A woman caught in adultery

John 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he went back to the Temple area. The people all came to him, and he sat and taught them.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman they had caught in bed with a man who was not her husband. They forced her to stand in front of the people. They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The Law of Moses commands us to stone to death any such woman. What do you say we should do?”

They were saying this to trick Jesus. They wanted to catch him saying something wrong so that they could have a charge against him. But Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. The Jewish leaders continued to ask him their question. So he stood up and said, “Anyone here who has never sinned should throw the first stone at her.” Then Jesus stooped down again and wrote on the ground.

When they heard this, they began to leave one by one. The older men left first, and then the others. Jesus was left alone with the woman standing there in front of him. 10 He looked up again and said to her, “Where did they all go? Did no one judge you guilty?”

11 She answered, “No one, sir.”

Then Jesus said, “I don’t judge you either. You can go now, but don’t sin again.”


The foreign woman with a demon-possessed daughter

Matthew 15:21-28

21 Jesus went from there to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that area came out and began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, please help me! My daughter has a demon inside her, and she is suffering very much.”

23 But Jesus did not answer her. So the followers came to him and said, “Tell her to go away. She keeps crying out and will not leave us alone.”

24 Jesus answered, “God sent me only to the lost people[a] of Israel.”

25 Then the woman came over to Jesus and bowed before him. She said, “Lord, help me!”

26 He answered her with this saying: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.”

27 The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces of food that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! You will get what you asked for.” And right then the woman’s daughter was healed.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:24 people Literally, “sheep.”



Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10

19 Jesus was going through the city of Jericho. In Jericho there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a wealthy, very important tax collector. He wanted to see who Jesus was. There were many others who wanted to see Jesus too. Zacchaeus was too short to see above the people. So he ran to a place where he knew Jesus would come. Then he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see him.

When Jesus came to where Zacchaeus was, he looked up and saw him in the tree. Jesus said, “Zacchaeus, hurry! Come down! I must stay at your house today.”

Zacchaeus hurried and came down. He was happy to have Jesus in his house. Everyone saw this. They began to complain, “Look at the kind of man Jesus is staying with. Zacchaeus is a sinner!”

Zacchaeus said to the Lord, “I want to do good. I will give half of my money to the poor. If I have cheated anyone, I will pay them back four times more.”

Jesus said, “Today is the day for this family to be saved from sin. Yes, even this tax collector is one of God’s chosen people.[a] 10 The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”

Footnotes

  1. Luke 19:9 one of God’s chosen people Literally, “a son of Abraham.”