John 8
Common English Bible
8 1 And Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he returned to the temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The legal experts and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. Placing her in the center of the group, 4 they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone women like this. What do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, because they wanted a reason to bring an accusation against him. Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.
7 They continued to question him, so he stood up and replied, “Whoever hasn’t sinned should throw the first stone.” 8 Bending down again, he wrote on the ground. 9 Those who heard him went away, one by one, beginning with the elders. Finally, only Jesus and the woman were left in the middle of the crowd.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Is there no one to condemn you?”
11 She said, “No one, sir.”[a]
Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, don’t sin anymore.”[b]
Jesus continues to teach in the temple
12 Jesus spoke to the people again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me won’t walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
13 Then the Pharisees said to him, “Because you are testifying about yourself, your testimony isn’t valid.”
14 Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, since I know where I came from and where I’m going. You don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. 15 You judge according to human standards, but I judge no one. 16 Even if I do judge, my judgment is truthful, because I’m not alone. My judgments come from me and from the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the witness of two people is true. 18 I am one witness concerning myself, and the Father who sent me is the other.”
19 They asked him, “Where is your Father?”
Jesus answered, “You don’t know me and you don’t know my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” 20 He spoke these words while he was teaching in the temple area known as the treasury. No one arrested him, because his time hadn’t yet come.
21 Jesus continued, “I’m going away. You will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you can’t come.”
22 The Jewish leaders said, “He isn’t going to kill himself, is he? Is that why he said, ‘Where I’m going, you can’t come’?”
23 He said to them, “You are from below; I’m from above. You are from this world; I’m not from this world. 24 This is why I told you that you would die in your sins. If you don’t believe that I Am, you will die in your sins.”
25 “Who are you?” they asked.
Jesus replied, “I’m exactly who I have claimed to be from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say in judgment concerning you. The one who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” 27 They didn’t know he was speaking about his Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When the Human One[c] is lifted up,[d] then you will know that I Am.[e] Then you will know that I do nothing on my own, but I say just what the Father has taught me. 29 He who sent me is with me. He doesn’t leave me by myself, because I always do what makes him happy.” 30 While Jesus was saying these things, many people came to believe in him.
Children of Abraham
31 Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They responded, “We are Abraham’s children; we’ve never been anyone’s slaves. How can you say that we will be set free?”
34 Jesus answered, “I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 A slave isn’t a permanent member of the household, but a son is. 36 Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you really will be free. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s children, yet you want to kill me because you don’t welcome my teaching. 38 I’m telling you what I’ve seen when I am with the Father, but you are doing what you’ve heard from your father.”
39 They replied, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus responded, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do Abraham’s works. 40 Instead, you want to kill me, though I am the one who has spoken the truth I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this. 41 You are doing your father’s works.”
They said, “Our ancestry isn’t in question! The only Father we have is God!”
42 Jesus replied, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God. Here I am. I haven’t come on my own. God sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I’m saying? It’s because you can’t really hear my words. 44 Your father is the devil. You are his children, and you want to do what your father wants. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has never stood for the truth, because there’s no truth in him. Whenever that liar speaks, he speaks according to his own nature, because he’s a liar and the father of liars. 45 Because I speak the truth, you don’t believe me. 46 Who among you can show I’m guilty of sin? Since I speak the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 God’s children listen to God’s words. You don’t listen to me because you aren’t God’s children.”
48 The Jewish opposition answered, “We were right to say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon, weren’t we?”
49 “I don’t have a demon,” Jesus replied. “But I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I’m not trying to bring glory to myself. There’s one who is seeking to glorify me, and he’s the judge. 51 I assure you that whoever keeps my word will never die.”
Abraham and Jesus
52 The Jewish opposition said to Jesus, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham and the prophets died, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never die.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died and the prophets died, so who do you make yourself out to be?”
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is meaningless. My Father, who you say is your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 You don’t know him, but I do. If I said I didn’t know him, I would be like you, a liar. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see my day. He saw it and was happy.”
57 “You aren’t even 50 years old!” the Jewish opposition replied. “How can you say that you have seen Abraham?”
58 “I assure you,” Jesus replied, “before Abraham was, I Am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and left the temple.
