2 Kings 23

COVENANT RENEWAL
So the king sent messengers, and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him.
2 Then the king went to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets ​— ​all the people from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord’s temple. 3 Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the Lord’s presence to follow the Lord and to keep his commands, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul in order to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to the covenant.

JOSIAH’S REFORMS
4 Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Lord’s sanctuary all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the stars in the sky. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and all the stars in the sky. 6 He brought out the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley, beat it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes that were in the Lord’s temple, in which the women were weaving tapestries for Asherah.

8 Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the city gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate). 9 The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem; instead, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 He defiled Topheth, which is in Ben Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech. 11 He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They had been at the entrance of the Lord’s temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-melech, the eunuch. He also burned the chariots of the sun.

12 The king tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had made on the roof of Ahaz’s upper chamber. He also tore down the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. Then he smashed them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also defiled the high places that were across from Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abhorrent idol of the Sidonians; for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab; and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 14 He broke the sacred pillars into pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, then filled their places with human bones.

15 He even tore down the altar at Bethel and the high place that had been made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He burned the high place, crushed it to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mountain. He sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar. He defiled it according to the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is this monument I see? ”

The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar at Bethel.”

18 So he said, “Let him rest. Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.

19 Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to anger the Lord. Josiah did the same things to them that he had done at Bethel. 20 He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of those high places, and he burned human bones on the altars. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

PASSOVER OBSERVED
21 The king commanded all the people, “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God as written in the book of the covenant.” 22 No such Passover had ever been observed from the time of the judges who judged Israel through the entire time of the kings of Israel and Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the Lord’s Passover was observed in Jerusalem.

FURTHER ZEAL FOR THE LORD
24 In addition, Josiah eradicated the mediums, the spiritists, household idols, images, and all the abhorrent things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this in order to carry out the words of the law that were written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in the Lord’s temple. 25 Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.

26 In spite of all that, the Lord did not turn from the fury of his intense burning anger, which burned against Judah because of all the affronts with which Manasseh had angered him. 27 For the Lord had said, “I will also remove Judah from my presence just as I have removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, that I have chosen, and the temple about which I said, ‘My name will be there.’ ”

JOSIAH’S DEATH
28 The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. 29 During his reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went to confront him, and at Megiddo when Neco saw him he killed him. 30 From Megiddo his servants carried his dead body in a chariot, brought him into Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the common people took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.

JUDAH’S KING JEHOAHAZ
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 32 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestors had done. 33 Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath to keep him from reigning in Jerusalem, and he imposed on the land a fine of seventy-five hundred pounds of silver and seventy-five pounds of gold.

JUDAH’S KING JEHOIAKIM
34 Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there. 35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but at Pharaoh’s command he taxed the land to give it. He exacted the silver and the gold from the common people, each according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. 37 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestors had done.

2 Kings 24

JEHOIAKIM’S REBELLION AND DEATH
During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, and then he turned and rebelled against him.
2 The Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through his servants the prophets. 3 Indeed, this happened to Judah at the Lord’s command to remove them from his presence. It was because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all he had done, 4 and also because of all the innocent blood he had shed. He had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.

5 The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. 6 Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

7 Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again, for the king of Babylon took everything that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

JUDAH’S KING JEHOIACHIN
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. 9 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his father had done.

DEPORTATIONS TO BABYLON
10 At that time the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. 11 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it. 12 King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the king of Babylon.

So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. 13 He also carried off from there all the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king’s palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that King Solomon of Israel had made for the Lord’s sanctuary, just as the Lord had predicted. 14 He deported all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the best soldiers ​— ​ten thousand captives including all the craftsmen and metalsmiths. Except for the poorest people of the land, no one remained.

15 Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehoiachin to Babylon. He took the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 The king of Babylon brought captive into Babylon all seven thousand of the best soldiers and one thousand craftsmen and metalsmiths ​— ​all strong and fit for war. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

JUDAH’S KING ZEDEKIAH
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 19 Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 Because of the Lord’s anger, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he finally banished them from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

2 Kings 25

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.
2 The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the common people had no food. 4 Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah, 5 the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered. 6 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Finally, the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him in bronze chains, and took him to Babylon.

JERUSALEM DESTROYED
8 On the seventh day of the fifth month ​— ​which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon ​— ​Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 9 He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down all the great houses. 10 The whole Chaldean army with the captain of the guards tore down the walls surrounding Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, deported the rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. 12 But the captain of the guards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

13 Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars of the Lord’s temple, the water carts, and the bronze basin, which were in the Lord’s temple, and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the bronze articles used in the priests’ service. 15 The captain of the guards took away the firepans and sprinkling basins ​— ​whatever was gold or silver.

