淫妇获赦

众人都回家去了,耶稣却上了橄榄山。 第二天清晨,祂又回到圣殿。百姓聚集在祂那里,祂就坐下来教导他们。 这时候,律法教师和法利赛人带来一个通奸时被捉的女人,让她站在众人面前, 然后问耶稣:“老师,这个女人是在通奸时被捉到的。 按摩西的律法,我们要用石头把她打死,你说该怎么处置她呢?”

他们这样问是要使耶稣落在他们的圈套里,可以有借口控告祂。耶稣却只是弯着腰用指头在地上写字。 他们不断地追问耶稣,于是祂直起腰来,对他们说:“你们中间谁没有罪,谁就先拿石头打她吧。” 说完,又弯下腰在地上写字。

他们听了这句话,就从老到少一个一个地走了,只剩下耶稣和那个女人在那里。 10 耶稣直起腰来,说:“妇人,他们到哪里去了?没有人定你的罪吗?”

11 她说:“主啊,没有。”

耶稣说:“我也不定你的罪。回去吧,从今以后不要再犯罪了。”

世界的光

12 耶稣又对众人说:“我是世界的光,凡跟从我的,必不会走在黑暗里,必要得到生命的光。”

13 法利赛人对祂说:“你自己为自己做见证,你的见证不真实。”

14 耶稣说:“即便我自己为自己做见证,我的见证仍是真实的,因为我知道自己从哪里来、要到哪里去,你们却不知道我从哪里来、要到哪里去。 15 你们只凭外表判断别人,我却不判断人。 16 就算我判断人,我的判断也是正确的,因为我不是独自一人,还有差我来的父与我同在。 17 你们的律法不是说两个人做见证就有效吗? 18 我是自己为自己做见证,差我来的父也为我做见证。”

19 他们问:“你的父在哪里?”

耶稣回答说:“你们不认识我,也不认识我的父。如果你们认识我,也会认识我的父。” 20 耶稣在圣殿的库房这样教导人,但没有人抓祂,因为祂的时候还没有到。

警告不信的人

21 耶稣又对他们说:“我要走了,你们会寻找我,你们将死在自己的罪中。我去的地方,你们不能去。”

22 犹太人说:“祂说祂去的地方我们不能去,难道祂想自杀吗?”

23 耶稣对他们说:“你们是从下面来的,我是从上面来的。你们属于这世界,我不属于这世界。 24 所以我说你们将死在自己的罪中,你们如果不相信我就是[a]那一位,一定会死在自己的罪中。”

25 他们问:“你到底是谁?”

耶稣回答说:“我不是早就告诉你们了吗? 26 关于你们,我有许多要说、要审判的,但差我来的那位是真实的,我把从祂那里听到的告诉世人。” 27 他们不明白耶稣是指着父说的。

28 于是耶稣说:“你们举起人子以后,必知道我就是那一位,并且知道我没有一件事是凭自己做的,我所说的都是父教导我的。 29 差我来的那位跟我在一起,祂没有撇下我,让我孤单一人,因为我做的都是祂所喜悦的。” 30 许多人因为这番话而信了耶稣。

真正的自由

31 耶稣对信祂的犹太人说:“你们若持守我的道,就真是我的门徒了。 32 你们必认识真理,真理必叫你们得到自由。”

33 他们说:“我们是亚伯拉罕的子孙,从来没有做过奴隶,你为什么说我们可以得到自由呢?”

34 耶稣说:“我实实在在地告诉你们,所有犯罪的人都是罪的奴隶。 35 奴隶不能永远留在主人的家里,只有儿子才可以。 36 所以,如果上帝的儿子释放了你们,你们就真正自由了!

耶稣和亚伯拉罕

37 “我知道你们是亚伯拉罕的子孙,但你们却想杀我,因为你们心里容不下我的道。 38 我所说的,是我从父那里看到的,你们却照着你们父[b]的话去做。”

39 他们说:“我们的父就是亚伯拉罕!”

耶稣说:“你们如果真是亚伯拉罕的子孙,一定会做他所做的事。 40 我把从上帝那里听到的真理告诉你们,你们反要杀我,亚伯拉罕绝不做这样的事。 41 你们是在做你们父所做的事。”

他们说:“我们不是从淫乱生的!我们只有一位父,就是上帝。”

42 耶稣说:“如果上帝是你们的父,你们一定会爱我,因为我来自上帝。如今我在这里,我不是凭自己来的,而是上帝差我来的, 43 你们为什么不明白我的话呢?因为你们听不进去我的道。 44 你们是出于你们的父魔鬼,你们乐意顺着它的私欲行。魔鬼从起初就是个杀人凶手,从不站在真理这一边,因为它心里根本没有真理。撒谎是它的本性,因为它是撒谎者,又是撒谎者的始祖。 45 所以,我讲真理的时候,你们不信我。 46 你们谁能指证我有罪呢?我既然把真理告诉了你们,你们为什么还不信我呢? 47 出于上帝的人听上帝的话,你们不听上帝的话,因为你们不是出于上帝。”

48 犹太人对祂说:“我们说你是撒玛利亚人[c],被鬼附身了,难道不对吗?”