John 8
Revised Geneva Translation
8 But, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning, He came into the Temple again. And all the people came to Him. And He sat down and taught them.
3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought to Him a woman taken in adultery. And setting her in their midst,
4 they said to Him, “Master, we found this woman committing adultery, even in the very act.
5 “Now Moses, in our Law, commanded that such should be stoned. What do You say, therefore?”
6 Now they said this to tempt Him, so that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus, having stooped down, wrote on the ground with His finger.
7 And while they continued asking Him, He lifted Himself up, and said to them, “Let the one among you without sin cast the first stone at her.”
8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 And when they heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, they went out, one by one, beginning at the eldest, until the last. And Jesus was left alone, with the woman, standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted Himself up again, and saw no one except the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Nor do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.”
13 Therefore, the Pharisees said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself. Your record is not true.”
14 Jesus answered, and said to them, “Even though I bear witness of Myself, My record is true. For I know from where I come, and to where I go. But you cannot tell from where I came, and to where I go.
15 “You judge after the flesh. I judge no one.
16 “If, however, I do judge, My judgment is true. For I am not alone, but I and the Father Who sent Me.
17 “And it is also written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true.
18 “I am One who bears witness of Myself. And the Father, Who sent Me, bears witness of Me.”
19 Then they said to Him, “Where is this Father of Yours?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.
20 Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as He taught in the Temple. And no one laid hands on Him. For His hour had not yet come.
21 Then Jesus said again to them, “I go My way. And you shall seek Me and shall die in your sins. Where I go, you cannot come.”
22 Then said the Jews, “Will He kill himself? Because, He says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
23 And He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world.
24 “Therefore I said to you that you shall die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.”
25 Then they said to Him, “Who are you?” And Jesus said to them, “Still the same that I said to you from the beginning.
26 “I have many things to say and to judge concerning you. But the One Who sent Me is true. And the things that I have heard from Him, those I speak to the world.”
27 They did not understand what He spoke to them about the Father.
28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you shall know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself. But as My Father has taught Me, I spoke these things.
29 “For He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, because I always do those things that please Him.”
30 As He spoke these things, many believed in Him.
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed in Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.
32 “And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s seed, and were never slave to anyone. Why then do You say, ‘You shall be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you that whoever commits sin is the servant of sin.
35 “And the servant does not abide in the house forever. But the Son abides forever.
36 “If, therefore, the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
37 “I know that you are Abraham’s seed. But you seek to kill Me because My Word has no place in you.
38 “I speak that which I have seen with My Father. And you do that which you have seen with your father.”
39 They answered, and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
40 “But now you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I have heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
41 “You do the works of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We are not born of fornication. We have one Father, Who is God.”
42 Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, then you would love Me. For I proceeded forth and came from God. I did not even come of Myself, but He sent Me.
43 “Why do you not understand My talk? Because you cannot hear My word.
44 “You are of your father, the devil. And you will do the lusts of your father. He has been a murderer from the beginning, and did not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, then he speaks of his own. For he is a liar and the father thereof.
45 “And because I tell you the truth, you do not believe Me.
46 “Which of you can rebuke Me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe Me?
47 “The one who is of God hears God’s Words. You, therefore, do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
48 Then the Jews answered, and said to Him, “Are we not correct in saying that You are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
49 Jesus answered, “I have no demon. But I honor My Father. And you have dishonored Me.
50 “And I do not seek My own praise. But there is One Who seeks it, and judges.
51 “Truly, truly I say to you, “If anyone keeps My Word, he shall never see death.”
52 Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham is dead, and the Prophets, and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My Word, he shall never taste of death.
53 “Are You greater than our father, Abraham, who is dead?! And the Prophets are dead! Who do You think You are!?”
54 Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is worth nothing. It is My Father Who honors Me; the One you say is your God.
55 “Yet you have not known Him. But I know Him. And if I should say I do not know Him, I would be a liar, like you. But I know Him and keep His word.
56 “Your father, Abraham, rejoiced to see My day. And he saw it and was glad.”
57 Then 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 was, I am.”
59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple. And He passed through the midst of them, and so went His way.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
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