John 7 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 After this, Jesus spent his time going from place to place in Galilee. He did not want to do so in Judea because the Jews were out to kill him.
1 After these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for he wouldn’t walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.
2 But as it was almost time for the Jewish festival of the Tabernacles,
2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand.
3 his brothers told him, “You ought to leave and go to Judea so your followers will be able to see what miracles you can do.
3 His brothers therefore said to him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see your works which you do.
4 No one who wants to be famous keeps what they do hidden. If you can do such miracles, then show yourself to the world!”
4 For no one does anything in secret while he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.”
5 For even his own brothers really didn't believe in him.
5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
6 Jesus told them, “This is not my time to go, not yet; but you can go whenever you want, for any time's the right time for you.
6 Jesus therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
7 The world has no reason to hate you, but it does hate me, because I make it clear that its ways are evil.
7 The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.
8 You go on to the festival. I'm not going to this festival because this is not the right time for me, not yet.”
8 You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled.”
9 After saying this he stayed behind in Galilee.
9 Having said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee.
10 After his brothers left to go to the festival, Jesus also went, but not openly—he stayed out of sight.
10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret.
11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were searching for him and kept on asking, “Where is he?”
11 The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, “Where is he?”
12 Many people in the crowds were complaining about him. Some said, “He's a good man,” while others argued, “No! He deceives people.”
12 There was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others said, “Not so, but he leads the multitude astray.”
13 But no one dared to speak openly about him because they were afraid of what the Jewish leaders would do to them.
13 Yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews.
14 When the festival was halfway through, Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach.
14 But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.
15 The Jewish leaders were very surprised, and asked, “How does this man have so much learning when he hasn't been educated?”
15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?”
16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not from me but from the one who sent me.
16 Jesus therefore answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
17 Anyone who chooses to follow what God wants will know if my teaching comes from God or if I'm only speaking for myself.
17 If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God or if I am speaking from myself.
18 Those who speak for themselves want to glorify themselves, but someone who glorifies the one who sent him is truthful and not deceitful.
18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
19 Moses gave you the law, didn't he? Yet none of you keeps the law! Why are you trying to kill me?”
19 Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”
20 “You're demon-possessed!” the crowd replied. “No one's trying to kill you!”
20 The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?”
21 “I did one miracle and you're all shocked by it,” Jesus replied.
21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work and you all marvel because of it.
22 “However, because Moses told you to circumcise—not that it really came from Moses, but from your forefathers before him—you perform circumcision on the Sabbath.
22 Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a boy.
23 If you circumcise on the Sabbath to make sure that the law of Moses isn't broken, why are you angry with me for healing someone on the Sabbath?
23 If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath?
24 Don't judge by appearances; decide what is right!”
24 Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
25 Then some of those from Jerusalem began wondering, “Isn't this the one they're trying to kill?
25 Therefore some of them of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this he whom they seek to kill?
26 But see how openly he's speaking, and they're saying nothing to him. Do you think the authorities believe he's the Messiah?
26 Behold, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is truly the Christ?
27 But that's not possible because we know where he comes from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he's from.”
27 However, we know where this man comes from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
28 While he was teaching in the Temple, Jesus called out in a loud voice, “So you think you know me and where I'm from? However, I did not come for my own sake. The one who sent me is true. You don't know him,
28 Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me, and know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don’t know.
29 but I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”
29 I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him because his time had not yet come.
30 They sought therefore to take him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
31 However, many of the crowd did put their trust in him. “When the Messiah appears, will he do more miraculous signs than this man has done?” they said.
31 But of the multitude, many believed in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than those which this man has done, will he?”
32 When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering this about him, they and the chief priests sent guards to arrest Jesus.
32 The Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these things concerning him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
33 Then Jesus told the people, “I'll be with you just a little longer, but then I'll return to the one who sent me.
33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer, then I go to him who sent me.
34 You'll search for me but you won't find me; and you can't come where I'm going.”
34 You will seek me and won’t find me. You can’t come where I am.”
35 The Jews said to each other, “Where could he be going that we couldn't find him? Is he planning to go to those scattered among the foreigners, and teach the foreigners?
35 The Jews therefore said among themselves, “Where will this man go that we won’t find him? Will he go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?
36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You'll search for me but you won't find me; and you can't come where I'm going’?”
