John 8:21–45

JESUS PREDICTS HIS DEPARTURE

²¹Then he said to them again, “I’m going away;^ae you will look for me, and you will die in your sin.^af Where I’m going, you cannot come.”^ag

²²So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’^ah?”

²³“You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above.^ai You are of this world;^aj I am not of this world.^{ak 24}Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

²⁵“Who are you?” they questioned.

“Exactly what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. ²⁶“I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the one who sent me^al is true, and what I have heard from him—these things I tell the world.”^am

²⁷They did not know he was speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man,^an then you will know that I am^ao he, and that I do nothing on my own.^ap But just as the Father taught me, I say these things. ²⁹The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone,^aq because I always do what pleases him.”

TRUTH AND FREEDOM

³⁰As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

³¹Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word,^a you really are my disciples. ³²You will know the truth,^b and the truth will set you free.”

³³“We are descendants of Abraham,”^c they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.^{d 35}A slave does not remain in the household forever,^e but a son does remain forever.^{f 36}So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. ³⁷I know you are descendants of Abraham,^g but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. ³⁸I speak what I have seen^h in the presence of the Father;^Ci so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”

³⁹“Our father is Abraham,” they replied.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did.^{j 40}But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth^k that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. ⁴¹You’re doing what your father does.”^l

“We weren’t born^m of sexual immorality,”ⁿ they said. “We have one Father—God.”^o

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,^p because I came from God^q and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. ⁴³Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to^A my word.^{r 44}You are of your father the devil,^s and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer^t from the beginning^u and does not stand in the truth,^v because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature,^B because he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.