John

¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Now at daybreak, he appeared again in the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down and began to teach them. ³Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in [the act of] adultery. Making her stand before them all, ⁴they told him, “Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. ⁵Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such [a person].^{1132 6}What then do you say?” They said this to test him, in order to have something to accuse him of.

However, Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground.^{1133 7}But as they continued to ask him, he looked up and said to them, “Let the one who is without sin among you throw the first stone at her.” ⁸Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger.

⁹When they heard this,¹¹³⁴ they began to leave, one by one, starting from the oldest.¹¹³⁵ Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. ¹⁰Standing up, Jesus said, “Woman, where are they?¹¹³⁶ Did no one condemn you?”

¹¹She said, “No one, Sir.”¹¹³⁷

Jesus replied, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way! And from now on, sin no more.” >>

The Light of the world—Witnesses to Jesus

¹²Then again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.¹¹³⁸ Whoever follows me will not walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

¹³At this, the Pharisees said to him, “You bear witness to yourself! Your testimony is not valid!”¹¹³⁹

¹⁴Jesus answered them, “Even if I bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. ¹⁶Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. ¹⁷It is also written in your law that the testimony of two people is truthful.^{1140 18}I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me [also] bears witness to me.”

¹⁹At this, they asked him, “Where is your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You do not know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. ²¹Then Jesus spoke to them again, “I am going away; you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you cannot come.”

²²At this, the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come?’”

²³Jesus said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you therefore that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am¹¹⁴¹ {the one},¹¹⁴² you will die in your sins.”

²⁵Therefore, they asked him, “Who are you?”

Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning! ²⁶I have much to say concerning you and [much] to condemn.¹¹⁴³ However, he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these [things] I say to the world.”

²⁷They did not understand that he spoke to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am {he}.¹¹⁴⁴ I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, this is what I proclaim. ²⁹The one who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone,¹¹⁴⁵ because I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

About Abraham

³⁰As he spoke these things, many believed in him. ³¹Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. ³²You will know¹¹⁴⁶ the truth, and the truth will set you free!”¹¹⁴⁷

³³They answered him, “We are Abraham’s seed and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be made free?’”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I tell you; everyone who practices sin is the slave of sin! ³⁵A slave does not live in the house forever, [but] a son remains forever. ³⁶If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed! ³⁷I know that you are Abraham’s seed, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. ³⁸I speak of what I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.”

³⁹They answered him, “Our father is Abraham!”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. ⁴⁰But now, you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God! Abraham did not do this. ⁴¹You do the works of your father.”

They replied to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality! We have one father, God.”

⁴²Therefore, Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I issue forth [from God] and have come from God.¹¹⁴⁸ Indeed, I have not come of myself, but he has sent me. ⁴³Why do you not understand my speech? Because you cannot hear my word! ⁴⁴You are of your father, the devil,¹¹⁴⁹ and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and he does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he utters a lie, he speaks of his own¹¹⁵⁰ because he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷Whoever is of God hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not hear: because you are not of God.”

⁴⁸Then the Jews answered him, “Do we not say well that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

⁴⁹Jesus replied, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰However, I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges. ⁵¹Amen, amen, I tell you; whoever keeps my word will never see death.”

⁵²At this, the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, and [so did] the prophets; and [yet] you say, ‘whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died [as well]. Who do you claim to be?”

⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your¹¹⁵¹ God. ⁵⁵You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, ‘I do not know him,’ I would be like you, a liar. But I [do] know him, and I keep his word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad!”

⁵⁷At this, the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I tell you; before Abraham came into existence, I am.¹¹⁵²“

⁵⁹Therefore, they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and <having gone through their midst and so passing by>,¹¹⁵³ he went out of the temple.

The healing of the man born blind: the fifth sign

1132. Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22
1133. CT and TR add “with his finger”
1134. MT and TR add “being convicted by their conscience”
1135. MT and TR add “even to the last”
1136. MT and TR read “your accusers” instead of “they”
1137. Or “Lord”
1138. Isaias 60:1
1139. Or “true”
1140. Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15
1141. Or “I AM”—this verse, as much as 8:58 is a very strong affirmation of the Lord’s unique status (see note below).
1142. The Greek is simply eva.n ga.r mh. pisteu,shte o[ti evgw, eivmi, but many translators feel that the concluding {he} is implied. NIV reads “if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be”—NAB has “if you do not believe that I AM”—see note on John 8:58.
1143. Or “judge”
1144. See verse 24
1145. Or “to myself”
1146. Or “have an intimate knowledge of/recognize/perceive”
1147. Psalm 119:45/118 LXX
1148. Or “I came from God and now I am here” (as in NIV and NRS)
1149. Greek diabo,lon (diabolos)—the dia-bolic is the opposite of sym-bolic, it is the disunity between the sign or word and what is real, as in Genesis 3:1-15
1150. Greek evk tw/n ivdi,wn lalei
1151. CT reads “our”
1152. The sentence ends with the Greek evgw. eivmi which may be connected with Isaias 41:4 and 46:4. However, while clearly speaking of Christ’s eternality, the connection with Exodus 3:13-15 (LXX) is perhaps less likely since the expression is evgw, eivmi o` w;n; where ego eimi simply introduces the predicate o hon (The Being, The Existing One). Since there are many other verses which clearly apply the Divine Name YHWH to Jesus Christ, the icon of the Savior always has the letters o` w;n; in the halo. Apart from these theological considerations, this construction is also fairly idiomatic (John 14:9; 15:27) and could be properly translated as “I have been [in existence] before Abraham was [even] born”—(see also 9:9 and compare with Micah 5:2).
1153. CT omits this clause