He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.”
- BSB Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
- NKJV He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
- NASB The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
- NLT Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus promises that from the one who believes in Him will flow rivers of living water, as Scripture said. Faith in Christ brings an overflowing, life-giving work of the Spirit.
Overview
Drawing on Old Testament imagery of water and life, Jesus declares that believers will become channels of the Spirit's life-giving power. This promise points to the abundant, satisfying, and outward-flowing reality of the Spirit given to those united to Christ. The next verse clarifies that this living water is the Holy Spirit, granted after Jesus' glorification.
Cross-references & the web
Theme
- Living Water"Rivers of living water" — the Spirit.
Cross-references · 14
- John 4:14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
- Isa 44:3For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
- Isa 58:11And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
- Isa 12:3Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
- John 4:10Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
- Prov 10:11The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
- Zech 14:8And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
- Prov 18:4The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
- Gal 5:22–23But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
- Isa 59:21As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.
- Ezek 47:1–12Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.
- Job 32:18–19For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.
- Deut 18:15The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
- Eph 5:9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 7:38 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.