Gospel according to John 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 full view of everybody,

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

⁵ and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’

⁶ They asked him this as a test, looking for something 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 looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’.

⁸ Then be bent down and wrote on the ground again.

⁹ When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there.

¹⁰ He looked 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 don’t sin any 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; he 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 valid’.

¹⁴ Jesus replied: ‘It is true that I am testifying on my own behalf, but my testimony is still valid, because I know where I came 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 sound, 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 valid.

¹⁸ I may be testifying on my own behalf, but the Father who sent me is my witness too.’

¹⁹ They asked him, ‘Where is your Father?’ 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 time 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 The Jews said to one another, ‘Will he kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, “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 condemn; but the one who sent me is truthful, and what I have learnt from him I declare to the world.’

²⁷ They failed to understand 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 myself: what the Father has taught me is what I preach;

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 learn the truth and the truth will make 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 made free”?’

³⁴ Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, everyone who commits sin is a slave.

³⁵ Now the slave’s place in the house is not assured, but the son’s place is assured.

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

³⁷ I know that you are descended from Abraham; but in spite of that you want to kill me because nothing I say has penetrated into you.

³⁸ What I; for my part, speak of is what I have seen with my Father; but you, you put into action the lessons learnt from your father.’

³⁹ They repeated, ‘Our father is Abraham’. Jesus said to them: ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did.

⁴⁰ As it is, you want to kill me when I tell you the truth as I have learnt it from God; that is not what Abraham did.

⁴¹ What you are doing is what your father does.’ ‘We were not born of prostitution,'[*a] they went on ‘we have one father: God.’

⁴² Jesus answered: ‘If God were your father, you would love me, since I have come here from God; yes, I have come from him; not that I came because I chose, no, I was sent, and by him.

⁴³ Do you know why you cannot take in what I say? It is because you are unable to understand my language.

⁴⁴ The devil is your father, 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 drawing on his own store, because he is a liar, and the father of lies.

⁴⁵ But as for me, I speak the truth and for that very reason, you do not believe me.

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

⁴⁷ A child of God listens to the words of God; if you refuse to listen, it is because you are not God’s children.’

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; no, I honour my Father, but you want to dishonour me.

⁵⁰ Not that I care for my own glory, there is someone who takes care of that and is the judge of it.

⁵¹ I tell you most solemnly, whoever keeps my word will never see death.’

⁵² The Jews said, ‘Now we know for certain 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 that would be no glory at all; 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 are liars yourselves. But I do know him, and I faithfully 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: ‘I tell you most solemnly, before Abraham ever was, I Am’.

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