I shall go away to him who sent me. ³⁴You will look for me, but you will not find me, because you cannot go where I will be.”

³⁵The Jewish authorities said among themselves, “Where is he about to go so that we shall not find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live, and teach the Greeks? ³⁶He says that we will look for him but will not find him, and that we cannot go where he will be. What does he mean?”

Streams of Life-Giving Water

³⁷^*On the last and most important day of the festival Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “Whoever is thirsty should come to me, and ³⁸^*whoever believes in me should drink. As the scripture says, ‘Streams of life-giving water will pour out from his side.’ ”^q ³⁹Jesus said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were going to receive. At that time the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not been raised to glory.

Division among the People

⁴⁰Some of the people in the crowd heard him say this and said, “This man is really the Prophet!”^r

⁴¹Others said, “He is the Messiah!”

But others said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee! ⁴²^*The scripture says that the Messiah will be a descendant of King David and will be born in Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” ⁴³So there was a division in the crowd because of Jesus. ⁴⁴Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

The Unbelief of the Jewish Authorities

⁴⁵When the guards went back, the chief priests and Pharisees asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”

⁴⁶The guards answered, “Nobody has ever talked like this man!”

⁴⁷“Did he fool you, too?” the Pharisees asked them. ⁴⁸“Have you ever known one of the authorities or one Pharisee to believe in him? ⁴⁹This crowd does not know the Law of Moses, so they are under God’s curse!”

⁵⁰^*One of the Pharisees there was Nicodemus, the man who had gone to see Jesus before. He said to the others, ⁵¹“According to our Law we cannot condemn anyone before hearing him and finding out what he has done.”

⁵²“Well,” they answered, “are you also from Galilee? Study the Scriptures and you will learn that no prophet ever comes^s from Galilee.” ⁵³(8:1a) Then everyone went home,

Read in Logos

John 7:37–38: On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‛Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Footnotes

qjesus’ words in verses 37–38 may be translated: “Whoever is thirsty should come to me and drink. 38 As the scripture says, ‘Streams of life-giving water will pour out from within anyone who believes in me.’ ”
rthe prophet: See 1.21.
sno prophet ever comes; one manuscript has the Prophet will not come.

Cross references

*7.37: Lv 23:36
*7.38: Ez 47:1; Zec 14:8
*7.42: 2 S 7:12; Mic 5:2
*7.50: Jn 3:1, 2