Bible Lesson 21

La mujer atrapada en adulterio – The Woman Caught in Adultery

Here we see the mercy of Jesus towards a broken, sinful woman. The hypocrites who bring her to Jesus are simply using her as a trap to get Jesus in trouble, but Jesus again eludes them in a brilliant way.

I wish I knew what Jesus wrote in the dust that day!

To those who look at passages like this and say “Jesus doesn’t judge,” there are three good responses. First, you’re right, at least in one sense. Second, though, he says that the Father does judge. And finally, he tells this woman to leave her life of sin.

Jesus is incredibly merciful – thank God! – but his mercy never gives anyone permission to continue in sin.

How to Use This Page:

1. Listen to the audio as you read along with the Spanish on the left.

2. Open the English translation, and read the two side-by-side, making sure you understand the Spanish.

3. Close the English, and listen to the audio again, reading along in Spanish.

4. Close the Spanish, and listen once more. Maybe shut your eyes, and just try to catch as much as you can.

An *asterisk indicates that the word has a special note. Click on it to see the note.

Pero Jesús se fue al monte de los Olivos. Al amanecer se presentó de nuevo en el templo. Toda la gente se le acercó, y él se sentó a enseñarles. Los maestros de la ley y los fariseos llevaron entonces a una mujer sorprendida en adulterio, y poniéndola en medio del grupo le dijeron a Jesús:

—Maestro, a esta mujer se le ha sorprendido en el acto mismo de adulterio. En la ley Moisés nos ordenó apedrear a tales mujeres. ¿Tú qué dices?

Con esta pregunta le estaban tendiendo una trampa, para tener de qué acusarlo. Pero Jesús se inclinó y con el dedo comenzó a escribir en el suelo. Y como ellos lo acosaban a preguntas, Jesús se incorporó y les dijo:

—Aquel de ustedes que esté libre de pecado, que tire la primera piedra.

E inclinándose de nuevo, siguió escribiendo en el suelo. Al oír esto, se fueron retirando uno tras otro, comenzando por los más viejos, hasta dejar a Jesús solo con la mujer, que aún seguía allí. Entonces él se incorporó y le preguntó:

—Mujer, ¿dónde están? ¿Ya nadie te condena?

—Nadie, Señor.

—Tampoco yo te condeno. Ahora vete, y no vuelvas a pecar.

Una vez más Jesús se dirigió a la gente, y les dijo:

—Yo soy la luz del mundo. El que me sigue no andará en tinieblas, sino que tendrá la luz de la vida.

—Tú te presentas como tu propio testigo —alegaron los fariseos—, así que tu testimonio no es válido.

—Aunque yo sea mi propio testigo —repuso Jesús—, mi testimonio es válido, porque sé de dónde he venido y a dónde voy. Pero ustedes no saben de dónde vengo ni a dónde voy. Ustedes juzgan según criterios humanos; yo, en cambio, no juzgo a nadie. Y si lo hago, mis juicios son válidos porque no los emito por mi cuenta sino en unión con el Padre que me envió. En la ley de ustedes está escrito que el testimonio de dos personas es válido. Uno de mis testigos soy yo mismo, y el Padre que me envió también da testimonio de mí.

—¿Dónde está tu padre?

—Si supieran quién soy yo, sabrían también quién es mi Padre.

Estas palabras las dijo Jesús en el lugar donde se depositaban las ofrendas, mientras enseñaba en el templo. Pero nadie le echó mano porque aún no había llegado su tiempo.

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At sunrise he showed up again at the temple. All the people approached him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought then a woman caught in adultery, and putting her in the middle of the group they said to Jesus:

“Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. In the Law of Moses it orders us to stone such women. What do you say?”

With this question they were spreading a trap, to have something with which to accuse him. But Jesus bent over and with his finger began to write on the ground. And since they accosted him with questions, Jesus stood up and said to them:

“Whichever of you who is free from sin, may he throw the first stone.”

And bending over again, he continued writing on the ground. Upon hearing this, they withdrew one after another, starting with the oldest, until they left Jesus alone with the woman, who was still there. Then he stood up and asked her:

“Woman, where are they? No one condemns you anymore?”

“No one, Lord.”

“Neither do I condemn you. Now go, and don’t return to sin.”

Once again Jesus turned towards the people, and he said to them:

“I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but rather will have the light of life.”

“You introduce yourself as your own witness” alleged the Pharisees, “thus your testimony is not valid.”

“Although I am my own witness” replied Jesus, “my testimony is valid, because I know from where I have come and to where I go. But you don’t know from where I come nor to where I go. You judge according to human criteria; I, on the other hand, don’t judge anyone. And if I do, my judgments are valid because they don’t come from my own account but in union with the Father who sent me. In your law it’s written that the testimony of two people is valid. One of my witnesses is myself, and the Father who sent me also gives testimony of me.

“Where is your father?

“If you knew who I am, you would also know who my Father is.

These words Jesus spoke in the place where the offerings were deposited, while he taught in the temple. But no one laid a hand on him because his time had not yet arrived.

Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery. Vasily Polenov, 1888.