49 耶稣说:“我没有被鬼附身。我尊敬我的父,你们却侮辱我。 50 我不为自己寻求荣耀,但有一位会为我寻求,祂也会断定谁是谁非。 51 我实实在在地告诉你们,人如果遵行我的道,必永远不死。”

52 那些犹太人说:“现在我们的确知道你是被鬼附身了!亚伯拉罕和众先知都死了,你还说人如果遵行你的道,必永远不死。 53 难道你比我们的祖先亚伯拉罕还大吗?他死了,先知们也死了,你以为你是谁?”

54 耶稣说:“如果我为自己争取荣耀,那荣耀算不了什么。但使我得荣耀的是我的父,你们也称祂为你们的上帝。 55 你们不认识祂,我却认识祂。如果我说我不认识祂,那我就像你们一样是说谎的。然而,我认识祂,并且遵行祂的道。 56 你们的祖先亚伯拉罕曾经欢欢喜喜地盼望看见我来的日子。他看见了,就欢喜快乐。”

57 犹太人说:“你还不到五十岁,怎么会见过亚伯拉罕呢?”

58 耶稣说:“我实实在在地告诉你们,亚伯拉罕还没有出生,我就已经存在了[d]。” 59 于是,他们就拿起石头要打祂,耶稣却避开他们,离开了圣殿。

Footnotes

  1. 8:24 耶稣用“我就是”这个词提醒听众祂就是出埃及记3:14节提到的那位自有永有的上帝,8:28同。
  2. 8:38 犹太文化中,“父”可指生身的父,亦可泛指祖先。
  3. 8:48 撒玛利亚人血统不纯,常被犹太人藐视,并当作骂人的话。
  4. 8:58 我就已经存在了”希腊文是“我是”,参见8:24注。

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he went back to the Temple area. The people all came to him, and he sat and taught them.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman they had caught in bed with a man who was not her husband. They forced her to stand in front of the people. They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The Law of Moses commands us to stone to death any such woman. What do you say we should do?”

They were saying this to trick Jesus. They wanted to catch him saying something wrong so that they could have a charge against him. But Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. The Jewish leaders continued to ask him their question. So he stood up and said, “Anyone here who has never sinned should throw the first stone at her.” Then Jesus stooped down again and wrote on the ground.

When they heard this, they began to leave one by one. The older men left first, and then the others. Jesus was left alone with the woman standing there in front of him. 10 He looked up again and said to her, “Where did they all go? Did no one judge you guilty?”

11 She answered, “No one, sir.”

Then Jesus said, “I don’t judge you either. You can go now, but don’t sin again.”[a]

Jesus Is the Light of the World

12 Later, Jesus talked to the people again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never live in darkness. They will have the light that gives life.”

13 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “When you talk about yourself, you are the only one to say that these things are true. So we cannot accept what you say.”

14 Jesus answered, “Yes, I am saying these things about myself. But people can believe what I say, because I know where I came from. And I know where I am going. But you don’t know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You judge me the way people judge other people. I don’t judge anyone. 16 But if I judge, my judging is true, because when I judge I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. 17 Your own law says that when two witnesses say the same thing, you must accept what they say. 18 I am one of the witnesses who speaks about myself. And the Father who sent me is my other witness.”

19 The people asked, “Where is your father?”

Jesus answered, “You don’t know me or my Father. But if you knew me, you would know my Father too.” 20 Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the Temple area, near the room where the Temple offerings were kept. But no one arrested him, because the right time for him had not yet come.

Some Jews Don’t Understand Jesus

21 Again, Jesus said to the people, “I will leave you. You will look for me, but you will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going.”

22 So the Jewish leaders asked themselves, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he said, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?”

23 But Jesus said to them, “You people are from here below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don’t belong to this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins. Yes, if you don’t believe that I Am,[b] you will die in your sins.”

25 They asked, “Then who are you?”

Jesus answered, “I am what I have told you from the beginning. 26 I have much more I could say to judge you. But I tell people only what I have heard from the one who sent me, and he speaks the truth.”

27 They did not understand who he was talking about. He was telling them about the Father. 28 So he said to them, “You will lift up[c] the Son of Man. Then you will know that I Am. You will know that whatever I do is not by my own authority. You will know that I say only what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me. I always do what pleases him. So he has not left me alone.” 30 While he was saying these things, many people believed in him.

