John 7
1 After those things happened, Jesus went around in Galilee [province]. He did not want to travel in Judea [province], because he knew that the Jewish [leaders there] were wanting to kill him.
And after these things Jesus walked in Galilee, for he did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.
2 But when the time of the Jewish celebration [called] ‘Celebration of [Living in] Shelters’ was near,
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was near.
3 Jesus’ [younger] brothers said to him, “[Since many people] here [have left you], you should leave and go to Judea [province and perform] some miracles there, so that your disciples may see them!
His brothers therefore said to him, Depart from here, and go into Judea so that thy disciples also may see thy works that thou do.
4 No one who wants to become famous does things secretly. [You say] you are doing these miracles, [so do some miracles there] so that everyone [MTY] can see them!”
For no man does anything in secret, and he himself seeks to be in public. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world.
5 [They said this critically], because even [though they were] his own [younger] brothers, they did not believe he [was from God].
For not even his brothers believed in him.
6 So Jesus said to them, “It is not yet time for me [MTY] [to go to the celebration]. For you, any time is right [to go to the celebration].
Jesus therefore says to them, My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready.
7 [The people] [MTY] [who] ([do not believe in me/do not belong to God]) cannot hate you, but they hate me because I tell them that what they are doing is evil.
The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it, that its works are evil.
8 You [(pl)] go ahead to the celebration. I am not going up [to Jerusalem] to the celebration [yet], because now is not the right time for me [to go].”
Go ye up to this feast. I am not yet going to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled.
9 After he said that, Jesus stayed [a little longer] in Galilee.
And having said these things to them, he remained in Galilee.
10 However, [a few days] after his younger brothers left to go up to the celebration, he went also. He went, along with [us] disciples, but no others went with us.
But when his brothers went up, then he also went up to the feast, not openly, but as in private.
11 At the celebration, the Jewish [leaders] were looking for him. They were asking people, “Has Jesus come?”
The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, Where is that man?
12 Among the crowds, many people were whispering about Jesus. Some were saying, “He is a good man!” But others were saying instead, “No! He is deceiving the crowds!”
And there was much murmuring among the multitudes about him. Some said, He is a good man, others said, No, but he leads the multitude astray.
13 But no one was speaking so that others could hear them, because they were afraid of the Jewish [leaders] [SYN].
Yet no man spoke openly about him because of fear of the Jews.
14 In the middle of the days of the celebration, Jesus went to the Temple [courtyard] and began to teach people.
And when it was now in the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.
15 The Jewish [elders] were amazed [at what he was saying]. They said, “This man never studied [in one of our religious schools]! So (how can he have learned [so much about Scripture]?/it is difficult for us to believe that he has learned [so much about Scripture]!) [RHQ]”
The Jews therefore marveled, saying, How does this man know scholarly material, not having learned?
16 Jesus replied to them, “What I teach does not come from myself. It comes from [God], the one who sent me.
Jesus therefore answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me.
17 Those who choose to do what God wants will find out whether what I teach comes from God or whether I am speaking with [only] my own [authority].
If any man wants to do his will, he will know about the doctrine, whether it is from God, or I speak from myself.
18 Those who speak with [only] their own [authority] do that [only] so that others will honor them. But I am [doing things so that others] will honor the one who sent me, and I am someone who speaks the truth. I never lie.
He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him, this man is true, and unrighteousness is not in him.
19 [Think about] the laws that Moses gave you [RHQ]. None of you [completely] obeys those laws. So why are you trying to kill me, [saying I do not obey the laws concerning] ([the Sabbath/the Jewish day of rest])?”
Did not Moses give you the law, and none of you does the law? Why do ye seek to kill me?
20 Someone in the crowd answered, “[By saying this you show that] you are crazy (OR, A demon is controlling you)! Certainly no one is trying to kill you!”
The multitude answered and said, Thou have a demon. Who seeks to kill thee?
21 Jesus replied to them, “Because I did a miracle [of healing someone] (on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day), you are all shocked.
Jesus answered and said to them, I did one work, and ye all marvel because of this.
22 Moses gave you [a law that you must] circumcise [the male children and that you must do that exactly seven days after they are born. Actually], it was your ancestors, [Abraham and Isaac and Jacob], not Moses, who [started that ritual]. But because of that law, you sometimes circumcise them (on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day), [but that is working, too]
Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and ye circumcise a man on a sabbath.
23 You [sometimes] circumcise boys (on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day) so that the law of Moses is not disobeyed {[you] do not disobey the law of Moses}, so (it is ridiculous that you are angry with me, saying [I worked] (on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day) by healing a man!/why are you angry with me, saying [I worked] (on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day) by healing a man?) [RHQ] [Healing someone is far more helpful than circumcising a baby boy]!
If a man receives circumcision on a sabbath, so that the law of Moses may not be loosed, are ye angry with me because I made a man entirely well on a sabbath?
24 Stop deciding whether my healing this man is wrong according to what you see! Instead, decide according to what is really the right action [to help people]”!
Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
25 Some of the people from Jerusalem were saying, “(This is the man that they are trying to kill!/Isn’t this the man that they are trying to kill?) [RHQ]
Therefore some of the Jerusalemites said, Is not this he whom they seek to kill?
26 He is saying these things (publicly/in front of many people), but our [Jewish] rulers are not saying anything to [oppose] him. Is that because they have decided that he is truly (the Messiah/God’s chosen king)?
And lo, he speaks in public, and they say nothing to him. Perhaps the rulers really know that this really is the Christ?
27 But [he cannot be the Messiah, because] we know where this man came from. When the Messiah really comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
However we know this man, where he is from, but when the Christ comes, no man knows where he is from.
