Jesus Forgives a Sinful Woman

³⁶ Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus^[a] to eat with him. So he went to the Pharisee’s home and took his place at the table. ³⁷ There was a woman who was a notorious^[b] sinner in that city. When she learned that Jesus^[c] was eating at the Pharisee’s home, she took an alabaster jar of perfume ³⁸ and knelt at his feet behind him. She was crying and began to wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair.^[d] Then she kissed his feet over and over again, anointing them constantly with the perfume.

³⁹ Now the Pharisee who had invited Jesus^[e] saw this and told himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what kind of woman she is. She’s a sinner!”

⁴⁰ Jesus told him, “Simon, I have something to ask you.”

“Teacher,” he replied, “ask it.”

⁴¹ “Two men were in debt to a moneylender. One owed him 500 denarii,^[f] and the other 50. ⁴² When they couldn’t pay it back, he generously canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon answered, “I suppose the one who had the larger debt canceled.”

Jesus^[g] told him, “You have answered correctly.”

⁴⁴ Then, turning to the woman, he told Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You didn’t give me any water for my feet, but this woman has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You didn’t give me a kiss,^[h] but this woman, from the moment I came in, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with perfume. ⁴⁷ So I’m telling you that her sins, as many as they are, have been forgiven, and that’s why she has shown such great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus^[i] told her, “Your sins are forgiven!”

⁴⁹ Those who were at the table with them began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ But Jesus^[j] told the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Love One Another

¹¹ This is the message that you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² Do not be like Cain,^[a] who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because what he was doing was evil and his brother’s actions^[b] were righteous. ¹³ So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love one another. The person who does not love^[c] remains spiritually^[d] dead. ¹⁵ Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life present in him. ¹⁶ This is how we have come to know love: the Messiah^[e] gave his life for us. We, too, ought to give our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷ Whoever has earthly possessions and notices a brother in need and yet withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God be present in him? ¹⁸ Little children, we must stop expressing love merely by our words and manner of speech; we must love^[f] also in action^[g] and in truth. ¹⁹ This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we will be able to keep ourselves^[h] strong in his presence.

²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God. ²² Whatever we request we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus the Messiah,^[i] and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The person who keeps his commandments abides in God,^[j] and God abides in him.^[k] This is how we can be sure that he remains in us: he has given us his Spirit.

God’s Love Lives in Us

⁷ Dear friends, let us continuously love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. ⁸ The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent his uniquely existing Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we have loved^[a] God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹³ This is how we know that we abide in him and he in us: he has given us his Spirit.

¹⁴ We have seen for ourselves and can testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ God abides in the one who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, and he abides in God. ¹⁶ We have come to know and rely on^[b] the love that God has for us. God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ This is how love has been perfected among us: we will have confidence on the day of judgment because, during our time in this world, we are just like him. ¹⁸ There is no fear where love exists.^[c] Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.

¹⁹ We love^[d] because God^[e] first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever says, “I love God,” but hates his brother is a liar. The one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love the God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this is the commandment that we have from him: the person who loves God must also love his brother.