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John 7 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Jesus and His Brothers
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:1 - After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:2 - But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters,
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:3 - and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles!
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:4 - You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:5 - For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:6 - Jesus replied, “Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:7 - The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:8 - You go on. I’m not going[fn] to this festival, because my time has not yet come.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:9 - After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee.
Jesus Teaches Openly at the Temple
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:10 - But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:11 - The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:12 - There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some argued, “He’s a good man,” but others said, “He’s nothing but a fraud who deceives the people.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:13 - But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:14 - Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:15 - The people[fn] were surprised when they heard him. “How does he know so much when he hasn’t been trained?” they asked.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:16 - So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:17 - Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:18 - Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:19 - Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:20 - The crowd replied, “You’re demon possessed! Who’s trying to kill you?”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:21 - Jesus replied, “I did one miracle on the Sabbath, and you were amazed.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:22 - But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses’ law of circumcision. (Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of Moses.)
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:23 - For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath?
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:24 - Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”
Is Jesus the Messiah?
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:25 - Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each other, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:26 - But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing to him. Could our leaders possibly believe that he is the Messiah?
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:27 - But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:28 - While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:29 - But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:30 - Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time[fn] had not yet come.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:31 - Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:32 - When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest Jesus.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:33 - But Jesus told them, “I will be with you only a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:34 - You will search for me but not find me. And you cannot go where I am going.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:35 - The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement. “Where is he planning to go?” they asked. “Is he thinking of leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands?[fn] Maybe he will even teach the Greeks!
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:36 - What does he mean when he says, ‘You will search for me but not find me,’ and ‘You cannot go where I am going’?”
Jesus Promises Living Water
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:37 - On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:38 - Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:39 - (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given,[fn] because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
Division and Unbelief
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:40 - When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.”[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:41 - Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee?
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:42 - For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.”[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:43 - So the crowd was divided about him.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:44 - Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:45 - When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:46 - “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:47 - “Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:48 - “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him?
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:49 - This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:50 - Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:51 - “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:52 - They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes[fn] from Galilee!”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:53 - [The most ancient Greek manuscripts do not include John 7:53–8:11.]
Then the meeting broke up, and everybody went home.
NLT Footnotes
Some manuscripts read not yet going.
Greek Jewish people.
Greek his hour.
Or the Jews who live among the Greeks?
Or “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from the heart of anyone who believes in me.’”
Or “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from the heart of anyone who believes in me.’”
Some manuscripts read But as yet there was no Spirit. Still others read But as yet there was no Holy Spirit.
See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
See Mic 5:2.
Some manuscripts read the prophet does not come.
BLB Footnotes
The most ancient Greek manuscripts do not include John 7:53–8:11.  
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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