John 8
New American Standard Bible
The Adulterous Woman
8 But Jesus went to (A)the Mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning He came again into the temple area, and all the people were coming to Him; and (B)He sat down and began teaching them. 3 Now the scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in the act of adultery, and after placing her in the center of the courtyard, 4 they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the Law, (C)Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 6 Now they were saying this to (D)test Him, (E)so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 When they persisted in asking Him, (F)He straightened up and said to them, “(G)He who is without sin among you, let him be the (H)first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Now when they heard this, they began leaving, one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman where she was, in the center of the courtyard. 10 And (I)straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, [a]Lord.” And Jesus said, “(J)I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not (K)sin any longer.”]]
Jesus Is the Light of the World
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “(L)I am the Light of the world; (M)the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “(N)You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not [b]true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “(O)Even if I am testifying about Myself, My testimony is [c]true, because I know (P)where I came from and where I am going; but (Q)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 (R)You judge [d]according to the flesh; (S)I am not judging anyone. 16 But even (T)if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in (U)your Law it has been written that the testimony of (V)two people is [e]true. 18 I am He who testifies about Myself, and (W)the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” 19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; (X)if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” 20 These words He spoke [f]in (Y)the treasury, as (Z)He taught in the temple area; and no one arrested Him, because (AA)His hour had not yet come.
21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and (AB)you will look for Me, and (AC)will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So (AD)the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘(AE)Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 And He was saying to them, “(AF)You are from below, I am from above; (AG)you are of this world, (AH)I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you (AI)will die in your sins; for unless you believe that [g](AJ)I am, (AK)you will die in your sins.” 25 Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “[h]What have I even been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but (AL)He who sent Me is true; and (AM)the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.” 27 They did not realize that He was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you (AN)lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that [i](AO)I am, and (AP)I do nothing [j]on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me; (AQ)He [k]has not left Me alone, for (AR)I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” 30 As He said these things, (AS)many came to believe in Him.
The Truth Will Set You Free
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “(AT)If you continue in My word, then you are truly My (AU)disciples; 32 and (AV)you will know the truth, and (AW)the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered Him, “(AX)We are Abraham’s descendants 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, (AY)everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 Now (AZ)the slave does not remain in the house forever; (BA)the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son (BB)sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know that you are (BC)Abraham’s descendants; yet (BD)you are seeking to kill Me, because My word [l]has no place in you. 38 I speak of the things which I have seen [m]with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from (BE)your father.”
39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is (BF)our father.” Jesus *said to them, “(BG)If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 But as it is, (BH)you are seeking to kill Me, a Man who has (BI)told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 You are doing the deeds of (BJ)your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born as a result of sexual immorality; (BK)we have one Father: God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, (BL)you would love Me, (BM)for I came forth from God and am here; for I have (BN)not even come [n]on My own, but [o](BO)He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand [p](BP)what I am saying? It is because you cannot (BQ)listen to My word. 44 (BR)You are of (BS)your father the devil, and (BT)you want to do the desires of your father. (BU)He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because (BV)there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells [q]a lie, he (BW)speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of [r]lies. 45 But because (BX)I say the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If (BY)I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 (BZ)The one who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
48 (CA)The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not rightly say that You are a (CB)Samaritan, and You (CC)have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not (CD)have a demon; on the contrary, I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 But (CE)I am not seeking My glory; there is One who seeks it, and judges. 51 Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone (CF)follows My word, he will never (CG)see death.” 52 (CH)The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You (CI)have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets as well; and yet You say, ‘If anyone (CJ)follows My word, he will never (CK)taste of death.’ 53 You (CL)are not greater than our father Abraham, who died, are You? The prophets died too. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “(CM)If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; (CN)it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 55 and (CO)you have not come to know Him, (CP)but I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I will be (CQ)a liar like you; (CR)but I do know Him, and I (CS)follow His word. 56 (CT)Your father Abraham was (CU)overjoyed that he would see My day, and he saw it and rejoiced.” 57 (CV)So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham [s]was born, [t](CW)I am.” 59 Therefore they (CX)picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus (CY)hid Himself and left the temple grounds.
Footnotes
- John 8:11 Or Sir
- John 8:13 Or valid
- John 8:14 Or valid
- John 8:15 I.e., by a carnal standard
- John 8:17 I.e., valid or admissible
- John 8:20 Or at
- John 8:24 Or I AM, you will die...; Jesus may be referring to Ex 3:14, I AM WHO I AM
- John 8:25 Or That which I have even been saying to you from the beginning
- John 8:28 Or I AM, and...; (see note v 24)
- John 8:28 Or of Myself
- John 8:29 Or did not leave
- John 8:37 Or is making no headway among you
- John 8:38 Or in the presence of
- John 8:42 Or of Myself
- John 8:42 Lit that One
- John 8:43 Or My way of speaking
- John 8:44 Lit the lie
- John 8:44 Lit it
- John 8:58 Lit came into being
- John 8:58 Or I AM; Jesus may be referring to Ex 3:14, I AM WHO I AM
John 8
GOD’S WORD Translation
A Woman Caught in Adultery
8 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early the next morning he returned to the temple courtyard. All the people went to him, so he sat down and began to teach them.
