⁴ ‘Teacher,’ they said to him, ‘this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery.^{(A) 5} In the law Moses^(B) commanded us to stone such women.^(C) So what do you say? ’ ⁶ They asked this to trap him,^(D) in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.

Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, ‘The one without sin^(E) among you^(F) should be the first to throw a stone at her.’^{(G) 8} Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. ⁹ When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the centre.