36 What is this word that he said, ‘You will seek me, and won’t find me;’ and ‘Where I am, you can’t come’?”
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted out in a loud voice, “If you're thirsty, come to me and drink.
37 Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!
38 If you trust in me, you will have streams of life-giving water flowing out from within you, as Scripture says.”
38 He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.”
39 He was referring to the Spirit that those who trusted in him would later receive. The Spirit hadn't been given yet because Jesus hadn't yet been glorified.
39 But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified.
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This man is definitely the Prophet!”
40 Many of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, “This is truly the prophet.”
41 Others said, “He is the Messiah!” Still others said, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee?
41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “What, does the Christ come out of Galilee?
42 Doesn't Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David's lineage, and from David's home town of Bethlehem?”
42 Hasn’t the Scripture said that the Christ comes of the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”
43 So the crowd had a strong difference of opinion about him.
43 So a division arose in the multitude because of him.
44 Some wanted to arrest him, but nobody laid a hand on him.
44 Some of them would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 Then the guards returned to the chief priests and the Pharisees who asked them, “Why didn't you bring him in?”
45 The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”
46 “Nobody ever spoke like this man does,” the guards replied.
46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!”
47 “Have you been fooled too?” the Pharisees asked them.
47 The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You aren’t also led astray, are you?
48 “Has a single one of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? No!
48 Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him?
49 But this crowd knows nothing about teachings of the law—they're damned anyway!”
49 But this multitude that doesn’t know the law is cursed.”
50 Nicodemus, who had previously gone to meet Jesus, was one of them and asked them,
50 Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them,
51 “Does our law condemn a man without a hearing and without finding out what he actually did?”
51 “Does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?”
52 “So you're a Galilean as well, are you?” they replied. “Check the Scriptures and you'll discover that no prophet comes from Galilee!”
52 They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Nicodemus
A Pharisee and leader of the Jews who came to Jesus at night, later asked the council to hear Jesus before judging him, and brought myrrh and aloes of about seventy-five pounds…
Cited in the guide: John 3:1; John 7:50; John 19:39
Cross references (52)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 John 5:16–18; Matthew 21:38; John 4:3; John 7:19; Matthew 10:23
- 2 Zechariah 14:16–19; Deuteronomy 16:13–16; Leviticus 23:34–43; Exodus 23:16–17; Numbers 29:12–38
- 3 Matthew 12:46; John 7:5; 1 Samuel 17:28; Genesis 37:20; Luke 8:19
- 4 John 18:20; Proverbs 18:1–2; Matthew 23:5; Matthew 6:5; Luke 6:45
- 5 Mark 3:21; John 1:11–13; Micah 7:5–6; John 7:3; John 7:10
- 6 John 7:8; John 2:4; John 7:30; John 17:1; John 13:1
- 7 John 15:18–19; John 3:19; Galatians 4:16; Proverbs 9:7–8; James 4:4
- 8 John 7:6; John 8:20; 1 Corinthians 2:15–16; John 7:30
- 10 Amos 5:13; Matthew 10:16; Isaiah 42:2–3; Matthew 3:15; John 7:5
- 11 John 11:56
- 12 John 9:16; John 7:40–43; Acts 11:24; John 7:47; John 7:32
- 13 John 9:22; John 19:38; John 20:19; John 12:42–43; Proverbs 29:25
- 14 John 7:28; Luke 19:47; Haggai 2:7–9; John 8:2; John 18:20
- 15 Luke 4:22; Matthew 7:28–29; Matthew 13:54; Acts 26:24; Matthew 22:22
- 16 John 14:10; John 14:24; John 5:30; John 6:38–40; John 12:49–50
- 17 John 8:31–32; John 8:43; Jeremiah 31:33–34; John 8:47; Daniel 12:10
- 18 John 5:41; Philippians 2:3–5; 1 Corinthians 10:31–33; John 13:31–32; John 12:28
