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约翰福音 4
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
约翰福音 4
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
井边谈道
4 1-3 耶稣得知法利赛人听见祂收门徒、为人施洗比约翰还多，便离开犹太回加利利。其实不是耶稣亲自施洗，而是祂的门徒施洗。 4 祂回加利利的路上必须经过撒玛利亚。 5 于是，祂来到撒玛利亚的一座城，名叫叙加，靠近雅各留给他儿子约瑟的那块地。 6 雅各井就在那个地方。耶稣走路疲乏，坐在井旁休息。那时是中午时分， 7-8 门徒都进城买食物去了。有一个撒玛利亚的妇人来打水，耶稣说：“请你给我一点水吧。”
9 撒玛利亚妇人说：“你是个犹太人，怎么向我这撒玛利亚妇人要水喝？”原来犹太人和撒玛利亚人互不往来。
10 耶稣回答说：“要是你知道上帝的恩赐，又知道向你要水喝的是谁，你早就求祂了，祂也早就把活水给你了。”
11 妇人说：“先生，你没有打水的器具，井又深，你从哪里得到活水呢？ 12 我们的祖先雅各把这口井留给我们，他自己和他的儿女、牲畜都喝这井里的水，难道你比他更伟大吗？”
13 耶稣说：“人喝了这井里的水，还会再渴， 14 但是喝了我所赐的活水，永远不会再渴。我所赐的水要在他里面成为生命的泉源，涌流不息，直到永生。”
15 妇人说：“先生，请你把这种水赐给我，我就不会再渴了，也用不着来打水了。”
16 耶稣说：“去叫你的丈夫来。”
17 妇人说：“我没有丈夫。”耶稣说：“你说的对，你没有丈夫， 18 因为你已经有过五个丈夫了，现在和你同居的也不是你的丈夫。你说的是实话。”
19 妇人说：“先生，你一定是先知。 20 我们的祖先一向都是在这山上敬拜上帝，你们却说耶路撒冷才是敬拜的地方。”
21 耶稣回答说：“妇人，你当信我。时候快到了，你们将不在这山上，也不在耶路撒冷敬拜父。 22 你们不知道你们敬拜的是谁，我们知道我们敬拜的是谁，因为救恩是从犹太人出来的。 23 时候快到了，其实就是现在，真正敬拜父的，要用心灵按真理敬拜祂，因为父寻找的正是这样敬拜祂的人。 24 上帝是灵，所以必须用心灵按真理敬拜祂。”
25 妇人说：“据我所知，那被称为基督的弥赛亚要来。祂来了，会把一切都告诉我们。”
26 耶稣说：“我这跟你说话的人就是祂。”
27 这时，门徒回来了，看见耶稣和一个妇人谈话，感到惊奇，可是没有人问：“你想要什么？”或问：“你为什么和她说话？”
28 那妇人撇下水罐，回到城里，对人们说： 29 “你们快来看啊！有一个人把我过去的事全部说了出来。莫非祂就是基督？” 30 众人听了就到城外去看耶稣。
撒种与收割
31 其间，门徒对耶稣说：“老师，请吃点东西吧。”
32 耶稣说：“我有食物吃，是你们不知道的。”
33 门徒彼此议论说：“难道有人给祂吃的了？”
34 耶稣说：“我的食物就是遵行差我来者的旨意，完成祂的工作。 35 你们不是说还有四个月才到收割的时候吗？举目向田观看吧，庄稼已经熟了，可以收割了。 36 收割的人不但可以得到报酬，而且可以为永生收获果实，叫撒种的和收割的一同快乐。 37 俗语说得好，‘那人撒种，这人收割。’ 38 我派你们去收割那些你们没有劳作的庄稼，别人劳苦，你们享受他们劳苦的成果。”
39 那城里有许多撒玛利亚人信了耶稣，因为那妇人做见证说：“祂将我以前做的一切事情都说了出来。” 40 撒玛利亚人来见耶稣，恳求祂留下来，祂就在那里住了两天。 41 因为耶稣传的道，信的人更多了。 42 他们对那妇人说：“现在我们信，不再是因为你的话，而是我们亲耳听见了，知道祂真的是救世主。”
耶稣治好大臣的儿子
43 两天后，耶稣动身前往加利利。 44 祂以前说过：“先知在他本乡不受人尊敬。” 45 然而，祂回到加利利却受到当地的人欢迎，因为他们上耶路撒冷过节时，看见了祂所做的一切。
46 祂又到了加利利的迦拿，就是祂从前把水变成酒的地方。有一个大臣的儿子在迦百农患了病。 47 大臣听说耶稣从犹太来到加利利，立刻赶来见祂，求祂去医治他病危的儿子。
48 耶稣对他说：“你们不看见神迹奇事，总不相信。”
49 大臣说：“先生，趁我的孩子还没死，求你赶快去！”
50 耶稣说：“回去吧，你的儿子好了。”他相信耶稣的话，就回去了。
51 他途中遇见奴仆来报信说他儿子好了， 52 就问什么时候好的。仆人说：“昨天下午一点钟，烧就退了。”
53 他想起正是那时候耶稣对他说：“你的儿子好了！”他和全家都信了。
54 这是耶稣从犹太回到加利利后所行的第二个神迹。
约翰福音 4
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
约翰福音 4
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
生命的活水
