JOHN Chapter 8 (GNB)

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8:1   [Then everyone went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

8:2   Early the next morning he went back to the Temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and began to teach them.

8:3   The 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.

8:4   "Teacher," they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.

8:5   In our Law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?"

8:6   They said this to trap Jesus, so that they could accuse him. But he bent over and wrote on the ground with his finger.

8:7   As they stood there asking him questions, he straightened up and said to them, "Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her."

8:8   Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground.

8:9   When they heard this, they all left, one by one, the older ones first. Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there.

8:10   He straightened up and said to her, "Where are they? Is there no one left to condemn you?"

8:11   "No one, sir," she answered. "Well, then," Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again."]

8:12   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."

8:13   The Pharisees said to him, "Now you are testifying on your own behalf; what you say proves nothing."

8:14   "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.

8:15   You make judgments in a purely human way; I pass judgment on no one.

8:16   But if I were to do so, my judgment would be true, because I am not alone in this; the Father who sent me is with me.

8:17   It is written in your Law that when two witnesses agree, what they say is true.

8:18   I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me also testifies on my behalf."

8:19   "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."

8:20   Jesus 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.

8:21   Again Jesus said to them, "I will go away; you will look for me, but you will die in your sins. You cannot go where I am going."

8:22   So the Jewish authorities said, "He says that we cannot go where he is going. Does this mean that he will kill himself ?"

8:23   Jesus answered, "You belong to this world here below, but I come from above. You are from this world, but I am not from this world.

8:24   That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you will die in your sins if you do not believe that 'I Am Who I Am'."

8:25   "Who are you?" they asked him. Jesus answered, "What I have told you from the very beginning.

8:26   I have much to say about you, much to condemn you for. The one who sent me, however, is truthful, and I tell the world only what I have heard from him."

8:27   They did not understand that Jesus was talking to them about the Father.

8:28   So he said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that 'I Am Who I Am'; then you will know that I do nothing on my own authority, but I say only what the Father has instructed me to say.

8:29   And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him."

8:30   Many who heard Jesus say these things believed in him.

8:31   So Jesus said to those who believed in him, "If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples;

8:32   you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

8:33   "We are the descendants of Abraham," they answered, "and we have never been anybody's slaves. What do you mean, then, by saying, 'You will be free'?"

8:34   Jesus said to them, "I am telling you the truth: everyone who sins is a slave of sin.

8:35   A slave does not belong to a family permanently, but a son belongs there forever.

8:36   If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free.

8:37   I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are trying to kill me, because you will not accept my teaching.

8:38   I talk about what my Father has shown me, but you do what your father has told you."

8:39   They answered him, "Our father is Abraham." "If you really were Abraham's children," Jesus replied, "you would do the same things that he did.

8:40   All I have ever done is to tell you the truth I heard from God, yet you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like this!

8:41   You are doing what your father did." "God himself is the only Father we have," they answered, "and we are his true children."

8:42   Jesus said to them, "If God really were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own authority, but he sent me.

8:43   Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my message.

8:44   You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.

8:45   But I tell the truth, and that is why you do not believe me.

8:46   Which one of you can prove that I am guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, then why do you not believe me?

8:47   He who comes from God listens to God's words. You, however, are not from God, and that is why you will not listen."

8:48   They asked Jesus, "Were we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon in you?"

8:49   "I have no demon," Jesus answered. "I honor my Father, but you dishonor me.

8:50   I am not seeking honor for myself. But there is one who is seeking it and who judges in my favor.

8:51   I am telling you the truth: whoever obeys my teaching will never die."

8:52   They said to him, "Now we know for sure that you have a demon! Abraham died, and the prophets died, yet you say that whoever obeys your teaching will never die.

8:53   Our father Abraham died; you do not claim to be greater than Abraham, do you? And the prophets also died. Who do you think you are?"

8:54   Jesus answered, "If I were to honor myself, that honor would be worth nothing. The one who honors me is my Father---the very one you say is your God.

8:55   You have never known him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey his word.

8:56   Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see the time of my coming; he saw it and was glad."

8:57   They said to him, "You are not even fifty years old---and you have seen Abraham?"

8:58   "I am telling you the truth," Jesus replied. "Before Abraham was born, 'I Am'."

8:59   Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.

CHAPTER ENDS