John 8 - English Standard Version (ESV)

8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ^{2 (A)}Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and ^(B)he sat down and taught them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ Now ^(C)in the Law, Moses commanded us ^(D)to stone such women. So what do you say?” ⁶ This they said ^(E)to test him, ^(F)that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ^(G)“Let him who is without sin among you ^(H)be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, ^(I)“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on ^(J)sin no more.”]]

I Am the Light of the World

^{12 (K)}Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^(L)“I am the light of the world. Whoever ^(M)follows me will not ^(N)walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ¹³ So the Pharisees said to him, ^(O)“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” ¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, ^(P)my testimony is true, for I know ^(Q)where I came from and ^(R)where I am going, but ^(S)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ^{15 (T)}You judge according to the flesh; ^(U)I judge no one. ¹⁶ Yet even if I do judge, ^(V)my judgment is true, for ^(W)it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father^[a] who sent me. ^{17 (X)}In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸ I am the one who bears witness about myself, and ^(Y)the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” ¹⁹ They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, ^(Z)“You know neither me nor my Father. ^(AA)If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰ These words he spoke in ^(AB)the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but ^(AC)no one arrested him, because ^(AD)his hour had not yet come.

²¹ So he said to them again, ^(AE)“I am going away, and ^(AF)you will seek me, and ^(AG)you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²² So the Jews said, ^(AH)“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³ He said to them, ^(AI)“You are from below; I am from above. ^(AJ)You are of this world; ^(AK)I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you ^(AL)would die in your sins, for ^(AM)unless you believe that ^(AN)I am he you will die in your sins.” ²⁵ So they said to him, ^(AO)“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have much to say about you and much to judge, but ^(AP)he who sent me is true, and I declare ^(AQ)to the world ^(AR)what I have heard from him.” ²⁷ They did not understand that ^(AS)he had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said to them, “When you have ^(AT)lifted up the Son of Man, ^(AU)then you will know that ^(AV)I am he, and that ^(AW)I do nothing on my own authority, but ^(AX)speak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹ And ^(AY)he who sent me is with me. ^(AZ)He has not left me alone, for ^(BA)I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ³⁰ As he was saying these things, ^(BB)many believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ^(BC)“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will ^(BD)know the truth, and the truth ^(BE)will set you free.” ³³ They answered him, ^(BF)“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(BG)everyone who practices sin is a slave^[b] to sin. ^{35 (BH)}The slave does not remain in the house forever; ^(BI)the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet ^(BJ)you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ^{38 (BK)}I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard ^(BL)from your father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

³⁹ They answered him, ^(BM)“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, ^(BN)“If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, ⁴⁰ but now ^(BO)you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth ^(BP)that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹ You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, ^(BQ)“We were not born of sexual immorality. We have ^(BR)one Father—even God.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(BS)“If God were your Father, you would love me, for ^(BT)I came from God and ^(BU)I am here. ^(BV)I came not of my own accord, but ^(BW)he sent me. ^{43 (BX)}Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot ^(BY)bear to hear my word. ^{44 (BZ)}You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. ^(CA)He was a murderer from the beginning, and ^(CB)does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. ^(CC)When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ^{47 (CD)}Whoever is of God hears the words of God. ^(CE)The reason why you do not hear them is that ^(CF)you are not of God.”

Before Abraham Was, I Am

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and ^(CG)have a demon?” ⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but ^(CH)I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ Yet ^(CI)I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Truly, truly, ^(CJ)I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never ^(CK)see death.” ⁵² The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! ^(CL)Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet ^(CM)you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never ^(CN)taste death.’ ^{53 (CO)}Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, ^(CP)“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. ^(CQ)It is my Father who glorifies me, ^(CR)of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’^{[c] 55} But ^(CS)you have not known him. ^(CT)I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be ^(CU)a liar ^(CV)like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. ^{56 (CW)}Your father Abraham ^(CX)rejoiced ^(CY)that he would see my day. ^(CZ)He saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”^{[d] 58} Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, ^(DA)I am.” ⁵⁹ So ^(DB)they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Footnotes

1. John 8:16 Some manuscripts he
2. John 8:34 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 35
3. John 8:54 Some manuscripts your God
4. John 8:57 Some manuscripts has Abraham seen you?

