Add parallel Print Page Options

A Woman of Samaria at the Well

Jesus knew the proud religious law-keepers had heard He was making and baptizing more followers than John. Jesus did not baptize anyone Himself but His followers did. Then Jesus went from the country of Judea to the country of Galilee. He had to go through the country of Samaria. So He came to a town in Samaria called Sycar. It was near the piece of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from traveling so He sat down just as He was by the well. It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to get water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” His followers had gone to the town to buy food. The woman of Samaria said to Him, “You are a Jew. I am of Samaria. Why do You ask me for a drink when the Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria?”

10 Jesus said to her, “You do not know what God has to give. You do not know Who said to you, ‘Give Me a drink.’ If you knew, you would have asked Him. He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, the well is deep. You have nothing to get water with. Where will You get the living water? 12 Are You greater than our early father Jacob? He gave us the well. He and his children and his cattle drank from it.”

Jesus Tells of the Living Water

13 Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty. The water that I will give him will become in him a well of life that lasts forever.”

15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty. Then I will not have to come all this way for water.”

The True Kind of Worship

16 Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” 17 The woman said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said, “You told the truth when you said, ‘I have no husband.’ 18 You have had five husbands. The one you have now is not your husband. You told the truth.”

19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I think You are a person Who speaks for God. 20 Our early fathers worshiped on this mountain. You Jews say Jerusalem is the place where men should worship.”

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me. The time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You people do not know what you worship. We Jews know what we worship. It is through the Jews that men are saved from the punishment of their sins. 23 The time is coming, yes, it is here now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father wants that kind of worshipers. 24 God is Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus Is the One the Jews Are Looking For

25 The woman said to Him, “I know the Jews are looking for One Who is coming. He is called the Christ. When He comes, He will tell us everything.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am the Christ, the One talking with you!”

27 Right then the followers came back and were surprised and wondered about finding Him talking with a woman. But no one said, “What do You want?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

28 The woman left her water jar and went into the town. She said to the men, 29 “Come and see a Man Who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of town and came to Him.

Jesus Tells Them of a New Kind of Food

31 During this time His followers were saying to Him, “Teacher, eat something.” 32 He said, “I have food to eat that you do not know of.” 33 The followers said to each other, “Has someone taken food to Him?” 34 Jesus said, “My food is to do what God wants Me to do and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘It is four months yet until the time to gather grain’? Listen! I say to you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are white now and waiting for the grain to be gathered in. 36 The one who gathers gets his pay. He gathers fruit that lasts forever. The one who plants and the one who gathers will have joy together. 37 These words are true, ‘One man plants and another man gathers.’ 38 I sent you to gather where you have not planted. Others have planted and you have come along to gather in their fruit.”

The People of Samaria Believe in Jesus

39 Many people in that town of Samaria believed in Jesus because of what the woman said about Him. She said, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So the people of Samaria came to Him. They asked Him to stay with them. Jesus stayed there two days. 41 Many more people believed because of what He said. 42 They said to the woman, “Now we believe! It is no longer because of what you said about Jesus but we have heard Him ourselves. We know, for sure, that He is the Christ, the One Who saves men of this world from the punishment of their sins.”

Jesus Goes to Galilee

43 Two days later He went from there and came to the country of Galilee. 44 Jesus Himself said that no one who speaks for God is respected in his own country. 45 When He came to Galilee, the people there were glad. They had seen all the things He did in Jerusalem. It was at the time of the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. They had been there also.

Jesus Heals the Dying Boy in Capernaum

46 Jesus came again to the town of Cana of Galilee where He had made water into wine. A man who worked with the king had a son who was sick in the city of Capernaum. 47 This man went to Jesus. He had heard that Jesus had come from the country of Judea to Galilee. The man asked Jesus if He would go to Capernaum and heal his son who was dying. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see special things and powerful works done, you will not believe.” 49 The man said to Him, “Sir, come with me before my son dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son will live.” The man put his trust in what Jesus said and left.

51 As he was on his way home, his servants met him. They said to him, “Your son is living!” 52 He asked them what time his boy began to get well. They said to him, “Yesterday at one o’clock the sickness left.” 53 The father knew it was the time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” He and everyone in his house put their trust in Jesus. 54 This was the second powerful work that Jesus did after He came from the country of Judea to the country of Galilee.

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John(A) although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea(B) and went back once more to Galilee.

Now he had to go through Samaria.(C) So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.(D) Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”(E) (His disciples had gone into the town(F) to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan(G) woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”(H)

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well(I) and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.(J) Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water(K) welling up to eternal life.”(L)

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty(M) and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.(N) 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,(O) but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”(P)

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming(Q) when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.(R) 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;(S) we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.(T) 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come(U) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit(V) and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit,(W) and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)(X) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”(Y)

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned(Z) and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.(AA) Could this be the Messiah?”(AB) 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi,(AC) eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat(AD) that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will(AE) of him who sent me and to finish his work.(AF) 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.(AG) 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests(AH) a crop for eternal life,(AI) so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’(AJ) is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town(AK) believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”(AL) 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”(AM)

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

43 After the two days(AN) he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)(AO) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,(AP) for they also had been there.

46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.(AQ) And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,(AR) he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,”(AS) Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household(AT) believed.

54 This was the second sign(AU) Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

Footnotes

  1. John 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used

When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,

(Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

And he must needs go through Samaria.

Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?

34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

41 And many more believed because of his own word;

42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.

44 For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

45 Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.

46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.