Jesus Talks About Freedom From Sin

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “If you continue to accept and obey my teaching, you are really my followers. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

33 They answered, “We are Abraham’s descendants. And we have never been slaves. So why do you say that we will be free?”

34 Jesus said, “The truth is, everyone who sins is a slave—a slave to sin. 35 A slave does not stay with a family forever. But a son belongs to the family forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you are really free. 37 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. But you want to kill me, because you don’t want to accept my teaching. 38 I am telling you what my Father has shown me. But you do what your father has told you.”

39 They said, “Our father is Abraham.”

Jesus said, “If you were really Abraham’s descendants, you would do what Abraham did. 40 I am someone who has told you the truth I heard from God. But you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like that. 41 So you are doing what your own father did.”

But they said, “We are not like children who never knew who their father was. God is our Father. He is the only Father we have.”

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were really your Father, you would love me. I came from God, and now I am here. I did not come by my own authority. God sent me. 43 You don’t understand the things I say, because you cannot accept my teaching. 44 Your father is the devil. You belong to him. You want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning. He was always against the truth. There is no truth in him. He is like the lies he tells. Yes, the devil is a liar. He is the father of lies.

45 “I am telling you the truth, and that’s why you don’t believe me. 46 Can any of you prove that I am guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God accepts what he says. But you don’t accept what God says, because you don’t belong to God.”

Jesus Talks About Himself and Abraham

48 The Jews there answered, “We say you are a Samaritan. We say a demon is making you crazy! Are we not right when we say this?”

49 Jesus answered, “I have no demon in me. I give honor to my Father, but you give no honor to me. 50 I am not trying to get honor for myself. There is one who wants this honor for me. He is the judge. 51 I promise you, whoever continues to obey my teaching will never die.”

52 The Jews said to Jesus, “Now we know that you have a demon in you! Even Abraham and the prophets died. But you say, ‘Whoever obeys my teaching will never die.’ 53 Do you think you are greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

54 Jesus answered, “If I give honor to myself, that honor is worth nothing. The one who gives me honor is my Father. And you say that he is your God. 55 But you don’t really know him. I know him. If I said I did not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey what he says. 56 Your father Abraham was very happy that he would see the day when I came. He saw that day and was happy.”

57 The Jews said to Jesus, “What? How can you say you have seen Abraham? You are not even 50 years old!”

58 Jesus answered, “The fact is, before Abraham was born, I Am.” 59 When he said this, they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid, and then he left the Temple area.

Footnotes

  1. John 8:11 The oldest and best Greek copies do not have verses 7:53–8:11. Other copies have this section in different places.
  2. John 8:24 I Am This is like the name of God used in the Old Testament. See Isa. 41:4; 43:10; Ex. 3:14. However, it can also mean “I am he,” meaning “I am the Messiah.” Also in verses 28, 58.
  3. John 8:28 lift up Meaning to be nailed to a cross and “lifted up” on it to die. It may also have a second meaning: to be “lifted up” from death to heaven.

But Jesus went into the mount of Olives.

And early again he came into the temple; and all the people came to him; and he sat, and taught them.

And scribes and Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery, and they setted her in the middle [and set her in the middle],

and said to him, Master, this woman is now taken in adultery.

And in the law Moses commanded us to stone such; therefore what sayest thou?

And they said this thing tempting him, that they might accuse him. And Jesus bowed himself down, and wrote with his finger in the earth.

And when they abided asking him [Soothly when they lasted, or continued, asking him], he raised himself, and said to them, He of you that is without sin, first cast a stone into her.

And again he bowed [down] himself, and wrote in the earth.

And they hearing these things, went away one after another, and they began from the elder men [Soothly they hearing these things, went away one after another, they beginning at the elder men]; and Jesus dwelt alone, and the woman standing in the middle.

10 And Jesus raised himself, and said to her, Woman, where be they that accused thee? no man hath condemned thee.

11 She said, No man, Lord. Jesus said to her, Neither I shall condemn thee; go thou, and now after do not thou sin no more[a].

12 Therefore again Jesus spake to them, and said [saying], I am the light of the world; he that followeth me, walketh not in darknesses, but shall have the light of life.

13 Therefore the Pharisees said, Thou bearest witnessing of thyself; thy witnessing is not true.

14 Jesus answered, and said to them, And if I bear witnessing of myself, my witnessing is true; for I know from whence I came, and whither I go. But ye know not from whence I came, nor whither I go.

