John 7

Part of Light of the World and the Good Shepherd📖 John introduction

Read the chapter

¹After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. ✦ ²Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. ✦ ³His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. ✦ ⁴For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. ✦ ⁵For neither did his brethren believe in him. ✦ ⁶Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. ✦ ⁷The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. ✦ ⁸Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come. ✦ ⁹When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee. ¹⁰But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. ✦ ¹¹Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? ✦ ¹²And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people. ✦ ¹³Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews. ✦ ¹⁴Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. ✦ ¹⁵And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? ✦ ¹⁶Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. ✦ ¹⁷If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. ✦ ¹⁸He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. ✦ ¹⁹Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? ✦ ²⁰The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? ✦ ²¹Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. ✦ ²²Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. ✦ ²³If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? ✦ ²⁴Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. ✦ ²⁵Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? ✦ ²⁶But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? ✦ ²⁷Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. ✦ ²⁸Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. ✦ ²⁹But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me. ✦ ³⁰Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. ✦ ³¹And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done? ✦ ³²The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. ✦ ³³Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. ✦ ³⁴Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come. ✦ ³⁵Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? ✦ ³⁶What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come? ✦ ³⁷In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. ✦ ³⁸He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. ✦ ³⁹(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) ✦ ⁴⁰Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. ✦ ⁴¹Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? ✦ ⁴²Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of 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 would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. ✦ ⁴⁵Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? ✦ ⁴⁶The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. ✦ ⁴⁷Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? ✦ ⁴⁸Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? ✦ ⁴⁹But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. ✦ ⁵⁰Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) ✦ ⁵¹Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? ✦ ⁵²They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. ✦ ⁵³And every man went unto his own house. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

John 7 ·49 John 8 ·29 John 1 ·16 John 6 ·16 John 12 ·14 John 5 ·14 John 9 ·13 John 17 ·13

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 7YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 7David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 7Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

← John 6 John 8 →