John 8
English Standard Version
8 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 (A)Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and (B)he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now (C)in the Law, Moses commanded us (D)to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said (E)to test him, (F)that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, (G)“Let him who is without sin among you (H)be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, (I)“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on (J)sin no more.”]]
I Am the Light of the World
12 (K)Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, (L)“I am the light of the world. Whoever (M)follows me will not (N)walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, (O)“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, (P)my testimony is true, for I know (Q)where I came from and (R)where I am going, but (S)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 (T)You judge according to the flesh; (U)I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, (V)my judgment is true, for (W)it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father[a] who sent me. 17 (X)In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and (Y)the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, (Z)“You know neither me nor my Father. (AA)If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in (AB)the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but (AC)no one arrested him, because (AD)his hour had not yet come.
21 So he said to them again, (AE)“I am going away, and (AF)you will seek me, and (AG)you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, (AH)“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, (AI)“You are from below; I am from above. (AJ)You are of this world; (AK)I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you (AL)would die in your sins, for (AM)unless you believe that (AN)I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, (AO)“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but (AP)he who sent me is true, and I declare (AQ)to the world (AR)what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that (AS)he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have (AT)lifted up the Son of Man, (AU)then you will know that (AV)I am he, and that (AW)I do nothing on my own authority, but (AX)speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And (AY)he who sent me is with me. (AZ)He has not left me alone, for (BA)I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, (BB)many believed in him.
The Truth Will Set You Free
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, (BC)“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will (BD)know the truth, and the truth (BE)will set you free.” 33 They answered him, (BF)“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, (BG)everyone who practices sin is a slave[b] to sin. 35 (BH)The slave does not remain in the house forever; (BI)the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet (BJ)you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 (BK)I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard (BL)from your father.”
You Are of Your Father the Devil
39 They answered him, (BM)“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, (BN)“If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now (BO)you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth (BP)that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, (BQ)“We were not born of sexual immorality. We have (BR)one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, (BS)“If God were your Father, you would love me, for (BT)I came from God and (BU)I am here. (BV)I came not of my own accord, but (BW)he sent me. 43 (BX)Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot (BY)bear to hear my word. 44 (BZ)You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. (CA)He was a murderer from the beginning, and (CB)does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. (CC)When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 (CD)Whoever is of God hears the words of God. (CE)The reason why you do not hear them is that (CF)you are not of God.”
Before Abraham Was, I Am
48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and (CG)have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but (CH)I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet (CI)I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, (CJ)I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never (CK)see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! (CL)Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet (CM)you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never (CN)taste death.’ 53 (CO)Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, (CP)“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. (CQ)It is my Father who glorifies me, (CR)of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’[c] 55 But (CS)you have not known him. (CT)I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be (CU)a liar (CV)like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 (CW)Your father Abraham (CX)rejoiced (CY)that he would see my day. (CZ)He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”[d] 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, (DA)I am.” 59 So (DB)they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
John 8
Young's Literal Translation
8 And at dawn he came again to the temple,
2 and all the people were coming unto him, and having sat down, he was teaching them;
3 and the scribes and the Pharisees bring unto him a woman having been taken in adultery, and having set her in the midst,
4 they say to him, `Teacher, this woman was taken in the very crime -- committing adultery,
5 and in the law, Moses did command us that such be stoned; thou, therefore, what dost thou say?'
6 and this they said, trying him, that they might have to accuse him. And Jesus, having stooped down, with the finger he was writing on the ground,
7 and when they continued asking him, having bent himself back, he said unto them, `The sinless of you -- let him first cast the stone at her;'
8 and again having stooped down, he was writing on the ground,
9 and they having heard, and by the conscience being convicted, were going forth one by one, having begun from the elders -- unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 And Jesus having bent himself back, and having seen no one but the woman, said to her, `Woman, where are those -- thine accusers? did no one pass sentence upon thee?'
11 and she said, `No one, Sir;' and Jesus said to her, `Neither do I pass sentence on thee; be going on, and no more sin.'
12 Again, therefore, Jesus spake to them, saying, `I am the light of the world; he who is following me shall not walk in the darkness, but he shall have the light of the life.'
13 The Pharisees, therefore, said to him, `Thou of thyself dost testify, thy testimony is not true;'
14 Jesus answered and said to them, `And if I testify of myself -- my testimony is true, because I have known whence I came, and whither I go, and ye -- ye have not known whence I come, or whither I go.