4 主知道法利赛人听见他收门徒和施洗比约翰更多（ 2 其实不是耶稣亲自施洗，而是他的门徒施洗）， 3 就离开了犹太，再往加利利去。 4 他必须经过撒玛利亚。 5 于是到了撒玛利亚的一座城，名叫叙加；这城靠近雅各给他儿子约瑟的那块地。 6 在那里有雅各井。耶稣因为旅途疲倦了，就坐在井旁；那时大约正午。
7 有一个撒玛利亚妇人来打水。耶稣对她说：“请给我水喝。” 8 那时，他的门徒都进城买食物去了。 9 撒玛利亚妇人对耶稣说：“你是犹太人，怎么向我，一个撒玛利亚妇人要水喝呢？”（原来犹太人和撒玛利亚人不相往来。） 10 耶稣回答她：“你若知道 神的恩赐，和对你说‘请给我水喝’的是谁，你必早已求他，他也必早把活水赐给你了。” 11 妇人说：“先生，你没有打水的器具，井又深，你从哪里得活水呢？ 12 我们的祖先雅各把这口井留给我们，他自己和子孙以及牲畜都喝这井的水，难道你比他还大吗？” 13 耶稣回答：“凡喝这水的，还要再渴； 14 人若喝我所赐的水，就永远不渴。我所赐的水要在他里面成为涌流的泉源，直涌到永生。” 15 妇人说：“先生，请把这水赐给我，使我不渴，也不用来这里打水。”
必须用心灵按真理敬拜 神
16 耶稣说：“你去，叫你的丈夫，然后回到这里来。” 17 妇人对他说：“我没有丈夫。”耶稣说：“你说‘没有丈夫’是不错的。 18 你以前有五个丈夫，现在有的并不是你的丈夫；你说这话是真的。” 19 妇人说：“先生，我看出你是先知。 20 我们的祖先在这山上敬拜 神，而你们却说，敬拜的地方必须在耶路撒冷。” 21 耶稣说：“妇人，你应当信我，时候将到，那时你们敬拜父，不在这山上，也不在耶路撒冷。 22 你们敬拜你们所不知道的，我们却敬拜我们所知道的，因为救恩是从犹太人出来的。 23 然而时候将到，现在就是了，那用心灵按真理敬拜父的，才是真正敬拜的人；因为父在寻找这样敬拜他的人。 24 神是灵，敬拜他的必须借着灵按真理敬拜他。” 25 妇人说：“我知道那称为基督的弥赛亚要来；他来了，要把一切都告诉我们。” 26 耶稣说：“我这现在跟你说话的就是他。”
27 正在这时候，门徒回来了，见耶稣和一个妇人说话，就很希奇；但是没有人问：“你要甚么？”或说：“你为甚么跟她说话？” 28 那妇人撇下了她的水罐，进到城里去，对众人说： 29 “你们来，看看一个人，他把我所作的一切都说出来，难道这人就是基督吗？” 30 众人就出城，往耶稣那里去。
庄稼已经熟了
31 当时，门徒对耶稣说：“拉比，请吃。” 32 耶稣说：“我有食物吃，是你们所不知道的。” 33 门徒就彼此说：“难道有人拿东西给他吃了吗？” 34 耶稣说：“我的食物就是遵行差我来者的旨意，并且完成他的工作。 35 你们不是说‘还有四个月才到收获的时候’吗？我告诉你们，举目向田观看，庄稼已经熟了，可以收割了。 36 收割的人得到工资，也积储五谷直到永生，使撒种的和收割的一同快乐。 37 ‘这人撒种，那人收割’，这话是真的。 38 我派你们去收割你们所没有劳苦的；别人劳苦，你们却享受他们劳苦的成果。”
39 因着那妇人作见证的话：“他把我所作的一切都说出来了”，那城里就有许多撒玛利亚人信了耶稣。 40 于是他们来到耶稣那里，求他和他们同住，耶稣就在那里住了两天。 41 因着耶稣的话，信他的人就更多了。 42 他们就对那妇人说：“现在我们信，不再是因为你的话，而是因为我们亲自听见了，知道这位真是世人的救主。”
治好大臣的儿子
43 两天之后，耶稣离开那里，往加利利去。 44 耶稣自己说过：“先知在本乡是不受尊敬的。” 45 耶稣到了加利利的时候，加利利人都欢迎他，因为他们曾经上耶路撒冷去过节，见过他所行的一切。
46 耶稣又到了加利利的迦拿，就是他变水为酒的地方。有一个大臣，他的儿子在迦百农患病。 47 他听见耶稣从犹太到了加利利，就来见他，求他下去医治他的儿子，因为他的儿子快要死了。 48 耶稣对他说：“你们若看不见神迹奇事，总是不肯信。” 49 大臣说：“先生，求你趁我的孩子还没有死就下去吧！” 50 耶稣告诉他：“回去吧，你的儿子好了。”那人信耶稣对他说的话，就回去了。 51 正下去的时候，他的仆人迎着他走来，说他的孩子好了。 52 他就向仆人查问孩子是甚么时候好转的。他们告诉他：“昨天下午一点钟，热就退了。” 53 这父亲就知道，那正是耶稣告诉他“你的儿子好了”的时候，他自己和全家就信了。 54 这是耶稣从犹太回到加利利以后所行的第二件神迹。
John 4
Worldwide English (New Testament)
John 4
Worldwide English (New Testament)
4 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was getting people to follow him and was baptizing them. (Jesus' disciples baptized them, not he himself.) He now had more followers than John.
