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^1 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.