John 7:34–44

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 39}Jesus 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.