3 The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone 4 and asked Jesus, “Teacher, we caught this woman in the act of adultery. 5 In his teachings, Moses ordered us to stone women like this to death. What do you say?” 6 They asked this to test him. They wanted to find a reason to bring charges against him.
Jesus bent down and used his finger to write on the ground. 7 When they persisted in asking him questions, he straightened up and said, “The person who is sinless should be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground.
9 One by one, beginning with the older men, the experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees left. Jesus was left alone with the woman. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Where did they go? Has anyone condemned you?”
11 The woman answered, “No one, sir.”
Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you either. Go! From now on don’t sin.”
Jesus Speaks with the Pharisees about His Father
12 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have a life filled with light and will never live in the dark.”
13 The Pharisees said to him, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony isn’t true.”
14 Jesus replied to them, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and where I’m going. However, you don’t know where I came from or where I’m going. 15 You judge the way humans do. I don’t judge anyone. 16 Even if I do judge, my judgment is valid because I don’t make it on my own. I make my judgment with the Father who sent me. 17 Your own teachings say that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and so does the Father who sent me.”
19 The Pharisees asked him, “Where is your father?”
Jesus replied, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”
20 Jesus spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury area of the temple courtyard. No one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.
21 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I’m going away, and you’ll look for me. But you will die because of your sin. You can’t go where I’m going.”
22 Then the Jews asked, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means when he says, ‘You can’t go where I’m going’?”
23 Jesus said to them, “You’re from below. I’m from above. You’re from this world. I’m not from this world. 24 For this reason I told you that you’ll die because of your sins. If you don’t believe that I am the one, you’ll die because of your sins.”
25 The Jews asked him, “Who did you say you are?”
Jesus told them, “I am who I said I was from the beginning. 26 I have a lot I could say about you and a lot I could condemn you for. But the one who sent me is true. So I tell the world exactly what he has told me.” 27 (The Jews didn’t know that he was talking to them about the Father.)
28 So Jesus told them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you’ll know that I am the one and that I can’t do anything on my own. Instead, I speak as the Father taught me. 29 Besides, the one who sent me is with me. He hasn’t left me by myself. I always do what pleases him.”
30 As Jesus was saying this, many people believed in him. 31 So Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They replied to Jesus, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and we’ve never been anyone’s slaves. So how can you say that we will be set free?”
34 Jesus answered them, “I can guarantee this truth: Whoever lives a sinful life is a slave to sin. 35 A slave doesn’t live in the home forever, but a son does. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free. 37 I know that you’re Abraham’s descendants. However, you want to kill me because you don’t like what I’m saying. 38 What I’m saying is what I have seen in my Father’s presence. But you do what you’ve heard from your father.”
39 The Jews replied to Jesus, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus told them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did. 40 I am a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. But now you want to kill me. Abraham wouldn’t have done that. 41 You’re doing what your father does.”
The Jews said to Jesus, “We’re not illegitimate children. God is our only Father.”
42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me. After all, I’m here, and I came from God. I didn’t come on my own. Instead, God sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand the language I use? Is it because you can’t understand the words I use? 44 You come from your father, the devil, and you desire to do what your father wants you to do. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn’t know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he’s doing what comes naturally to him. He’s a liar and the father of lies. 45 So you don’t believe me because I tell the truth. 46 Can any of you convict me of committing a sin? If I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The person who belongs to God understands what God says. You don’t understand because you don’t belong to God.”
48 The Jews replied to Jesus, “Aren’t we right when we say that you’re a Samaritan and that you’re possessed by a demon?”
49 Jesus answered, “I’m not possessed. I honor my Father, but you dishonor me. 50 I don’t want my own glory. But there is someone who wants it, and he is the judge. 51 I can guarantee this truth: Whoever obeys what I say will never see death.”
52 The Jews told Jesus, “Now we know that you’re possessed by a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets, but you say, ‘Whoever does what I say will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets have also died. Who do you think you are?”
54 Jesus said, “If I bring glory to myself, my glory is nothing. My Father is the one who gives me glory, and you say that he is your God. 55 Yet, you haven’t known him. However, I know him. If I would say that I didn’t know him, I would be a liar like all of you. But I do know him, and I do what he says. 56 Your father Abraham was pleased to see that my day was coming. He saw it and was happy.”
57 The Jews said to Jesus, “You’re not even fifty years old. How could you have seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus told them, “I can guarantee this truth: Before Abraham was ever born, I am.”
59 Then some of the Jews picked up stones to throw at Jesus. However, Jesus was concealed, and he left the temple courtyard.
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