John - Chapter 8

¹ and Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

² At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

³ The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in the middle

⁴ they said to Jesus, 'Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery,

⁵ and in the Law Moses has ordered us to stone women of this kind. What have you got to say?'

⁶ They asked him this as a test, looking for an accusation to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger.

⁷ As they persisted with their question, he straightened up and said, 'Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her.'

⁸ Then he bent down and continued writing on the ground.

⁹ When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until the last one had gone and Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained in the middle.

¹⁰ Jesus again straightened up and said, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?'

¹¹ 'No one, sir,' she replied. 'Neither do I condemn you,' said Jesus. 'Go away, and from this moment sin no more.'

¹² When Jesus spoke to the people again, he said: I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life.

¹³ At this the Pharisees said to him, 'You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not true.'

¹⁴ Jesus replied: Even though I am testifying on my own behalf, my testimony is still true, because I know where I have come from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.

¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I judge no one,

¹⁶ but if I judge, my judgement will be true, because I am not alone: the one who sent me is with me;

¹⁷ and in your Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.

¹⁸ I testify on my own behalf, but the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf, too.

¹⁹ They asked him, 'Where is your Father then?' Jesus answered: You do not know me, nor do you know my Father; if you did know me, you would know my Father as well.

²⁰ He spoke these words in the Treasury, while teaching in the Temple. No one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

²¹ Again he said to them: I am going away; you will look for me and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.

²² So the Jews said to one another, 'Is he going to kill himself, that he says, "Where I am going, you cannot come?" '

²³ Jesus went on: You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

²⁴ I have told you already: You will die in your sins. Yes, if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.

²⁵ So they said to him, 'Who are you?' Jesus answered: What I have told you from the outset.

²⁶ About you I have much to say and much to judge; but the one who sent me is true, and what I declare to the world I have learnt from him.

²⁷ They did not recognise that he was talking to them about the Father.

²⁸ So Jesus said: When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of my own accord. What I say is what the Father has taught me;

²⁹ he who sent me is with me, and has not left me to myself, for I always do what pleases him.

³⁰ As he was saying this, many came to believe in him.

³¹ To the Jews who believed in him Jesus said: If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples;

³² you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

³³ They answered, 'We are descended from Abraham and we have never been the slaves of anyone; what do you mean, "You will be set free?" '

³⁴ Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave.

³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent standing in the household, but a son belongs to it for ever.

³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.

³⁷ I know that you are descended from Abraham; but you want to kill me because my word finds no place in you.

³⁸ What I speak of is what I have seen at my Father's side, and you too put into action the lessons you have learnt from your father.

³⁹ They repeated, 'Our father is Abraham.' Jesus said to them: If you are Abraham's children, do as Abraham did.

⁴⁰ As it is, you want to kill me, a man who has told you the truth as I have learnt it from God; that is not what Abraham did.

⁴¹ You are doing your father's work. They replied, 'We were not born illegitimate, the only father we have is God.'

⁴² Jesus answered: If God were your father, you would love me, since I have my origin in God and have come from him; I did not come of my own accord, but he sent me.

⁴³ Why do you not understand what I say? Because you cannot bear to listen to my words.

⁴⁴ You are from your father, the devil, and you prefer to do what your father wants. He was a murderer from the start; he was never grounded in the truth; there is no truth in him at all. When he lies he is speaking true to his nature, because he is a liar, and the father of lies.

⁴⁵ But it is because I speak the truth that you do not believe me.

⁴⁶ Can any of you convict me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?

⁴⁷ Whoever comes from God listens to the words of God; the reason why you do not listen is that you are not from God.

⁴⁸ The Jews replied, 'Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and possessed by a devil?' Jesus answered:

⁴⁹ I am not possessed; but I honour my Father, and you deny me honour.

⁵⁰ I do not seek my own glory; there is someone who does seek it and is the judge of it.

⁵¹ In all truth I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.

⁵² The Jews said, 'Now we know that you are possessed. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and yet you say, "Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death."

⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too. Who are you claiming to be?'

⁵⁴ Jesus answered: If I were to seek my own glory my glory would be worth nothing; in fact, my glory is conferred by the Father, by the one of whom you say, 'He is our God,'

⁵⁵ although you do not know him. But I know him, and if I were to say, 'I do not know him,' I should be a liar, as you yourselves are. But I do know him, and I keep his word.

⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad.

⁵⁷ The Jews then said, 'You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham!'

⁵⁸ Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, before Abraham ever was, I am.

⁵⁹ At this they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.

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