The Faithful Have Vanished

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.¹ A Psalm of David.

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 ^bEarly in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and ^che 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 ^din the Law, Moses commanded us ^eto stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said ^fto test him, ^gthat 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, ^h“Let him who is without sin among you ⁱbe 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, ^j“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on ^ksin no more.”]]

I Am the Light of the World

12 ^lAgain Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^m“I am the light of the world. Whoever ⁿfollows me will not ^owalk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, ^p“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, ^qmy testimony is true, for I know ^rwhere I came from and ^swhere I am going, but ^tyou do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 ^uYou judge according to the flesh; ^vI judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, ^wmy judgment is true, for ^xit is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father¹ who sent me. 17 ^yIn your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and ^zthe Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, ^a“You know neither me nor my Father. ^bIf you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in ^cthe treasury, as he taught in the temple; but ^dno one arrested him, because ^ehis hour had not yet come.

21 So he said to them again, ^f“I am going away, and ^gyou will seek me, and ^hyou will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, ⁱ“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, ^j“You are from below; I am from above. ^kYou are of this world; ^lI am not of this world. 24 I told you that you ^mwould die in your sins, for ⁿunless you believe that ^oI am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, ^p“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 ^qhe who sent me is true, and I declare ^rto the world ^swhat I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that ^the had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have ^ulifted up the Son of Man, ^vthen you will know that ^wI am he, and that ^xI do nothing on my own authority, but ^yspeak just as the Father taught me. 29 And ^zhe who sent me is with me. ^zHe has not left me alone, for ^aI always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, ^bmany believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ^c“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will ^dknow the truth, and the truth ^ewill set you free.” 33 They answered him, ^f“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, ^geveryone who practices sin is a slave² to sin. 35 ^hThe slave does not remain in the house forever; ⁱthe 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 ^jyou seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 ^kI speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard ^lfrom your father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

39 They answered him, ^m“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, ⁿ“If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now ^oyou seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth ^pthat I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, ^q“We were not born of sexual immorality. We have ^rone Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, ^s“If God were your Father, you would love me, for ^tI came from God and ^uI am here. ^vI came not of my own accord, but ^whe sent me. 43 ^xWhy do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot ^ybear to hear my word. 44 ^zYou are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. ^aHe was a murderer from the beginning, and ^bdoes not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. ^cWhen 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 ^dWhoever is of God hears the words of God. ^eThe reason why you do not hear them is that ^fyou 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 ^ghave a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but ^hI honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet ⁱI do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, ^jI say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never ^ksee death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! ^lAbraham died, as did the prophets, yet ^myou say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never ⁿtaste death.’ 53 ^oAre you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, ^p“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. ^qIt is my Father who glorifies me, ^rof whom you say, ‘He is our God.’³ 55 But ^syou have not known him. ^tI know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be ^ua liar ^vlike you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 ^wYour father Abraham ^xrejoiced ^ythat he would see my day. ^zHe saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”⁴ 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, ^aI am.” 59 So ^bthey picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.