Cross references

1. John 8:2 : [Luke 21:38]
2. John 8:2 : Matt. 5:1; Luke 4:20
3. John 8:5 : Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22
4. John 8:5 : Deut. 22:24; Ezek. 16:38, 40
5. John 8:6 : Matt. 16:1; 19:3; 22:18, 35; Mark 8:11; 10:2; 12:15; Luke 10:25; 11:16
6. John 8:6 : See Luke 11:54
7. John 8:7 : Rom. 2:1, 22
8. John 8:7 : Deut. 17:7
9. John 8:11 : ver. 15; [ch. 3:17; Luke 12:14]
10. John 8:11 : ch. 5:14
11. John 8:12 : ch. 7:37, 38
12. John 8:12 : [Ps. 36:9; Isa. 42:6; 49:6; Mal. 4:2]; See ch. 1:4, 9
13. John 8:12 : ch. 12:26; 21:19
14. John 8:12 : See ch. 12:35
15. John 8:13 : ch. 5:31
16. John 8:14 : [Rev. 3:14]
17. John 8:14 : ch. 13:3; 16:28
18. John 8:14 : ver. 21; ch. 7:33
19. John 8:14 : [ch. 7:28; 9:29]
20. John 8:15 : ch. 7:24; 1 Sam. 16:7; [Job 10:4]
21. John 8:15 : ch. 12:47; [ver. 11]
22. John 8:16 : ch. 5:30
23. John 8:16 : ver. 29; ch. 16:32
24. John 8:17 : See Num. 35:30
25. John 8:18 : ch. 5:37
26. John 8:19 : ver. 55; ch. 16:3
27. John 8:19 : ch. 14:7
28. John 8:20 : See Matt. 27:6
29. John 8:20 : ch. 7:30
30. John 8:20 : ch. 7:8
31. John 8:21 : ch. 14:28; [ch. 14:2, 3; 16:7]
32. John 8:21 : See ch. 7:34
33. John 8:21 : ver. 24; Ezek. 3:18; 33:8
34. John 8:22 : [ch. 7:35]
35. John 8:23 : [ver. 44; ch. 3:31]
36. John 8:23 : 1 John 4:5
37. John 8:23 : ch. 17:14, 16
38. John 8:24 : ver. 21
39. John 8:24 : ch. 16:9
40. John 8:24 : Mark 13:6; Luke 21:8
41. John 8:25 : [ch. 1:19]
42. John 8:26 : ch. 3:33; 7:28; Rom. 3:4
43. John 8:26 : [ch. 18:20]
44. John 8:26 : ver. 40; ch. 15:15; [ch. 3:32; Rev. 1:1]
45. John 8:27 : ver. 18, 26
46. John 8:28 : ch. 3:14; 12:32, 34
47. John 8:28 : [ch. 16:8-11]
48. John 8:28 : See ver. 24
49. John 8:28 : See ch. 5:30
50. John 8:28 : See ch. 7:16
51. John 8:29 : ver. 16; ch. 16:32; Acts 10:38; See ch. 10:38
52. John 8:29 : ver. 16; ch. 16:32; Acts 10:38; See ch. 10:38
53. John 8:29 : ch. 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; [1 John 3:22]
54. John 8:30 : See ch. 7:31
55. John 8:31 : ch. 15:7, 8; 2 John 9
56. John 8:32 : 2 John 1
57. John 8:32 : ver. 36; Rom. 6:18, 22; 8:2; 1 Cor. 7:22; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1, 13; James 1:25; 2:12; 1 Pet. 2:16
58. John 8:33 : ver. 37, 39; Matt. 3:9; [Luke 19:9; Rom. 9:7]
59. John 8:34 : Rom. 6:16-20; Titus 3:3; 2 Pet. 2:19
60. John 8:35 : Gen. 21:10; Gal. 4:30
61. John 8:35 : Luke 15:31
62. John 8:37 : ver. 40; See ch. 7:1
63. John 8:38 : ch. 3:32; 5:19; 6:46
64. John 8:38 : ver. 41, 44
65. John 8:39 : ver. 33, 56
66. John 8:39 : [Gal. 3:7, 9]
67. John 8:40 : ver. 37
68. John 8:40 : ver. 26
69. John 8:41 : [Hos. 2:4]
70. John 8:41 : Deut. 32:6; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; [ver. 47]
71. John 8:42 : [1 John 5:1]
72. John 8:42 : 1 John 5:20; [Heb. 10:9]
73. John 8:42 : ch. 16:28; 17:8
74. John 8:42 : ch. 7:28
75. John 8:42 : See ch. 3:17
76. John 8:43 : ch. 7:17
77. John 8:43 : Jer. 6:10; [1 Cor. 2:14]
78. John 8:44 : 1 John 3:8, 12; [ver. 23]; See Matt. 13:38
79. John 8:44 : Gen. 4:8, 9; 1 John 3:12, 15; [Rom. 5:12]
80. John 8:44 : [1 John 2:4]
81. John 8:44 : Gen. 3:4; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9
82. John 8:47 : [ch. 18:37; 1 John 4:6]
83. John 8:47 : [ch. 10:26]
84. John 8:47 : [ver. 41]
85. John 8:48 : See ch. 7:20
86. John 8:49 : ch. 5:23; [ch. 7:18]
87. John 8:50 : ver. 54; ch. 5:41
88. John 8:51 : ch. 5:24; 11:26
89. John 8:51 : See Luke 2:26
90. John 8:52 : [Zech. 1:5]
91. John 8:52 : ver. 51
92. John 8:52 : Matt. 16:28; Heb. 2:9
93. John 8:53 : [ch. 4:12]
94. John 8:54 : ver. 50
95. John 8:54 : ch. 13:32; 17:1; Acts 3:13; Heb. 5:5; 2 Pet. 1:17
96. John 8:54 : ver. 41
97. John 8:55 : ver. 19; ch. 7:28
98. John 8:55 : ch. 7:29; See Matt. 11:27
99. John 8:55 : 1 John 1:6
100. John 8:55 : ver. 44
101. John 8:56 : ver. 39
102. John 8:56 : See Matt. 13:17
103. John 8:56 : Luke 17:22
104. John 8:56 : [Heb. 11:13]
105. John 8:58 : See Ex. 3:14
106. John 8:59 : ch. 10:31