15 For ye deem after the flesh, but I deem no man; [Forsooth ye deem after the flesh, I deem not any man;]

16 and if I deem, my doom is true, for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

17 And in your law it is written, that the witnessing of two men is true.

18 I am, that bear witnessing of myself, and the Father that sent me, beareth witnessing of me.

19 Therefore they said to him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Neither ye know me, nor ye know my Father; if ye knew me, peradventure ye should know also my Father.

20 Jesus spake these words in the treasury, teaching in the temple; and no man took him, for his hour came not yet.

21 Therefore again Jesus said to them, Lo! I go, and ye shall seek me, and ye shall die in your sin; whither I go, ye be not able to come [whither I go, ye may not come].

22 Therefore the Jews said, Whether he shall slay himself, for he saith, Whither I go, ye be not able to come [Whither I go, ye may come]?

23 And he said to them, Ye be of beneath, I am of above; ye be of this world, I am not of this world.

24 Therefore I said to you, that ye shall die in your sins; for if ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.

25 Therefore they said to him, Who art thou? Jesus said to them, The beginning, which also speak to you [Jesus said to them, The beginning, or the first of all thing, the which and I speak to you].

26 I have many things to speak, and to deem of you, but he that sent me is soothfast; and I speak in the world these things, that I heard of him.

27 And they knew not, that he called his Father God. [And they knew not, for he said his Father God.]

28 Therefore Jesus said to them, When ye have araised man's Son, then ye shall know, that I am, and of myself I do nothing; but as my Father taught me, I speak these things.

29 And he that sent me is with me, and left me not alone; for I do evermore those things, that be pleasing to him. [And he that sent me is with me, and left not me alone; for I do ever those things, that be pleasant to him.]

30 When he spake these things, many believed in him.

31 Therefore Jesus said to the Jews, that believed in him, If ye dwell in my word, verily ye shall be my disciples;

32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

33 Therefore the Jews answered to him, We be the seed of Abraham, and we served never to [no] man; how sayest thou, That ye shall be free [how sayest thou, Ye shall be free]?

34 Jesus answered to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, each man that doeth sin, is [the] servant of sin.

35 And the servant dwelleth not in the house without end [into without end], but the Son dwelleth without end [into without end].

36 Therefore if the Son [shall] make you free, verily ye shall be free.

37 I know that ye be Abraham's sons, but ye seek to slay me, for my word taketh not in you.

38 I speak those things, that I saw at my Father; and ye do those things, that ye saw at your father.

39 They answered, and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith to them, If ye be the sons of Abraham, do ye the works of Abraham.

40 But now ye seek to slay me, a man that have spoken to you [the] truth, that I heard of God; Abraham did not this thing.

41 Ye do the works of your father. Therefore they said to him [And so they said to him], We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, God.

42 But Jesus saith to them, If God were your Father, soothly ye should love me; for I passed forth of God, and came [forsooth I proceeded, or went forth, of God, and came]; for neither I came of myself, but he sent me.

43 Why know ye not my speech? for ye be not able to hear my word.

44 Ye be of the father, the devil, and ye will do the desires of your father. He was a manslayer from the beginning, and he stood not in truth; for truth is not in him. When he speaketh lying [When he speaketh a lying], he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and father of it.

45 But for I say truth, ye believe not to me.

46 Who of you shall reprove me of sin? if I say truth, why believe ye not to me?

47 He that is of God, heareth the words of God; therefore ye hear not, for ye be not of God.

48 Therefore the Jews answered, and said [to him], Whether we say not well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?

49 Jesus answered, and said, I have not a devil, but I honour my Father, and ye have unhonoured me.

50 For I seek not my glory; there is he, that seeketh, and deemeth.

51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if any man keep my word, he shall not taste death without end. [Truly, truly, I say to you, if any man shall keep my word, he shall not see, or taste, death into without end.]

52 Therefore the Jews said, Now we have known, that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets, and thou sayest, If any man keep my word, he shall not taste death without end [he shall not taste death into without end].

53 Whether thou art greater than our father Abraham, that is dead, and the prophets be dead; whom makest thou thyself?

54 Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nought; my Father is, that glorifieth me, whom ye say, that he is your God.

55 And ye have not known him, but I have known him; and if I [shall] say that I know him not, I shall be a liar like to you; but I know him, and I keep his word.

56 Abraham, your father, gladded to see my day [Abraham, your father, gladded, or full out joyed, that he should see my day]; and he saw, and joyed.

57 Then the Jews said to him, Thou hast not yet fifty years, and hast thou seen Abraham?

58 Therefore Jesus said to them, Truly, truly I say to you, before that Abraham should be, I am. [Therefore Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before that Abraham was made, I am.]

59 Therefore they took stones, to cast to him; but Jesus hid him(self), and went out of the temple.

Footnotes

  1. John 8:11 and now afterward, do not thou do sin/do not thou sin