John 4:13-26

Contemporary English Version

¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again. ¹⁴ But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give will become in that person a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.”

¹⁵ The woman replied, “Sir, please give me a drink of that water! Then I won't get thirsty and have to come to this well again.”

¹⁶ Jesus told her, “Go and bring your husband.”

^17-18 The woman answered, “I don't have a husband.”

“That's right,” Jesus replied, “you're telling the truth. You don't have a husband. You have already been married five times, and the man you are now living with isn't your husband.”

¹⁹ The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ My ancestors worshiped on this mountain,^[a] but you Jews say Jerusalem is the only place to worship.”

²¹ Jesus said to her:

Believe me, the time is coming when you won't worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans don't really know the one you worship. But we Jews do know the God we worship, and by using us, God will save the world. ²³ But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him. ²⁴ God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth.

²⁵ The woman said, “I know that the Messiah will come. He is the one we call Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ “I am that one,” Jesus told her, “and I am speaking to you now.”