John 4
New Living Translation
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
4 Jesus[a] knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). 3 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.[b] She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim,[c] where our ancestors worshiped?”
21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”[d]
27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”
33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other.
34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe[e] for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”
Many Samaritans Believe
39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” 40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. 42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
43 At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee. 44 He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown. 45 Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.
46 As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.
48 Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”
49 The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.”
50 Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.
51 While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. 52 He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” 53 Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. 54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.
John 4
International Children’s Bible
Jesus and a Samaritan Woman
4 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more followers than John. 2 (But really Jesus himself did not baptize people. His followers did the baptizing.) Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard about him. 3 So he left Judea and went back to Galilee. 4 On the way he had to go through the country of Samaria.
5 In Samaria Jesus came to the town called Sychar. This town is near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his long trip. So he sat down beside the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water. Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 (This happened while Jesus’ followers were in town buying some food.)
9 The woman said, “I am surprised that you ask me for a drink. You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan.” (Jews are not friends with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus said, “You don’t know what God gives. And you don’t know who asked you for a drink. If you knew, you would have asked me, and I would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said, “Sir, where will you get that living water? The well is very deep, and you have nothing to get water with. 12 Are you greater than Jacob, our father? Jacob is the one who gave us this well. He drank from it himself. Also, his sons and flocks drank from this well.”
13 Jesus answered, “Every person who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again. The water I give will become a spring of water flowing inside him. It will give him eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty again. And I will not have to come back here to get more water.”
16 Jesus told her, “Go get your husband and come back here.”
17 The woman answered, “But I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right to say you have no husband. 18 Really you have had five husbands. But the man you live with now is not your husband. You told the truth.”
19 The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where people must worship.”
21 Jesus said, “Believe me, woman. The time is coming when you will not have to be in Jerusalem or on this mountain to worship the Father. 22 You Samaritans worship what you don’t understand. We Jews understand what we worship. Salvation comes from the Jews. 23 The time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. That time is now here. And these are the kinds of worshipers the Father wants. 24 God is spirit. Those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming.” (Messiah is the One called Christ.) “When the Messiah comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus said, “He is talking to you now. I am he.”
27 Just then his followers came back from town. They were surprised because they saw Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She said to the people, 29 “A man told me everything I have ever done. Come see him. Maybe he is the Christ!” 30 So the people left the town and went to see Jesus.
31 While the woman was away, the followers were begging him, “Teacher, eat something!”
32 But Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 So the followers asked themselves, “Did somebody already bring Jesus some food?”
34 Jesus said, “My food is to do what the One who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that he gave me to do. 35 You say, ‘Four more months to wait before we gather the grain.’ But I tell you, open your eyes. Look at the fields that are ready for harvesting now. 36 Even now, the one who harvests the crop is being paid. He is gathering crops for eternal life. So now the one who plants can be happy along with the one who harvests. 37 It is true when we say, ‘One person plants, but another harvests the crop.’ 38 I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work for. Others did the work, and you get the profit from their work.”[b]
39 Many of the Samaritans in that town believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman said: “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 The Samaritans came to Jesus and begged him to stay with them. So he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of the things he said.
42 They said to the woman, “First we believed in Jesus because of what you told us. But now we believe because we heard him ourselves. We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Jesus Heals an Officer’s Son
43 Two days later, Jesus left and went to Galilee. 44 (Jesus had said before that a prophet is not respected in his own country.) 45 When Jesus arrived in Galilee, the people there welcomed him. They had seen all the things he did at the Passover Feast in Jerusalem. They had been at the Passover Feast, too.
46 Jesus went to visit Cana in Galilee again. This is where Jesus had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officers lived in the city of Capernaum. This man’s son was sick. 47 The man heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was now in Galilee. He went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son. His son was almost dead. 48 Jesus said to him, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.”
49 The officer said, “Sir, come before my child dies.”
50 Jesus answered, “Go. Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. 51 On the way the man’s servants came and met him. They told him, “Your son is well.”
52 The man asked, “What time did my son begin to get well?”
They answered, “It was about one o’clock yesterday when the fever left him.”
53 The father knew that one o’clock was the exact time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and all the people of his house believed in Jesus.
54 That was the second miracle that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