28 [They said that because they thought Jesus was born in Nazareth]. So while Jesus was teaching [people] in the Temple [courtyard], he shouted, “Yes, [you say that] you know me, and [you think] you know [IRO] where I am from. But I have come here not (because I appointed myself/with my own authority). Instead, [God] is the one who truly sent me. You do not know him.
Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, Ye both know me, and know where I am from? And I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom ye know not.
29 But I know him, because I have come from him. He is the one who sent me!”
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.
30 Then they tried to seize him [because he said that he had come from God]. But no one put their hands on him [to do that], because it was not yet the time [MTY] [for him to die].
They sought therefore to seize him, and yet no man laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.
31 But many of the crowd believed that he [had come from God]. They said, “When the Messiah comes, he certainly will not do more miracles than this man has done, will he?”
But many from the crowd believed in him, and they said, When the Christ comes, will he do more signs than these that this man did?
32 The Pharisees heard them whispering these things about him. So they and the chief priests sent some Temple guards to seize him.
The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent subordinates so that they might take him.
33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a short time. Then I will return to the one who sent me.
Jesus therefore said, Yet a little time I am with you, and then I go to him who sent me.
34 Then you will search for me, but you will not find me. And you will not be able to come to the place where I am.”
Ye will seek me, and will not find me, and where I am, ye cannot come.
35 So the Jewish [leaders] [SYN] said to themselves, “Where is this man about to go with the result that we will not be able to find him? [Some Jewish people have] dispersed [and live] among Greek people. He is not intending to go [and live among them] and teach them, is he?
The Jews therefore said among themselves, Where is this man going to go that we will not find him? Is he going to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
36 When he said ‘You will search for me, but you will not be able to find me,’ and when he said ‘You will not be able to come to the place where I am,’ what [did he mean]?”
What is this word that he said, Ye will seek me, and will not find me, and, Where I am, ye cannot come?
37 [On each of the seven days of the celebration, the high priest poured out some water on the altar in the Temple to remember how God provided water for the people in the desolate area long ago. But the water he poured did not help anyone who was thirsty. So] on the last day of the festival, which was the most important day, Jesus stood up [in the Temple courtyard] and said with a loud voice, “Those who are thirsty should come to me to drink [what I will give them].
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus had stood and cried out, saying, If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Just like the Scriptures teach, streams of water shall flow out from within those who believe in me, and that water will cause them to live [eternally].”
He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.
39 When Jesus said that, he was referring to [God’s] Spirit, whom those who believed in Jesus would receive later. Up to that time God had not sent the Spirit [to live within believers], because Jesus had not yet [died and returned to his] glorious [home in] heaven, [from where he would send the Spirit].
But he spoke this about the Spirit that those who believe in him were going to receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
40 When some of the crowd heard those words, they said, “Surely this man is the prophet [whom God promised to send who would be like Moses]!”
Many from the multitude therefore, when they heard the saying, said, This is truly the prophet.
41 Others said, “He is the Messiah!” But others, [thinking Jesus was born in Galilee], said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee [province], will he?
Others said, This is the Christ. Others said, For does the Christ come out of Galilee?
42 (Did [a prophet] not write in the Scriptures that the Messiah will come from [King] David’s family, and be born in Bethlehem, where [King] David lived?/[It is written] in the Scriptures that the Messiah will come from [King] David’s family, and be born in Bethlehem, where [King] David lived!) [RHQ]”
Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?
43 So the people were divided because of [what they thought about] Jesus.
So there became a division among the multitude because of him.
44 Some people wanted to seize him, but no one tried [to do that].
And some of them wanted to take him, but no man laid hands on him.
45 So the Temple guards returned to the chief priests and the Pharisees, [the ones who had sent them to arrest Jesus]. They said to the guards, “Why did you not [seize him and] bring him [here]?”
The subordinates therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees. And those men said to them, Why did ye not bring him?
46 They replied, “No one ever spoke such [amazing things] as this man does!”
The subordinates answered, A man never so spoke like this man.
47 Then the Pharisees replied, “Have you been deceived {Has [he] deceived you}, too?
The Pharisees therefore answered them, Have ye not also been led astray?
48 (None of our rulers nor any of us Pharisees have believed that (he [is the Messiah]!/he [came from God]!)/Have any of our [Jewish] rulers or any of us Pharisees believed that (he [is the Messiah]?/he [came from God]?)) [RHQ]
Have any of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees?
49 Not one! But, on the contrary, some of this crowd [have believed in him]. They do not know [the true teachings of] our laws! They will go to hell [for listening to him]!” (questioned)
But this multitude that does not know the law are accursed.
50 Then Nicodemus spoke. He was the one who earlier went to Jesus [at night]. He was also a member of the Jewish council. He said to [the rest of the Council members],
Nicodemus says to them (he who came to him by night, being one of them),
51 “[We] have not listened to what he says to find out what he is doing. (It is not permitted in our [Jewish] law [PRS] for us to say, before questioning someone, that we must punish him!/Is it permitted in our [Jewish] law [PRS] for us to say, before questioning someone, that we must punish him?) [RHQ]”
Does our law judge a man, unless it first may hear from himself and know what he does?
52 They replied to him, “(Are you another [disgusting person] from Galilee?/[You talk like] another [disgusting person] from Galilee!) [RHQ] Read [what is written in the Scriptures] You will find that no prophet comes from Galilee [province, like he does]!”
They answered and said to him, Are thou also from Galilee? Search and see, that out of Galilee arises no prophet.
53 [Then they all left and went to their own homes.
And each man went to his house.