16 As for the two pillars, the one basin, and the water carts that Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. 17 One pillar was twenty-seven feet tall and had a bronze capital on top of it. The capital, encircled by a grating and pomegranates of bronze, stood five feet high. The second pillar was the same, with its own grating.

18 The captain of the guards also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19 From the city he took a court official who had been appointed over the warriors; five trusted royal aides found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and sixty men from the common people who were found within the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.

GEDALIAH MADE GOVERNOR
22 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over the rest of the people he left in the land of Judah. 23 When all the commanders of the armies ​— ​they and their men ​— ​heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The commanders included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite ​— ​they and their men. 24 Gedaliah swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”

25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah, and he died. Also, they killed the Judeans and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, and the commanders of the army, left and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

JEHOIACHIN PARDONED
27 On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. 28 He spoke kindly to him and set his throne over the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life. 30 As for his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, for the rest of his life.

1 Chronicles 1

FROM ADAM TO ABRAHAM
Adam, Seth, Enosh,
2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,
3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech,
4 Noah, Noah’s sons:
Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
5 Japheth’s sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
6 Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
7 Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.
8 Ham’s sons: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
9 Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, and Sabteca.
Raama’s sons: Sheba and Dedan.
10 Cush fathered Nimrod, who was the first to become a great warrior on earth.
11 Mizraim fathered the people of Lud, Anam, Lehab, Naphtuh, 12Pathrus, Casluh (the Philistines came from them), and Caphtor.
13 Canaan fathered Sidon as his firstborn and Heth, 14 as well as the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 15 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 16 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites.
17 Shem’s sons: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.
18 Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. 19 Two sons were born to Eber. One of them was named Peleg because the earth was divided during his lifetime, and the name of his brother was Joktan. 20 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 21 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 22 Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, 23 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All of these were Joktan’s sons.
24 Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah,
25 Eber, Peleg, Reu,
26 Serug, Nahor, Terah,
27 and Abram (that is, Abraham).
ABRAHAM’S DESCENDANTS
28 Abraham’s sons: Isaac and Ishmael.
29 These are their family records: Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, 31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
These were Ishmael’s sons.
32 The sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
Jokshan’s sons: Sheba and Dedan.
33 Midian’s sons: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.
All of these were Keturah’s descendants.
34 Abraham fathered Isaac.
Isaac’s sons: Esau and Israel.
35 Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
36 Eliphaz’s sons: Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, and Kenaz; and by Timna, Amalek.
37 Reuel’s sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
THE EDOMITES
38 Seir’s sons: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
39 Lotan’s sons: Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister.
40 Shobal’s sons: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam.
Zibeon’s sons: Aiah and Anah.
41 Anah’s son: Dishon.
Dishon’s sons: Hamran, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
42 Ezer’s sons: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan.
Dishan’s sons: Uz and Aran.
43 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom
before any king reigned over the Israelites:
Bela son of Beor.
Bela’s town was named Dinhabah.
44 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.
45 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.
46 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the territory of Moab, reigned in his place.
Hadad’s town was named Avith.
47 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.
48 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates River reigned in his place.
49 When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned in his place.
50 When Baal-hanan died, Hadad reigned in his place.
Hadad’s city was named Pai, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel
daughter of Matred, daughter of Me-zahab.
51 Then Hadad died.
Edom’s chiefs: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 52 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 53 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 54 Magdiel, and Iram.
These were Edom’s chiefs.

1 Chronicles 2

ISRAEL’S SONS
These were Israel’s sons:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi,
Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin,
Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
JUDAH’S DESCENDANTS
3 Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite woman. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord’s sight, so he put him to death. 4 Judah’s daughter-in-law Tamar bore Perez and Zerah to him. Judah had five sons in all.

5 Perez’s sons: Hezron and Hamul.
6 Zerah’s sons: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara ​— ​five in all.
7 Carmi’s son: Achar, who brought trouble on Israel when he was unfaithful by taking the things set apart for destruction.
8 Ethan’s son: Azariah.
9 Hezron’s sons, who were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai.
10 Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, a leader of Judah’s descendants.
11 Nahshon fathered Salma, and Salma fathered Boaz.
12 Boaz fathered Obed, and Obed fathered Jesse.
13 Jesse fathered Eliab, his firstborn; Abinadab was born second, Shimea third, 14 Nethanel fourth, Raddai fifth, 15 Ozem sixth, and David seventh. 16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. Zeruiah’s three sons: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel. 17 Amasa’s mother was Abigail, and his father was Jether the Ishmaelite.
18 Caleb son of Hezron had children by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. These were Azubah’s sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. 19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, and she bore Hur to him. 20 Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel. 21 After this, Hezron slept with the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead. Hezron had married her when he was sixty years old, and she bore Segub to him. 22 Segub fathered Jair, who possessed twenty-three towns in the land of Gilead. 23 But Geshur and Aram captured Jair’s Villages along with Kenath and its surrounding villages ​— ​sixty towns. All these were the descendants of Machir father of Gilead. 24 After Hezron’s death in Caleb-ephrathah, his wife Abijah bore Ashhur to him. He was the father of Tekoa.

