John 8 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Early the next morning he showed up at the temple again, and all the people came crowding around him. So he sat down and started teaching them.

Then the religious scholars and the Pharisees dragged in a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone

and said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught right in the middle of committing adultery.

Moses commanded us in the Law to stone women like this to death. So what do you say about it?"

They were using this question as a trap to get something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger.

When they kept pressing him for an answer, he stood up and said to them, "Whoever among you has never failed — let him throw the first stone at her."

Then he bent down again and kept writing on the ground.

When they heard this, they started leaving one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left there with the woman still standing in front of him.

Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where did they all go? Didn't anyone stay to condemn you?"

"No one, sir," she said. Jesus told her, "I don't condemn you either. Go, and from now on don't fail like this again."

Then Jesus spoke to them again: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness — they'll have the light that gives life."

The Pharisees pushed back: "You're just making claims about yourself. Your testimony doesn't count."

Jesus answered them, "Even though I am testifying about myself, my testimony is valid because I know where I came from and where I'm going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I'm headed.

You judge by human standards. I'm not here to judge anyone.

But even if I do judge, my judgment is trustworthy because I'm not doing this alone — the Father who sent me stands with me.

In your own Law it says that the testimony of two witnesses is valid.

I am one witness testifying about myself, and the Father who sent me is the other witness."

They asked him, "So where is this father of yours?" Jesus replied, "You don't know me and you don't know my Father either. If you knew me, you'd know my Father too."

He said all this while teaching near the offering boxes in the temple. But no one arrested him because his time hadn't come yet.

Then he said to them again, "I'm going away, and you'll look for me, but you'll die stuck in your failure. Where I'm going, you can't come."

So the Jewish leaders started saying, "Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by 'Where I'm going, you can't come'?"

He continued, "You belong to what's down here; I belong to what's up there. You're part of this world's system; I'm not part of this world's system.

That's why I told you that you'll die in your failures. Because if you don't trust that I am who I am, you'll die in your failures."

"Who are you, then?" they demanded. Jesus said, "Exactly what I've been telling you from the start.

I have a lot I could say about you — a lot I could judge. But the one who sent me is trustworthy, and I only tell the world what I've heard from him."

They didn't understand that he was talking about the Father.

So Jesus told them, "When you've lifted up the Son of Man, then you'll know that I am who I am, and that I don't do anything on my own — I only say what the Father taught me.

The one who sent me is right here with me. He hasn't left me on my own, because I always do what makes him happy."

As he was saying these things, many people put their trust in him.

So Jesus said to the Jewish people who had trusted him, "If you stick with what I'm teaching you, you're truly my students.

And you'll discover what's true, and the truth will set you free."

They fired back, "We're Abraham's descendants! We've never been anyone's slaves. What do you mean, 'You'll be set free'?"

Jesus replied, "I'm telling you the straight truth: everyone who keeps failing is actually a slave to their failure.

A slave doesn't have a permanent place in the family. But a son belongs there forever.

So if the Son sets you free, you're genuinely free.

I know you're Abraham's descendants. But you're trying to kill me because my message can't find any room inside you.

I'm telling you what I've seen with my Father. And you're doing what you've heard from your father."

They answered him, "Abraham is our father!" Jesus said to them, "If you were really Abraham's children, you'd be doing what Abraham did.

But instead, you're trying to kill me — a man who told you the truth I heard directly from God. Abraham never did anything like that.

You're doing exactly what your real father does." They protested, "We're not illegitimate children! We have one Father — God himself!"

Jesus told them, "If God were your Father, you'd love me, because I came from God. I'm here because of him. I didn't come on my own — he sent me.

Why can't you understand what I'm saying? Because you can't even hear my message.

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out what your father desires. He was a murderer from the very beginning. He never had any connection to the truth, because there's no truth in him at all. When he lies, he's speaking his native language, because he's a liar and the father of lies.

But because I tell the truth, you don't believe me.

Can any of you prove that I've done anything wrong? If I'm telling the truth, why don't you believe me?

Anyone who belongs to God listens to what God says. The reason you don't listen is that you don't belong to God."

The Jewish leaders shot back at him, "Aren't we right that you're a Samaritan and you're possessed by a demon?"

Jesus answered, "I'm not possessed by a demon. I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.

I'm not looking to build up my own reputation. But there is one who is looking out for it, and he's the judge.