John 8:12-30

Contemporary English Version

Jesus Is the Light for the World

^12 (A) Once again Jesus spoke to the people. This time he said, “I am the light for the world! Follow me, and you won't be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life.”

^13 (B) The Pharisees objected, “You are the only one speaking for yourself, and what you say isn't true!”

¹⁴ Jesus replied:

Even if I do speak for myself, what I say is true! I know where I came from and where I am going. But you don't know where I am from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge in the same way that everyone else does, but I don't judge anyone. ¹⁶ If I did judge, I would judge fairly, because I would not be doing it alone. The Father who sent me is here with me. ^17 (C) Your Law requires two witnesses to prove that something is true. ¹⁸ I am one of my witnesses, and the Father who sent me is the other one.

¹⁹ “Where is your Father?” they asked.

“You don't know me or my Father!” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would know my Father.”

²⁰ Jesus said this while he was still teaching in the place where the temple treasures were stored. But no one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.^[a]

You Cannot Go Where I Am Going

²¹ Jesus also told them, “I am going away, and you will look for me. But you cannot go where I am going, and you will die with your sins unforgiven.”

²² The people asked, “Does he intend to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying we cannot go where he is going?”

²³ Jesus answered, “You are from below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don't. ²⁴ This is why I said you will die with your sins unforgiven. If you don't have faith in me for who I am,^[b] you will die, and your sins will not be forgiven.”

²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked Jesus.

Jesus answered, “I am exactly who I told you at the beginning. ²⁶ There is a lot more I could say to condemn you. But the one who sent me is truthful, and I tell the people of this world only what I have heard from him.”

²⁷ No one understood that Jesus was talking to them about the Father.

²⁸ Jesus went on to say, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man,^[c] you will know who I am. You will also know that I don't do anything on my own. I say only what my Father taught me. ²⁹ The one who sent me is with me. I always do what pleases him, and he will never leave me.”

³⁰ After Jesus said this, many of the people put their faith in him.