John 8:31–47

The Truth Will Set You Free

³¹Then Jesus said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³They replied to him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have not been enslaved to anyone at any time. How do you say, ‘You will become free’?” ³⁴Jesus replied to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵And the slave does not remain in the household forever;^o the son remains forever.^{p 36}So if the son sets you free, you will be truly free. ³⁷I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are seeking to kill me, because my word makes no progress among you. ³⁸I speak the things that I have seen with the Father; so also you do the things that you have heard from the Father.”

The Priority of Jesus Over Abraham

³⁹They answered and said to him, “Abraham is our father!” Jesus said to them, “If you are children of Abraham, do the deeds of Abraham! ⁴⁰But now you are seeking to kill me, a man who spoke to you the truth which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. ⁴¹You are doing the deeds of your father!”

They said^q to him, “We were not born from sexual immorality! We have one father, God!” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I have come forth from God and have come. For I have not come from myself, but that one sent me. ⁴³Why^r do you not understand my way of speaking? Because you are not able to listen to my message. ⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father! That one was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth, because truth is not in him. Whenever he speaks the lie, he speaks from his own nature,^* because he is a liar and the father of lies.^{s 45}But because I am telling the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Who among you convicts me concerning sin? If I am telling the truth, why^t do you not believe me? ⁴⁷The one who is from God listens to the words of God. Because of this you do not listen—because you are not of God.”