John 7–8

Christ’s Brothers Do Not Believe

7After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, ^abecause the ¹Jews sought to kill Him. ^2bNow the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. ^3cHis brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. ⁴For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵For ^deven His ^ebrothers did not believe in Him.

⁶Then Jesus said to them, ^f“My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. ^7gThe world cannot hate you, but it hates Me ^hbecause I testify of it that its works are evil. ⁸You go up to this feast. I am not ²yet going up to this feast, ⁱfor My time has not yet fully come.” ⁹When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

Christ Secretly Goes to the Feast

¹⁰But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. ¹¹Then ^jthe Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” ¹²And ^kthere was much complaining among the people concerning Him. ^lSome said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” ¹³However, no one spoke openly of Him ^mfor fear of the Jews.

Christ’s Authority from the Father

¹⁴Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and ⁿtaught. ^15oAnd the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”

¹⁶³Jesus answered them and said, ^p“My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. ^17qIf anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. ^18rHe who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who ^sseeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and ^tno unrighteousness is in Him. ^19uDid not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? ^vWhy do you seek to kill Me?”

²⁰The people answered and said, ^w“You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”

²¹Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. ^22xMoses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, ^ybut from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because ^zI made a man completely well on the Sabbath? ^24aDo not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Christ’s Origin from the Father

²⁵Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to ^bkill? ²⁶But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. ^cDo the rulers know indeed that this is ⁴truly the Christ? ^27dHowever, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”

²⁸Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, ^e“You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and ^fI have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me ^gis true, ^hwhom you do not know. ²⁹⁵But ⁱI know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

³⁰Therefore ^jthey sought to take Him; but ^kno one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. ³¹And ^lmany of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”

Christ’s Departure to the Father

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. ³³Then Jesus said ⁶to them, ^m“I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I ⁿgo to Him who sent Me. ³⁴You ^owill seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you ^pcannot come.”

³⁵Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to ^qthe Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

Christ Reveals the “Living Water”

^37rOn the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ^s“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ^38tHe who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ^uout of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” ^39vBut this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those ⁷believing in Him would receive; for the ⁸Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet ^wglorified.

Israel is Divided over Christ

⁴⁰Therefore ⁹many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is ^xthe Prophet.” ⁴¹Others said, “This is ^ythe Christ.”

But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? ^42zHas not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, ^awhere David was?” ⁴³So ^bthere was a division among the people because of Him. ⁴⁴Now ^csome of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

The Sanhedrin is Confused Over Christ

⁴⁵Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”

⁴⁶The officers answered, ^d“No man ever spoke like this Man!”

⁴⁷Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? ⁴⁸Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? ⁴⁹But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

⁵⁰Nicodemus ^e(he who came to ¹Jesus ²by night, being one of them) said to them, ^51f“Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

⁵²They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for ^gno prophet ³has arisen out of Galilee.”

⁵³⁴And everyone went to his own house.

A Woman is Caught in Adultery

8But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Now ¹early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and ^ataught them. ³Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, ⁴they said to Him, “Teacher, ²this woman was caught in ^badultery, in the very act. ^5cNow ³Moses, in the law, commanded us ⁴that such should be stoned. But what do You ⁵say?” ⁶This they said, testing Him, that they ^dmight have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, ⁶as though He did not hear.

⁷So when they continued asking Him, He ⁷raised Himself up and said to them, ^e“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” ⁸And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹Then those who heard it, ^fbeing ⁸convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. ¹⁰When Jesus had raised Himself up ⁹and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers ¹of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, ^g“Neither do I condemn you; go ²and ^hsin no more.”

“I Am the Light of the World”

¹²Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ⁱ“I am the light of the world. He who ^jfollows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

¹³The Pharisees therefore said to Him, ^k“You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not ³true.”

¹⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but ^lyou do not know where I come from and where I am going. ^15mYou judge according to the flesh; ⁿI judge no one. ¹⁶And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for ^oI am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. ^17pIt is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸I am One who bears witness of Myself, and ^qthe Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

¹⁹Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”

Jesus answered, ^r“You know neither Me nor My Father. ^sIf you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

²⁰These words Jesus spoke in ^tthe treasury, as He taught in the temple; and ^uno one laid hands on Him, for ^vHis hour had not yet come.

²¹Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and ^wyou will seek Me, and ^xwill die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

²²So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?” ²³And He said to them, ^y“You are from beneath; I am from above. ^zYou are of this world; I am not of this world. ^24aTherefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; ^bfor if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

²⁵Then they said to Him, “Who are You?”

And Jesus said to them, “Just what I ^chave been saying to you from the beginning. ²⁶I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but ^dHe who sent Me is true; and ^eI speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”

²⁷They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

²⁸Then Jesus said to them, “When you ^flift ⁴up the Son of Man, ^gthen you will know that I am He, and ^hthat I do nothing of Myself; but ⁱas My Father taught Me, I speak these things. ²⁹And ^jHe who sent Me is with Me. ^kThe Father has not left Me alone, ^lfor I always do those things that please Him.” ³⁰As He spoke these words, ^mmany believed in Him.

³¹Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you ⁿabide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³²And you shall know the ^otruth, and ^pthe truth shall make you free.”

³³They answered Him, ^q“We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^rwhoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵And ^sa slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ^36tTherefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

³⁷“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but ^uyou seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ^38vI speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have ⁵seen with your father.”

³⁹They answered and said to Him, ^w“Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, …