John 7:53–8:11

⁵³(8:1a) Then everyone went home,

The Woman Caught in Adultery

8but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Early the next morning he went back to the Temple. All the people gathered round him, and he sat down and began to teach them. ³The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and they made her stand before them all. ⁴“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. ^5*In our Law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?” ⁶They said this to trap Jesus, so that they could accuse him. But he bent over and wrote on the ground with his finger. ⁷As they stood there asking him questions, he straightened himself up and said to them, “Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her.” ⁸Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground. ⁹When they heard this, they all left, one by one, the older ones first. Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰He straightened himself up and said to her, “Where are they? Is there no one left to condemn you?”

¹¹“No one, sir,” she answered.

“Well, then,” Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again.”^t