John 8:1–20

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

Jesus the Light of the World

^12*Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”

^13*The Pharisees said to him, “Now you are testifying on your own behalf; what you say proves nothing.”

¹⁴“No,” Jesus answered, “even though I do testify on my own behalf, what I say is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. You do not know where I came from or where I am going. ¹⁵You make judgements in a purely human way; I pass judgement on no one. ¹⁶But if I were to do so, my judgement would be true, because I am not alone in this; the Father who sent me is with me. ^17*It is written in your Law that when two witnesses agree, what they say is true. ¹⁸I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me also testifies on my behalf.”

¹⁹“Where is your father?” they asked him.

“You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

²⁰Jesus said all this as he taught in the Temple, in the room where the offering boxes were placed. And no one arrested him, because his hour had not come.