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but Jesus walked out to the Mount of Olives. Then early the next morning he went to the temple. The people came to him, and he sat down[a] and started teaching them.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who wasn't her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. Then they said, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn't her husband. (A) The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?”

They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.

(B) They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!” Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground. The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone.

10 Jesus stood up and asked her, “Where is everyone? Isn't there anyone left to accuse you?”

11 “No sir,” the woman answered.

Then Jesus told her, “I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don't sin anymore.”[b]

Jesus Is the Light for the World

12 (C) Once again Jesus spoke to the people. This time he said, “I am the light for the world! Follow me, and you won't be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life.”

13 (D) The Pharisees objected, “You are the only one speaking for yourself, and what you say isn't true!”

14 Jesus replied:

Even if I do speak for myself, what I say is true! I know where I came from and where I am going. But you don't know where I am from or where I am going. 15 You judge in the same way that everyone else does, but I don't judge anyone. 16 If I did judge, I would judge fairly, because I would not be doing it alone. The Father who sent me is here with me. 17 (E) Your Law requires two witnesses to prove that something is true. 18 I am one of my witnesses, and the Father who sent me is the other one.

19 “Where is your Father?” they asked.

“You don't know me or my Father!” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would know my Father.”

20 Jesus said this while he was still teaching in the place where the temple treasures were stored. But no one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.[c]

You Cannot Go Where I Am Going

21 Jesus also told them, “I am going away, and you will look for me. But you cannot go where I am going, and you will die with your sins unforgiven.”

22 The people asked, “Does he intend to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying we cannot go where he is going?”

23 Jesus answered, “You are from below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don't. 24 This is why I said you will die with your sins unforgiven. If you don't have faith in me for who I am,[d] you will die, and your sins will not be forgiven.”

25 “Who are you?” they asked Jesus.

Jesus answered, “I am exactly who I told you at the beginning. 26 There is a lot more I could say to condemn you. But the one who sent me is truthful, and I tell the people of this world only what I have heard from him.”

27 No one understood that Jesus was talking to them about the Father.

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Footnotes

  1. 8.2 sat down: See the note at 6.3,4.
  2. 8.11 don't sin anymore: Verses 1-11 are not in some manuscripts. In other manuscripts these verses are placed after 7.36 or after 21.25 or after Luke 21.38, with some differences in the text.
  3. 8.20 his time had not yet come: See the note at 2.4.
  4. 8.24 I am: For the Jewish people the most holy name of God is “Yahweh,” which may be translated “I am.” In the Gospel of John “I am” is sometimes used by Jesus to show that he is that one.

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