- 19 John 1:17; John 7:1; John 11:53; Matthew 12:14; Deuteronomy 1:17
- 20 John 10:20; John 8:48; Mark 3:21–22; John 8:52; Mark 3:30
- 21 John 5:2–11; John 7:23
- 22 Leviticus 12:3; Genesis 17:10–14; Romans 4:9–11; Galatians 3:17
- 23 John 5:14–16; Matthew 12:2; Matthew 12:5; John 5:8–9
- 24 Isaiah 11:3–4; James 2:9; Proverbs 17:15; John 8:15; Proverbs 24:23
- 25 John 7:10–11
- 26 2 Timothy 1:7–8; Ephesians 6:19–20; John 7:48; Psalm 40:9–10; John 9:22
- 27 Micah 5:2; John 7:41–42; John 9:29; John 6:42; Matthew 13:54–57
- 28 John 8:42; John 8:19; Jeremiah 9:6; John 12:49; John 5:43
- 29 John 8:55; Matthew 11:27; John 3:16–17; John 6:46; 1 John 4:9
- 30 John 10:39; John 8:20; John 7:6; John 7:32; Luke 13:32–33
- 31 John 12:42; Matthew 12:23; Acts 8:13; John 11:45; John 10:41–42
- 32 Acts 5:26; Matthew 12:23–24; Luke 22:52–53; John 18:3; John 12:19
- 33 John 13:33; John 16:5; Mark 16:19; John 17:11; John 14:19
- 34 John 13:33–36; Proverbs 1:24–31; Hosea 5:6; John 14:3; John 17:24
- 35 James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1; Zephaniah 3:10; Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 11:10
- 36 John 3:9; 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 7:34; John 3:4; John 16:17–18
- 37 Isaiah 55:1; John 4:14; John 6:35; Isaiah 12:3; Revelation 22:17
- 38 John 4:14; Isaiah 44:3; Isaiah 58:11; Isaiah 12:3; John 4:10
- 39 Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28; John 14:16–17; Isaiah 32:15; John 16:7
- 40 Matthew 21:11; John 1:21; John 6:14
- 41 John 7:52; John 1:46; John 1:49; John 1:41; John 4:29
- 42 Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:5; Jeremiah 23:5; Luke 2:4; Luke 2:11
- 43 John 9:16; John 10:19; Luke 12:51; John 7:12; Acts 23:7–10
- 44 John 7:30; Acts 23:11; John 8:20; Acts 27:23–25; John 18:5–6
- 45 John 7:32; Acts 5:21–27
- 46 Matthew 7:28–29; Luke 4:22; John 7:26
- 47 John 7:12; 2 Corinthians 6:8; Matthew 27:63; 2 Chronicles 32:15; 2 Kings 18:29
- 48 John 12:42; 1 Corinthians 1:20; John 7:26; 1 Corinthians 2:8; Acts 6:7
- 49 1 Corinthians 1:20–21; 1 Corinthians 3:18–20; James 3:13–18; John 9:34; John 9:40
- 50 John 19:39; John 3:1–2
- 51 Proverbs 18:13; Deuteronomy 1:17; Acts 23:3; Deuteronomy 19:15–19; Deuteronomy 17:8–11
- 52 John 7:41; John 1:46; Isaiah 9:1–2; Matthew 4:15–16; Proverbs 9:7–8
- 53 Psalm 33:10; Job 5:12–13; Psalm 76:5; Psalm 76:10
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
Why does my Bible say something different?
- John 7:53–8:11: the woman taken in adultery
The story of the woman brought to Jesus, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone,” is missing from the earliest Greek manuscripts of John and wanders to other places in some later ones. Yet it was known in the early Church, is printed in the Patriarchal Text, and is read in Orthodox services. Most scholars think it is a genuine early tradition that was not originally part of John.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
I Purpose by the Lord's assistance to treat of this section of the Gospel which has just been read; nor is there a little difficulty here, lest the truth be endangered, and falsehood glory. Not that either the truth can perish, nor falsehood triumph.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
In this chapter of the Gospel, brethren, our Lord Jesus Christ has most especially commended Himself to our faith in respect of His humanity.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
Nothing is worse than envy and malice; through these death entered into the world. For when the devil saw man honored, he endured not his prosperity, but used every means to destroy him. ( Wisd. ii. 24.) And from the same root one may everywhere see this same fruit produced.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 14 (1889)
This is also the reason why, when men were often desirous to take Him, it is said, "No man laid hands upon Him, for the hour of His being taken was not yet come;" nor the time of His passion, which had been foreknown by the Father; as also says the prophet Habakkuk, "By this Thou shalt be known when …
For till then "the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." And the prophet cries out, How long will ye be slow of heart?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)