John 7 - Simple English

1After these things Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him.

2Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was near.

3So his brothers said to him, "Leave here and go into Judea, so that your disciples may also see the works that you do."

4"No one does anything in secret when he himself wants to be widely known. If you do these things, show yourself to the world."

5For even his brothers did not believe in him.

6Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready."

7"The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it that its works are evil."

8"You go up to this feast. I am not going up to this feast yet, for my time has not yet fully come."

9When he had said these words to them, he stayed on in Galilee.

10But when his brothers had gone up, then he also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

11Then the Jews looked for him at the feast, and said, "Where is he?"

12And there was much whispering among the people about him. Some said, "He is a good man." Others said, "No, he deceives the people."

13But no one spoke openly about him, for fear of the Jews.

14Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.

15And the Jews were amazed, saying, "How does this man know letters, when he has never been taught?"

16Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me."

17"If anyone is willing to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or whether I speak of myself."

18"Whoever speaks of himself seeks his own glory. But whoever seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him."

19"Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"

20The people answered and said, "You have a devil. Who is trying to kill you?"

21Jesus answered and said to them, "I have done one work, and you are all amazed."

22"Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath day."

23"If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath day, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry at me because I have made a man completely well on the sabbath day?"

24"Do not judge by how things appear, but judge with righteous judgment."

25Then some of the people of Jerusalem said, "Is this not the man they are trying to kill?"

26"But look, he speaks boldly, and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers really know that this is indeed the Christ?"

27"Yet we know where this man comes from. But when the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from."

28Then Jesus cried out in the temple as he taught, saying, "You both know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, and you do not know him."

29"But I know him, for I am from him, and he has sent me."

30Then they tried to seize him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.

31And many of the people believed in him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than these which this man has done?"

32The Pharisees heard the people whispering such things about him. So the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to arrest him.

33Then Jesus said to them, "I am with you a little while longer, and then I go to him who sent me."

34"You will look for me, and will not find me. And where I am, you cannot come."

35Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where will he go, that we shall not find him? Will he go to those scattered among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?"

36"What does he mean by saying, 'You will look for me, and will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come'?"

37On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."

38"Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water."

39(But he said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)

40So many of the people, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."

41Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?"

42"Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"

43So there was a division among the people because of him.

44And some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.

45Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought him?"

46The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this man."

47Then the Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived?"

48"Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?"

49"But this crowd, who do not know the law, are cursed."

50Nicodemus said to them (he was the one who came to Jesus by night, and was one of them),

51"Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he does?"

52They answered and said to him, "Are you from Galilee too? Search and see, for no prophet comes out of Galilee."

53And every man went to his own house.