John 8:21-30
Good News Translation
You Cannot Go Where I Am Going
21 Again Jesus said to them, “I will go away; you will look for me, but you will die in your sins. You cannot go where I am going.”
22 So the Jewish authorities said, “He says that we cannot go where he is going. Does this mean that he will kill himself?”
23 Jesus answered, “You belong to this world here below, but I come from above. You are from this world, but I am not from this world. 24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you will die in your sins if you do not believe that ‘I Am Who I Am’.”
25 “Who are you?” they asked him.
Jesus answered, “What I have told you from the very beginning.[a] 26 I have much to say about you, much to condemn you for. The one who sent me, however, is truthful, and I tell the world only what I have heard from him.”
27 They did not understand that Jesus was talking to them about the Father. 28 So he said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that ‘I Am Who I Am’; then you will know that I do nothing on my own authority, but I say only what the Father has instructed me to say. 29 And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”
30 Many who heard Jesus say these things believed in him.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- John 8:25 What I have told you from the very beginning; or Why should I speak to you at all?
John 8:21-30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Foretells His Death
21 Again he said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”(A) 22 Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are from this world, I am not from this world.(B) 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.”[a](C) 25 They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all?[b] 26 I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”(D) 27 They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he[c] and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.(E) 29 And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.”(F) 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Read full chapter
John 8:21-30
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
21 Again therefore Jesus said to them: I go, and you shall seek me, and you shall die in your sin. Whither I go, you cannot come.
22 The Jews therefore said: Will he kill himself, because he said: Whither 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 if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sin.
25 They said therefore to him: Who art thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning, who also speak unto you.
26 Many things I have to speak and to judge of you. But he that sent me, is true: and the things I have heard of him, these same I speak in the world.
27 And they understood not, that he called God his Father.
28 Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know, that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father hath taught me, these things I speak:
29 And he that sent me, is with me, and he hath not left me alone: for I do always the things that please him.
30 When he spoke these things, many believed in him.
Read full chapter
John 8:21-30
The Message
21 Then he went over the same ground again. “I’m leaving and you are going to look for me, but you’re missing God in this and are headed for a dead end. There is no way you can come with me.”
22 The Jews said, “So, is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by ‘You can’t come with me’?”
23-24 Jesus said, “You’re tied down to the mundane; I’m in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I’m living on other terms. I told you that you were missing God in all this. You’re at a dead end. If you won’t believe I am who I say I am, you’re at the dead end of sins. You’re missing God in your lives.”
25-26 They said to him, “Just who are you anyway?”
Jesus said, “What I’ve said from the start. I have so many things to say that concern you, judgments to make that affect you, but if you don’t accept the trustworthiness of the One who commanded my words and acts, none of it matters. That is who you are questioning—not me but the One who sent me.”
27-29 They still didn’t get it, didn’t realize that he was referring to the Father. So Jesus tried again. “When you raise up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am—that I’m not making this up, but speaking only what the Father taught me. The One who sent me stays with me. He doesn’t abandon me. He sees how much joy I take in pleasing him.”
30 When he put it in these terms, many people decided to believe.
Read full chapterGood News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson