8
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn, He came back into the temple. All the people were coming to Him, and He sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst, 4 they told Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What do You say?” 6 They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds to accuse Him. Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as if He didn’t hear. 7 When they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and told them, “Let whoever is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 He stooped down, again, and wrote on the ground.
9 When they heard this, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones. Jesus was left alone with the woman still standing there. 10 Straightening up, Jesus asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
12 Jesus spoke again to the people, saying, “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me won’t walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
13 Then the Pharisees told Him, “You are testifying on your own behalf, so your testimony isn’t valid.”
14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards, but I am not judging anyone. 16 Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. 17 It’s also written in your Law that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who bears witness of myself, and my Father who sent me bears witness of me.”
19 Then they asked Him, “Where is Your Father?”
Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you had known me, you would have known my Father, too.”
20 Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as He taught in the temple. Nobody laid hands on Him, for His time had not yet come.
21 Jesus told them again, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you can’t come.”
22 Therefore the Jews were saying, “Surely He won’t kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come’?”
23 Jesus was saying to them, “You are from below. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins, because if you don’t believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
25 Then they asked Him, “Who are You?”
Jesus told them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and judge about you, but He who sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”
27 They didn’t realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So, Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father taught me. 29 He who sent me is with me. He hasn’t left me alone, because I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” 30 As Jesus spoke, many came to believe in Him.
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you continue in my words, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say that we’ll be set free?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I tell you, whoever sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave doesn’t remain in the house forever, but a son does belong forever. 36 Therefore if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. 38 I talk about what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
39 They answered, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus told 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 heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.”
Then they said to Him, “We weren’t born of fornication. We have one Father — God.”
42 Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would sincerely love me, for I came from God, and now am here. I haven’t come of my own initiative, but He sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? It’s because you can’t accept my words. 44 You are of your father, the Devil,*The meaning of the word “Devil” (Greek diabolou) is “one prone to slander, a false accuser.” and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar, and the father of lies. 45 Because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. 46 Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever is from God hears God’s words. The reason you don’t hear them is that you aren’t from God.”
48 The Jews answered and asked Him, “Aren’t we right in saying that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
49 Jesus answered, “I don’t have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 I don’t seek glory for myself, but there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge. 51 Most assuredly, I tell you, anyone who keeps my word will never see death.”
52 Then the Jews answered Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets, and You say, ‘Anyone who keeps my word will never taste death.’ 53 Surely You aren’t greater than our forefather Abraham, who died? The prophets died too. Who do You claim to be?”
54 Jesus answered, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It’s my Father, who you say is your God, who honors me. 55 Yet you haven’t come to know Him, but I know Him. If I said, ‘I don’t know Him,’ I would be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 Your forefather Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day, and he saw it and was glad.”
57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You aren’t yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”
59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.