Jesus went to the Temple complex at dawn. A large crowd gathered around him. He began to teach them after he sat down.
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman into the center of the gathering. She had been caught committing adultery.
They said “Teacher, this woman was caught committing adultery. The Law of Moses says that we should stone her for this. What do you say we should do?” They said this because they wanted to corner him into breaking the Law so they would have a crime to charge him with.
Jesus leaned over and began writing in the dirt with his finger. They kept questioning him, so he stood up and said “Whichever one of you who has led a sinless life should throw the first stone at her.”
He crouched back down and started writing on the ground again. Having heard this, the scribes and Pharisees started leaving, with the older men leaving first. Finally, only Jesus and the woman were left, with her standing in the center.
Jesus stood up and said “Woman, where are they? Is no one here to condemn you?”
“There is no one, Lord,” she answered.
“I do not condemn you either,” he said. “Go, and don’t sin again.”
JN 8:2-11
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