Gospel according to John 7

¹ After this Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him.

² As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near,

³ his brothers[*a] said to him, ‘Why not leave this place and go to Judaea, and let your disciples[*b] see the works you are doing;

⁴ if a man wants to be known he does not do things in secret; since you are doing all this, you should let the whole world see’.

⁵ Not even his brothers, in fact, had faith in him.

⁶ Jesus answered, ‘The right time for me has not come yet, but any time is the right time for you.

⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it does hate me, because I give evidence that its ways are evil.

⁸ Go up to the festival yourselves: I am not going to this festival, because for me the time is not ripe yet.’

⁹ Having said that, he stayed behind in Galilee.

¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself.

¹¹ At the festival the Jews were on the look-out for him: ‘Where is he?’ they said.

¹² People stood in groups whispering[*c] about him. Some said, ‘He is a good man’; others, ‘No, he is leading the people astray’.

¹³ Yet no one spoke about him openly, for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴ When the festival was half over, Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach.

¹⁵ The Jews were astonished and said, ‘How did he learn to read? He has not been taught.’

¹⁶ Jesus answered them: ‘My teaching is not from myself: it comes from the one who sent me;

¹⁷ and if anyone is prepared to do his will, he will know whether my teaching is from God or whether my doctrine is my own.

¹⁸ When a man’s doctrine is his own he is hoping to get honour for himself; but when he is working for the honour of one who sent him, then he is sincere and by no means an impostor.

¹⁹ Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not one of you keeps the Law! ‘Why do you want to kill me?’

²⁰ The crowd replied, ‘You are mad! Who wants to kill you?’

²¹ Jesus answered, ‘One work I did, and you are all surprised by it.

²² Moses ordered you to practise circumcision – not that it began with him, it goes back to the patriarchs – and you circumcise on the sabbath.

²³ Now if a man can be circumcised on the sabbath so that the Law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me for making a man whole and complete on a sabbath?

²⁴ Do not keep judging according to appearances; let your judgement be according to what is right.’

²⁵ Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill?

²⁶ And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ?

²⁷ Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.[*d]

²⁸ Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out: ‘Yes, you know me and you know where I came from. Yet I have not come of myself: no, there is one who sent me and I really come from him, and you do not know him,

²⁹ but I know him because I have come from him and it was he who sent me.’

³⁰ They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.

³¹ There were many people in the crowds, however, who believed in him; they were saying, ‘When the Christ comes, will he give more signs than this man?’

³² Hearing that rumours like this about him were spreading among the people, the Pharisees sent the Temple police to arrest him.

³³ Then Jesus said: ‘I shall remain with you for only a short time now; then I shall go back to the one who sent me.

³⁴ You will look for me and will not find me: where I am you cannot come.’

³⁵ The Jews then said to one another, ‘Where is he going that we shan’t be able to find him? Is he going abroad to the people who are dispersed among the Greeks and will he teach the Greeks?

³⁶ What does he mean when he says: “You will look for me and will not find me: where I am, you cannot come”?’

³⁷ On the last day and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood there and cried out: ‘If any man is thirsty, let him come to me! Let the man come and drink

³⁸ who believes in me!’ As scripture says: From his breast shall flow fountains of living water.[*e]

³⁹ He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive; for there was no Spirit as yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

⁴⁰ Several people who had been listening said, ‘Surely he must be the prophet’,

⁴¹ and some said, ‘He is the Christ’, but others said, ‘Would the Christ be from Galilee?

⁴² Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?’

⁴³ So the people could not agree about him.

⁴⁴ Some would have liked to arrest him, but no one actually laid hands on him.

⁴⁵ The police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, ‘Why haven’t you brought him?’

⁴⁶ The police replied, ‘There has never been anybody who has spoken like him’.

⁴⁷ ‘So’ the Pharisees answered ‘you have been led astray as well?

⁴⁸ Have any of the authorities believed in him? Any of the Pharisees?

⁴⁹ This rabble knows nothing about the Law – they are damned.’

⁵⁰ One of them, Nicodemus – the same man who had come to Jesus earlier – said to them,

⁵¹ ‘But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?’

⁵² To this they answered, ‘Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.’