John 7 - 8 — Legacy Standard Bible

Jesus Teaches at the Feast of Booths

7And after these things Jesus ^awas walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because ^bthe Jews ^cwere seeking to kill Him. ²Now the feast of the Jews, ^athe Feast of Booths, was near. ³Therefore His ^abrothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your ^bdisciples also may see Your works which You are doing. ⁴“For no one does anything in secret ¹when he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself publicly to the world.” ⁵For not even His ^abrothers were believing in Him. ⁶So Jesus *said to them, “^aMy time is not yet here, but your time is always here. ⁷“^aThe world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I bear witness about it, that ^bits deeds are evil. ⁸“Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not ¹yet going up to this feast because ^aMy time has not yet been fulfilled.” ⁹Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰But when His ^abrothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as in secret. ¹¹^aSo the Jews ^bwere seeking Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” ¹²And there was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; ^asome were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the crowd astray.” ¹³Yet no one was speaking openly about Him for ^afear of the Jews.

¹⁴But when it was now the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to ^ateach. ¹⁵^aThe Jews then were marveling, saying, “How has this man ^bbecome learned, not having been educated?” ¹⁶So Jesus answered them and said, “^aMy teaching is not Mine, but from Him who sent Me. ¹⁷“^aIf anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God or I speak from Myself. ¹⁸“He who speaks from himself ^aseeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

¹⁹“^aDid not Moses give you the Law? And yet none of you does the Law. Why do you ^bseek to kill Me?” ²⁰The crowd answered, “^aYou have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” ²¹Jesus answered them, “I did ^aone work, and you all marvel. ²²“For this reason ^aMoses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from ^bthe fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. ²³“^aIf a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? ²⁴“Do not ^ajudge according to appearance, but ¹judge with righteous judgment.”

²⁵So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? ²⁶“And look, He is speaking openly, and they are saying nothing to Him. ^aDo the rulers truly know that this is the ¹Christ? ²⁷“However, ^awe know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.” ²⁸Then Jesus cried out in the temple, ^ateaching and saying, “^bYou both know Me and know where I am from; and ^cI have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. ²⁹“^aI know Him, because ^bI am from Him, and ^cHe sent Me.” ³⁰So they ^awere seeking to seize Him; ¹yet no man laid his hand on Him, because His ^bhour had not yet come. ³¹But ^amany of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “^bWhen the ¹Christ comes, will He do more ²^,^csigns than this man did?”

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd ¹whispering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent ^aofficers to ^bseize Him. ³³Therefore Jesus said, “^aFor a little while longer I am with you, then ^bI go to Him who sent Me. ³⁴“^aYou will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” ³⁵^aThe Jews then said to one another, “^bWhere does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? Is He intending to go to ^cthe Dispersion among ^dthe Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶“What is this statement that He said, ‘^aYou will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷Now on ^athe last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “¹^,^bIf anyone is thirsty, ²let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸“He who believes in Me, ^aas the Scripture said, ‘From ¹his innermost being will flow rivers of ^bliving water.’” ³⁹But this He spoke ^aof the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were going to receive; for ^bthe Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet ^cglorified.

Division of People over Jesus

⁴⁰Some of the crowd therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is ^athe Prophet.” ⁴¹Others were saying, “This is the ¹Christ.” Still others were saying, “^aNo, for is the ²Christ going to come from Galilee? ⁴²“Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from ^athe seed of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³So ^aa division occurred in the crowd because of Him. ⁴⁴^aSome of them were wanting to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

⁴⁵The ^aofficers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” ⁴⁶The ^aofficers answered, “^bNever has a man spoken like this!” ⁴⁷The Pharisees then answered them, “^aHave you also been led astray? ⁴⁸“^aHave any of ^bthe rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? ⁴⁹“But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” ⁵⁰^aNicodemus (he who came to Him before), being one of them, *said to them, ⁵¹“^aDoes our Law judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing?” ⁵²They answered him, “^aAre you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” ⁵³¹[Everyone went to his home.

