The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn't want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him.
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After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
2 It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews.
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Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.
3 His brothers said, "Why don't you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do?
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So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.
4 No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you're serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world."
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For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. ”
5 His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn't believe in him either.
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For not even his brothers believed in him.
6 Jesus came back at them, "Don't crowd me. This isn't my time. It's your time - it's always your time; you have nothing to lose.
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Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.
7 The world has nothing against you, but it's up in arms against me. It's against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions.
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The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
8 You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don't wait for me. I'm not ready. It's not the right time for me."
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You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come. ”
9 He said this and stayed on in Galilee.
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After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
10 But later, after his family had gone up to the Feast, he also went. But he kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself.
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But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.
11 The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, "Where is that man?"
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The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he? ”
12 There was a lot of contentious talk about him circulating through the crowds. Some were saying, "He's a good man." But others said, "Not so. He's selling snake oil."
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And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man, ” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray. ”
13 This kind of talk went on in guarded whispers because of the intimidating Jewish leaders.
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Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
14 With the Feast already half over, Jesus showed up in the Temple, teaching.
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About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.
15 The Jews were impressed, but puzzled: "How does he know so much without being schooled?"
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The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied? ”
16 Jesus said, "I didn't make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me.
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So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
17 Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it's from God or whether I'm making it up.
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If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
18 A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn't tamper with reality.
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The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
19 It was Moses, wasn't it, who gave you God's Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?"
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Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me? ”
20 The crowd said, "You're crazy! Who's trying to kill you? You're demon-possessed."
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The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you? ”
21 Jesus said, "I did one miraculous thing a few months ago, and you're still standing around getting all upset, wondering what I'm up to.
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Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it.
22 Moses prescribed circumcision - originally it came not from Moses but from his ancestors - and so you circumcise a man, dealing with one part of his body, even if it's the Sabbath.
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Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
23 You do this in order to preserve one item in the Law of Moses. So why are you upset with me because I made a man's whole body well on the Sabbath?
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If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?
24 Don't be nitpickers; use your head - and heart! - to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right."
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Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. ”
25 That's when some of the people of Jerusalem said, "Isn't this the one they were out to kill?
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Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?
26 And here he is out in the open, saying whatever he pleases, and no one is stopping him. Could it be that the rulers know that he is, in fact, the Messiah?
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And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?
27 And yet we know where this man came from. The Messiah is going to come out of nowhere. Nobody is going to know where he comes from."
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But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from. ”
28 That provoked Jesus, who was teaching in the Temple, to cry out, "Yes, you think you know me and where I'm from, but that's not where I'm from. I didn't set myself up in business. My true origin is in the One who sent me, and you don't know him at all.
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So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.
29 I come from him - that's how I know him. He sent me here."
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I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me. ”
30 They were looking for a way to arrest him, but not a hand was laid on him because it wasn't yet God's time.
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So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
31 Many from the crowd committed themselves in faith to him, saying, "Will the Messiah, when he comes, provide better or more convincing evidence than this?"
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Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? ”
32 The Pharisees, alarmed at this seditious undertow going through the crowd, teamed up with the high priests and sent their police to arrest him.
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The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
33 Jesus rebuffed them: "I am with you only a short time. Then I go on to the One who sent me.
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Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.
34 You will look for me, but you won't find me. Where I am, you can't come."
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You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come. ”
35 The Jews put their heads together. "Where do you think he is going that we won't be able to find him? Do you think he is about to travel to the Greek world to teach the Jews?
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The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?
36 What is he talking about, anyway: 'You will look for me, but you won't find me,' and 'Where I am, you can't come'?"
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What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me, ’and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’? ”
37 On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
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On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says."
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Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. ’”
39 (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)
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Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
40 Those in the crowd who heard these words were saying, "This has to be the Prophet."
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When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet. ”
41 Others said, "He is the Messiah!" But others were saying, "The Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does he?
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Others said, “This is the Christ. ” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?
42 Don't the Scriptures tell us that the Messiah comes from David's line and from Bethlehem, David's village?"
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Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was? ”
43 So there was a split in the crowd over him.
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So there was a division among the people over him.
44 Some went so far as wanting to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.
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Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 That's when the Temple police reported back to the high priests and Pharisees, who demanded, "Why didn't you bring him with you?"
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The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him? ”
46 The police answered, "Have you heard the way he talks? We've never heard anyone speak like this man."
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The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man! ”
47 The Pharisees said, "Are you carried away like the rest of the rabble?
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The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
48 You don't see any of the leaders believing in him, do you? Or any from the Pharisees?
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Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
49 It's only this crowd, ignorant of God's Law, that is taken in by him - and damned."
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But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed. ”
50 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus earlier and was both a ruler and a Pharisee, spoke up.
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Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,
51 "Does our Law decide about a man's guilt without first listening to him and finding out what he is doing?"
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“Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? ”
52 But they cut him off. "Are you also campaigning for the Galilean?
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They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee. ”[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11. ]
53 Examine the evidence. See if any prophet ever comes from Galilee." Then they all went home.
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[[They went each to his own house,
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025