John 7:32-44

³²The Pharisees heard them whispering these things about him. So they and the chief priests sent some Temple guards to seize him.

³³Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a short time. Then I will return to the one who sent me.

³⁴Then you will search for me, but you will not find me. And you will not be able to come to the place where I am.”

³⁵So the Jewish leaders SYN said to themselves, “Where is this man about to go with the result that we will not be able to find him? Some Jewish people have dispersed and live among Greek people. He is not intending to go and live among them and teach them, is he?

³⁶When he said ‘You will search for me, but you will not be able to find me,’ and when he said ‘You will not be able to come to the place where I am,’ what did he mean?”

³⁷On each of the seven days of the celebration, the high priest poured out some water on the altar in the Temple to remember how God provided water for the people in the desolate area long ago. But the water he poured did not help anyone who was thirsty. So on the last day of the festival, which was the most important day, Jesus stood up in the Temple courtyard and said with a loud voice, “Those who are thirsty should come to me to drink what I will give them.

³⁸Just like the Scriptures teach, streams of water shall flow out from within those who believe in me, and that water will cause them to live eternally.”

³⁹When Jesus said that, he was referring to God's Spirit, whom those who believed in Jesus would receive later. Up to that time God had not sent the Spirit to live within believers, because Jesus had not yet died and returned to his glorious home in heaven, from where he would send the Spirit.

⁴⁰When some of the crowd heard those words, they said, “Surely this man is the prophet whom God promised to send who would be like Moses!”

⁴¹Others said, “He is the Messiah!” But others, thinking Jesus was born in Galilee, said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee province, will he?

⁴²◄Did a prophet not write in the Scriptures that the Messiah will come from King David's family, and be born in Bethlehem, where King David lived?/ It is written in the Scriptures that the Messiah will come from King David's family, and be born in Bethlehem, where King David lived!► RHQ”

⁴³So the people were divided because of what they thought about Jesus.

⁴⁴Some people wanted to seize him, but no one tried to do that.