15 `Ye according to the flesh do judge; I do not judge any one,
16 and even if I do judge my judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me;
17 and also in your law it hath been written, that the testimony of two men are true;
18 I am [one] who is testifying of myself, and the Father who sent me doth testify of me.'
19 They said, therefore, to him, `Where is thy father?' Jesus answered, `Ye have neither known me nor my Father: if me ye had known, my Father also ye had known.'
20 These sayings spake Jesus in the treasury, teaching in the temple, and no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come;
21 therefore said Jesus again to them, `I go away, and ye will seek me, and in your sin ye shall die; whither I go away, ye are not able to come.'
22 The Jews, therefore, said, `Will he kill himself, because he saith, Whither I go away, ye are not able to come?'
23 and he said to them, `Ye are from beneath, I am from above; ye are of this world, I am not of this world;
24 I said, therefore, to you, that ye shall die in your sins, for if ye may not believe that I am [he], ye shall die in your sins.'
25 They said, therefore, to him, `Thou -- who art thou?' and Jesus said to them, `Even what I did speak of to you at the beginning;
26 many things I have to speak concerning you and to judge, but He who sent me is true, and I -- what things I heard from Him -- these I say to the world.'
27 They knew not that of the Father he spake to them;
28 Jesus, therefore, said to them, `When ye may lift up the Son of Man then ye will know that I am [he]; and of myself I do nothing, but according as my Father did teach me, these things I speak;
29 and He who sent me is with me; the Father did not leave me alone, because I, the things pleasing to Him, do always.'
30 As he is speaking these things, many believed in him;
31 Jesus, therefore, said unto the Jews who believed in him, `If ye may remain in my word, truly my disciples ye are, and ye shall know the truth,
32 and the truth shall make you free.'
33 They answered him, `Seed of Abraham we are; and to no one have we been servants at any time; how dost thou say -- Ye shall become free?'
34 Jesus answered them, `Verily, verily, I say to you -- Every one who is committing sin, is a servant of the sin,
35 and the servant doth not remain in the house -- to the age, the son doth remain -- to the age;
36 if then the son may make you free, in reality ye shall be free.
37 `I have known that ye are seed of Abraham, but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you;
38 I -- that which I have seen with my Father do speak, and ye, therefore, that which ye have seen with your father -- ye do.'
39 They answered and said to him, `Our father is Abraham;' Jesus saith to them, `If children of Abraham ye were, the works of Abraham ye were doing;
40 and now, ye seek to kill me -- a man who hath spoken to you the truth I heard from God; this Abraham did not;
41 ye do the works of your father.' They said, therefore, to him, `We of whoredom have not been born; one Father we have -- God;'
42 Jesus then said to them, `If God were your father, ye were loving me, for I came forth from God, and am come; for neither have I come of myself, but He sent me;
43 wherefore do ye not know my speech? because ye are not able to hear my word.
44 `Ye are of a father -- the devil, and the desires of your father ye will to do; he was a man-slayer from the beginning, and in the truth he hath not stood, because there is no truth in him; when one may speak the falsehood, of his own he speaketh, because he is a liar -- also his father.
45 `And because I say the truth, ye do not believe me.
46 Who of you doth convict me of sin? and if I speak truth, wherefore do ye not believe me?
47 he who is of God, the sayings of God he doth hear; because of this ye do not hear, because of God ye are not.'
48 The Jews, therefore, answered and said to him, `Do we not say well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon?'
49 Jesus answered, `I have not a demon, but I honour my Father, and ye dishonour me;
50 and I do not seek my own glory; there is who is seeking and is judging;
51 verily, verily, I say to you, If any one may keep my word, death he may not see -- to the age.'
52 The Jews, therefore, said to him, `Now we have known that thou hast a demon; Abraham did die, and the prophets, and thou dost say, If any one may keep my word, he shall not taste of death -- to the age!
53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died; whom dost thou make thyself?'
54 Jesus answered, `If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who is glorifying me, of whom ye say that He is your God;
55 and ye have not known Him, and I have known Him, and if I say that I have not known Him, I shall be like you -- speaking falsely; but I have known Him, and His word I keep;
56 Abraham, your father, was glad that he might see my day; and he saw, and did rejoice.'
57 The Jews, therefore, said unto him, `Thou art not yet fifty years old, and Abraham hast thou seen?'
58 Jesus said to them, `Verily, verily, I say to you, Before Abraham's coming -- I am;'
59 they took up, therefore, stones that they may cast at him, but Jesus hid himself, and went forth out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