An Adulteress Forgiven

8But Jesus went to ^athe Mount of Olives. ²Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and ^aHe sat down and began to teach them. ³The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, ⁴they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵“Now in the Law ^aMoses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶They were saying this, ^atesting Him, ^bso that they might have evidence to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷But when they persisted in asking Him, ^aHe straightened up and said to them, “^bLet him who is without sin among you be the ^cfirst to throw a stone at her.” ⁸Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. ¹⁰^aStraightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” ¹¹She said, “No one, ¹Lord.” And Jesus said, “^aI do not condemn you, either. Go, and from now on ^bsin no more.”]

I Am the Light of the World

¹²Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “^aI am the Light of the world; ^bhe who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” ¹³So the Pharisees said to Him, “^aYou are bearing witness about Yourself; Your witness is not ¹true.” ¹⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “^aEven if I bear witness about Myself, My witness is ¹true, for I know ^bwhere I came from and where I am going; but ^cyou do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵“^aYou judge ¹according to the flesh; ^bI am not judging anyone. ¹⁶“But even ^aif I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷“Even in ^ayour law it has been written that the witness of ^btwo men is ¹true. ¹⁸“I am He who bears witness about Myself, and ^athe Father who sent Me bears witness about Me.” ¹⁹So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; ^aif you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” ²⁰These words He spoke in ^athe treasury, as ^bHe was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because ^cHis hour had not yet come.

²¹Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and ^ayou will seek Me, and ^bwill die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²²So ^athe Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, since He says, ‘^bWhere I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³And He was saying to them, “^aYou are from below, I am from above. ^bYou are of this world, ^cI am not of this world. ²⁴“Therefore I said to you that you ^awill die in your sins. For unless you believe that ¹^,^bI am He, ^cyou will die in your sins.” ²⁵So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “¹What have I been saying to you from the beginning? ²⁶“I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but ^aHe who sent Me is true; and ^bthe things which I heard from Him, these I am saying to the world.” ²⁷They did not know that He had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said, “When you ^alift up the Son of Man, then you will know that ¹^,^bI am He, and ^cI do nothing from Myself, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. ²⁹“And He who sent Me is with Me; ^aHe ¹has not left Me alone, for ^bI always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” ³⁰As He was speaking these things, ^amany believed in Him.

The Son Will Make You Free

³¹So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “^aIf you abide in My word, then you are truly My ^bdisciples; ³²and ^ayou will know the truth, and ^bthe truth will make you free.” ³³They answered Him, “^aWe are Abraham’s seed and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. How is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^aeveryone who commits sin is the slave of sin. ³⁵“^aAnd the slave does not remain in the house forever; ^bthe son does remain forever. ³⁶“So if the Son ^amakes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷“I know that you are ^aAbraham’s seed; yet ^byou are seeking to kill Me, because My word ¹has no place in you. ³⁸“I speak the things which I have seen ¹with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from ^ayour father.”

³⁹They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is ^aour father.” Jesus *said to them, “^bIf you are Abraham’s children, you would do the deeds of Abraham. ⁴⁰“But now ^ayou are seeking to kill Me, a man who has ^btold you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. ⁴¹“You are doing the deeds of ^ayour father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of sexual immorality; ^bwe have one Father: God.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, ^ayou would love Me, ^bfor I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have ^cnot even come of Myself, but ¹^,^dHe sent Me. ⁴³“Why do you not understand ¹^,^awhat I am saying? It is because you cannot ^bhear My word. ⁴⁴“^aYou are of ^byour father the devil, and ^cyou want to do the desires of your father. ^dHe was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because ^ethere is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks ¹a lie, he ^fspeaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of ²lies. ⁴⁵“But because ^aI speak the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶“Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If ^aI speak truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷“^aHe who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

⁴⁸^aThe Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a ^bSamaritan and ^chave a demon?” ⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not ^ahave a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰“But ^aI do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. ⁵¹“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone ^akeeps My word he will never ^bsee death—ever.” ⁵²^aThe Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You ^bhave a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone ^ckeeps My word, he will never ^dtaste of death—ever.’ ⁵³“Surely You ^aare not greater than our father Abraham who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴Jesus answered, “^aIf I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; ^bit is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; ⁵⁵and ^ayou have not known Him, ^bbut I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be ^ca liar like you, ^dbut I do know Him and ^ekeep His word. ⁵⁶“^aYour father Abraham ^brejoiced ¹to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷^aSo the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, ^aI am.” ⁵⁹Therefore they ^apicked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus ¹^,^bhid Himself and went out of the temple.