25 The sons of Jerahmeel, Hezron’s firstborn: Ram, his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. 26 Jerahmeel had another wife named Atarah, who was the mother of Onam.
27 The sons of Ram, Jerahmeel’s firstborn: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.
28 Onam’s sons: Shammai and Jada.
Shammai’s sons: Nadab and Abishur. 29 Abishur’s wife was named Abihail, who bore Ahban and Molid to him.
30 Nadab’s sons: Seled and Appaim. Seled died without children.
31 Appaim’s son: Ishi.
Ishi’s son: Sheshan.
Sheshan’s descendant: Ahlai.
32 The sons of Jada, brother of Shammai: Jether and Jonathan. Jether died without children.
33 Jonathan’s sons: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel.
34 Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but he did have an Egyptian servant whose name was Jarha. 35 Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to his servant Jarha, and she bore Attai to him.
36 Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered Zabad.
37 Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered Obed.
38 Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah.
39 Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Elasah.
40 Elasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum.
41 Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered Elishama.
42 The sons of Caleb brother of Jerahmeel: Mesha, his firstborn, fathered Ziph, and Mareshah, his second son, fathered Hebron.
43 Hebron’s sons: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema.
44 Shema fathered Raham, who fathered Jorkeam, and Rekem fathered Shammai.
45 Shammai’s son was Maon, and Maon fathered Beth-zur.
46 Caleb’s concubine Ephah was the mother of Haran, Moza, and Gazez. Haran fathered Gazez.
47 Jahdai’s sons: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph.
48 Caleb’s concubine Maacah was the mother of Sheber and Tirhanah. 49 She was also the mother of Shaaph, Madmannah’s father, and of Sheva, the father of Machbenah and Gibea. Caleb’s daughter was Achsah.
50 These were Caleb’s descendants.
The sons of Hur, Ephrathah’s firstborn:
Shobal fathered Kiriath-jearim;
51 Salma fathered Bethlehem,
and Hareph fathered Beth-gader.
52 These were the descendants of Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim: Haroeh, half of the Manahathites, 53 and the families of Kiriath-jearim ​— ​the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. The Zorathites and Eshtaolites descended from these.

54 Salma’s descendants: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites, 55 and the families of scribes who lived in Jabez ​— ​the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of Rechab’s family.

John 7:1–52

THE UNBELIEF OF JESUS’S BROTHERS
After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee, since he did not want to travel in Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him.
2 The Jewish Festival of Shelters was near. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works that you are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.)

6 Jesus told them, “My time has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it does hate me because I testify about it ​— ​that its works are evil. 8 Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said these things, he stayed in Galilee.

JESUS AT THE FESTIVAL OF SHELTERS
10 After his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly but secretly. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he? ” 12 And there was a lot of murmuring about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, he’s deceiving the people.” 13 Still, nobody was talking publicly about him for fear of the Jews.

14 When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. 15 Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How is this man so learned, since he hasn’t been trained? ”

16 Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t mine but is from the one who sent me. 17 If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. 18 The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 19 Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me? ”

20 “You have a demon! ” the crowd responded. “Who is trying to kill you? ”

21 “I performed one work, and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. 22 “This is why Moses has given you circumcision ​— ​not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers ​— ​and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses won’t be broken, are you angry at me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”

THE IDENTITY OF THE MESSIAH
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Yet, look, he’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to him. Can it be true that the authorities know he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he is from.”

28 As he was teaching in the temple, Jesus cried out,“You know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is true. You don’t know him; 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”

30 Then they tried to seize him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. 31 However, many from the crowd believed in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t perform more signs than this man has done, will he? ” 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent servants to arrest him.

33 Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time. Then I’m going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

35 Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does he intend to go that we won’t find him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Jewish people dispersed among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he? 36 What is this remark he made:‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come’ ? ”

THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out,“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

THE PEOPLE ARE DIVIDED OVER JESUS
40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This truly is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David’s offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived? ” 43 So the crowd was divided because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.

DEBATE OVER JESUS’S CLAIMS
45 Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him? ”

46 The servants answered, “No man ever spoke like this! ”

47 Then the Pharisees responded to them, “Are you fooled too? 48 Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed.”

50 Nicodemus ​— ​the one who came to him previously and who was one of them ​— ​said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it? ”

52 “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? ” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

[The earliest mss do not include 7:53–8:11.]

— 2 Kings 23–25, 1 Chronicles 1–2, John 7:1–52 (CSB)