Joh 7-8 | ESV | STEP | After this Jesus went about in Galilee . He would not go about in Judea , because the Jews were seeking to kill him .

1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because ^athe Jews ^{▼▼Or Judeans; Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time} were seeking to kill him. 2 Now ^cthe Jews’ Feast of ^dBooths was at hand. 3 ^eSo his brothers ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10} said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, ^gshow yourself to the world.” 5 ^hFor not even ⁱhis brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, ^j“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but ^kit hates me because I testify about it that ^lits works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add yet} going up to this feast, for ⁿmy time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

10 But after ^ohis brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 ^pThe Jews ^qwere looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much ^rmuttering about him among the people. ^sWhile some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, ^the is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet ^ufor fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up ^vinto the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore ^wmarveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, ^{▼▼Or this man knows his letters} when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, ^y“My teaching is not mine, but his ^zwho sent me. 17 ^aaIf anyone’s will is to do God’s ^{▼▼Greek his} will, ^ache will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I ^adam speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority ^aeseeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19 ^afHas not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. ^agWhy do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, ^ah“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did ^aione work, and you all marvel at it. 22 ^ajMoses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but ^akfrom the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, ^alare you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? 24 ^amDo not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Can This Be the Christ?

25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^anthey seek to kill? 26 And here he is, ^aospeaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^apthe authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But ^aqwe know ^arwhere this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^asno one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, ^atas he taught in the temple, ^au“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^avI have not come of my own accord. ^awHe who sent me is true, ^axand him you do not know. 29 ^ayI know him, for I come ^azfrom him, and ^bahe sent me.” 30 ^bbSo they were seeking to arrest him, but ^bcno one laid a hand on him, ^bdbecause his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet ^bemany of the people believed in him. They said, ^bf“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd ^bgmuttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent ^bhofficers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, ^bi“I will be with you a little longer, and then ^bjI am going to him who sent me. 34 ^bkYou will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? ^blDoes he intend to go to ^bmthe Dispersion among ^bnthe Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ^bo‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

37 ^bpOn the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^bq“If anyone thirsts, let him ^brcome to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, ^bsas ^{▼▼Or let him come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. As} the Scripture has said, ^bu‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of ^bvliving water.’” 39 Now ^bwthis he said about the Spirit, ^bxwhom those who believed in him were to receive, ^byfor as yet the Spirit had not been ^bzgiven, ^cabecause Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

40 When they heard these words, ^cbsome of the people said, “This really is ^ccthe Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is ^cdthe Christ.” But some said, ^ce“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes ^cffrom the offspring of David, and comes ^cgfrom Bethlehem, the village ^chwhere David was?” 43 So there was ^cia division among the people over him. 44 ^cjSome of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

45 ^ckThe officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, ^cl“No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, ^cm“Have you also been deceived? 48 ^cnHave any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 ^coNicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 ^cp“Does our law judge a man without first ^cqgiving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, ^cr“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that ^csno prophet arises from Galilee.”

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.] ^{▼▼Some manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11; others add the passage here or after 7:36 or after 21:25 or after Luke 21:38, with variations in the text}

The Woman Caught in Adultery

53 [[They went each to his own house,

John 8

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 ^cuEarly in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and ^cvhe sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now ^cwin the Law, Moses commanded us ^cxto stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said ^cyto test him, ^czthat they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ^da“Let him who is without sin among you ^dbbe the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, ^dc“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on ^ddsin no more.”]]

I Am the Light of the World

12 ^deAgain Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^df“I am the light of the world. Whoever ^dgfollows me will not ^dhwalk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, ^di“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, ^djmy testimony is true, for I know ^dkwhere I came from and ^dlwhere I am going, but ^dmyou do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 ^dnYou judge according to the flesh; ^doI judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, ^dpmy judgment is true, for ^dqit is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father ^{▼▼Some manuscripts he} who sent me. 17 ^dsIn your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and ^dtthe Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, ^du“You know neither me nor my Father. ^dvIf you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in ^dwthe treasury, as he taught in the temple; but ^dxno one arrested him, because ^dyhis hour had not yet come.

21 So he said to them again, ^dz“I am going away, and ^eayou will seek me, and ^ebyou will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, ^ec“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, ^ed“You are from below; I am from above. ^eeYou are of this world; ^efI am not of this world. 24 I told you that you ^egwould die in your sins, for ^ehunless you believe that ^eiI am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, ^ej“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but ^ekhe who sent me is true, and I declare ^elto the world ^emwhat I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that ^enhe had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have ^eolifted up the Son of Man, ^epthen you will know that ^eqI am he, and that ^erI do nothing on my own authority, but ^esspeak just as the Father taught me. 29 And ^ethe who sent me is with me. ^euHe has not left me alone, for ^evI always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, ^ewmany believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ^ex“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will ^eyknow the truth, and the truth ^ezwill set you free.” 33 They answered him, ^fa“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^fbeveryone who practices sin is a slave ^{▼▼Greek bondservant; also verse 35} to sin. 35 ^fdThe slave does not remain in the house forever; ^fethe son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet ^ffyou seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 ^fgI speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard ^fhfrom your father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

39 They answered him, ^fi“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, ^fj“If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now ^fkyou seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth ^flthat I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, ^fm“We were not born of sexual immorality. We have ^fnone Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, ^fo“If God were your Father, you would love me, for ^fpI came from God and ^fqI am here. ^frI came not of my own accord, but ^fshe sent me. 43 ^ftWhy do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot ^fubear to hear my word. 44 ^fvYou are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. ^fwHe was a murderer from the beginning, and ^fxdoes not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. ^fyWhen he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 ^fzWhoever is of God hears the words of God. ^gaThe reason why you do not hear them is that ^gbyou are not of God.”

Before Abraham Was, I Am

48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and ^gchave a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but ^gdI honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet ^geI do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, ^gfI say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never ^ggsee death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! ^ghAbraham died, as did the prophets, yet ^giyou say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never ^gjtaste death.’ 53 ^gkAre you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, ^gl“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. ^gmIt is my Father who glorifies me, ^gnof whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ ^{▼▼Some manuscripts your God} 55 But ^gpyou have not known him. ^gqI know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be ^gra liar ^gslike you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 ^gtYour father Abraham ^gurejoiced ^gvthat he would see my day. ^gwHe saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” ^{▼▼Some manuscripts has Abraham seen you?} 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, ^gyI am.” 59 So ^gzthey picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

John 7

Jesus at the Feast of Booths