The experts in the law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of them

(Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against him.) Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.

When they persisted in asking him, he stood up straight and replied, "Whoever among you is guiltless may be the first to throw a stone at her."

Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

Jesus stood up straight and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?"

Then they began asking him, "Who is your father?" Jesus answered, "You do not know either me or my Father. If you knew me you would know my Father too."

So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus replied, "What I have told you from the beginning.

(They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.)

"We are descendants of Abraham," they replied, "and have never been anyone's slaves! How can you say, 'You will become free'?"

They answered him, "Abraham is our father!" Jesus replied, "If you are Abraham's children, you would be doing the deeds of Abraham.

You people are doing the deeds of your father." Then they said to Jesus, "We were not born as a result of immorality! We have only one Father, God himself."

Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out from the temple area.

So they asked him, "How then were you made to see?"

They said to him, "Where is that man?" He replied, "I don't know."

They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees.

So again they asked the man who used to be blind, "What do you say about him, since he caused you to see?" "He is a prophet," the man replied.

Now the Jewish religious leaders refused to believe that he had really been blind and had gained his sight until at last they summoned the parents of the man who had become able to see.

They asked the parents, "Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?"

(His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders. For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

Then they summoned the man who used to be blind a second time and said to him, "Promise before God to tell the truth. We know that this man is a sinner."

Then they said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he cause you to see?"

They heaped insults on him, saying, "You are his disciple! We are disciples of Moses!

They replied, "You were born completely in sinfulness, and yet you presume to teach us?" So they threw him out.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, so he found the man and said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

When he has brought all his own sheep out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.

They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not recognize the stranger's voice."

Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd.

My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand.

Then they attempted again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches.

(Now Jesus had been talking about his death, but they thought he had been talking about real sleep.)

Then the people who were with Mary in the house consoling her saw her get up quickly and go out. They followed her, because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep there.

He asked, "Where have you laid him?" They replied, "Lord, come and see."

So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you that you have listened to me.

I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me."

So from that day they planned together to kill him.

Thus they were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple courts, "What do you think? That he won't come to the feast?"

(Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should report it, so that they could arrest him.)

So they prepared a dinner for Jesus there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was among those present at the table with him.

Now a large crowd of Judeans learned that Jesus was there, and so they came not only because of him but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him. They began to shout, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!"

(His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him and that these things had happened to him.)

Because they had heard that Jesus had performed this miraculous sign, the crowd went out to meet him.

Philip went and told Andrew, and they both went and told Jesus.

Although Jesus had performed so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him,

For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said,

"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn to me, and I would heal them."

Nevertheless, even among the rulers many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue.

For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him to buy whatever they needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor.)

Remember what I told you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too.

But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But they no longer have any excuse for their sin.

If I had not performed among them the miraculous deeds that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen the deeds and have hated both me and my Father.

Now this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their law, 'They hated me without reason.'

They will put you out of the synagogue, yet a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God.

They will do these things because they have not known the Father or me.

concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;

So they kept on repeating, "What is the meaning of what he says, 'In a little while'? We do not understand what he is talking about."

Jesus could see that they wanted to ask him about these things, so he said to them, "Are you asking each other about this -- that I said, 'In a little while you will not see me; again after a little while, you will see me'?

Now this is eternal life -- that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

"I have revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word.

Now they understand that everything you have given me comes from you,

because I have given them the words you have given me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

I am praying on behalf of them. I am not praying on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me, because they belong to you.

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.

But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world.

And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart.

that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.

The glory you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one --

I in them and you in me -- that they may be completely one, so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.

"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. They came to the orchard with lanterns and torches and weapons.

They replied, "Jesus the Nazarene." He told them, "I am he." (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, was standing there with them.)

So when Jesus said to them, "I am he," they retreated and fell to the ground.

Then Jesus asked them again, "Who are you looking for?" And they said, "Jesus the Nazarene."

They brought him first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

Simon Peter and another disciple followed them as they brought Jesus to Annas. (Now the other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, and he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard.)

(Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire they had made, warming themselves because it was cold. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.)

Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said. They know what I said."

Meanwhile Simon Peter was standing in the courtyard warming himself. They said to him, "You aren't one of his disciples too, are you?" Peter denied it: "I am not!"

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman governor's residence. (Now it was very early morning.) They did not go into the governor's residence so they would not be ceremonially defiled, but could eat the Passover meal.

They replied, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you."

Then they shouted back, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.)

The soldiers braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe.

They came up to him again and again and said, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly in the face.

When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate said, "You take him and crucify him! Certainly I find no reason for an accusation against him!"

When Pilate heard what they said, he was more afraid than ever,

Then they shouted out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked, "Shall I crucify your king?" The high priests replied, "We have no king except Caesar!"

Then PilateSo they took Jesus,

There they crucified him along with two others, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle.

Now when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, and the tunic remained. (Now the tunic was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.)

So the soldiers said to one another, "Let's not tear it, but throw dice to see who will get it." This took place to fulfill the scripture that says, "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice." So the soldiers did these things.

A jar full of sour wine was there, so they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a branch of hyssop and lifted it to his mouth.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

And again another scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."