2 The Lord knew that they had heard about it. So he left Judea and went back to Galilee again.
3 He had to pass through the country of Samaria.
4 He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. It was near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
5 Jacob's well was there. Jesus was very tired from walking on the road. So he sat down by the well. It was about midday.
6 A woman from Samaria came to the well to draw water. Jesus said, `Please give me a drink of water.'
7 His disciples had gone into the town to buy some food.
8 The woman said to Jesus, `Why do you ask me for a drink of water? You are a Jew and I am from Samaria.' (The Jews are not friends with the people of Samaria.)
9 Jesus answered her, `You do not know what God gives people. And you do not know who is asking you for a drink. If you knew him, then it is you who would have asked for a drink of water. He would give you living water.'
10 The woman said, `Sir, you have nothing to draw with. The well is deep. Where do you get that living water?
11 Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this well? He drank water from this well, also his children and cattle.'
12 Jesus answered her, `Anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.
13 But anyone who drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty. The water I give him will become a well inside of him that will never be dry. It will give him life for ever.'
14 The woman said, `Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty again. I will not need to come here to draw water.'
15 Jesus said, `Go, call your husband, then come here.'
16 She said, `I have no husband.' Jesus said, `You say, "I have no husband." That is true.
17 You have had five husbands, but the man you are living with now is not your husband. You have told the truth.'
18 The woman said, `Sir, this shows me you are a prophet of God.
19 Our fathers came to this mountain to worship God. But you people say Jerusalem is the place people must go to worship him.'
20 Jesus said, `Woman, believe what I say. The time is coming when you will not come to this mountain or to Jerusalem to worship my Father.
21 You worship one whom you do not know. But we know whom we worship. The Saviour will come of the Jews.
22 But the time is coming, yes, the time is here already, when those who worship God will worship him in spirit and in a true way. My Father is looking for that kind of people to worship him.
23 God is Spirit. Those who worship him must do so in spirit and in a true way.'
24 The woman said to Jesus, `I know that Messiah is coming. His name is Christ. When he comes he will tell us everything.'
25 Jesus said to her, `I who am talking to you am he.'
26 When Jesus had said this, his disciples came back. They were surprised to hear him talking to a woman. But not one of them asked, `What do you want?' or, `Why are you talking to her?'
27 The woman left her water-pot and went back to the town.
28 She said to the people, `Come, I will show you a man who has told me everything I have done. Can this be the Christ?'
29 The people left the town and went to him.
30 While they were on the way coming to Jesus, the disciples asked him, `Teacher, will you please eat.'
31 Jesus said to them, `I have food that you do not know about.'
32 So the disciples asked one another, `Has anyone brought him food to eat?'
33 Jesus said to them, `My food is to obey the one who sent me and to finish his work.
34 Do you not say, "In four months it will be harvest time"? Listen, I say. Look up and see the fields. The harvest is ready to cut now.
35 The one who gathers the harvest receives a reward for it. He gathers a harvest that will live for ever. Then the one who sows and the one who gathers will both be happy.
36 This saying is true here: "One sows and another gathers."
37 I sent you to gather what you did not help to plant. Other people have worked hard and you have been helped through their work.'
38 Many of the people of the town believed in Jesus because of what the woman told them. She said, `He told me everything I have done.'
39 When the people from Samaria came, they begged him to stay with them. So he stayed with them for two days.
40 Many more people believed in Jesus because of his own word.
41 They said to the woman, `Now we believe, not because of what you told us, but because of what he himself has told us. We know it is true. This is the Saviour of the world.'
42 Two days after this, Jesus left Samaria and went to Galilee.
43 Jesus himself said, `No prophet is honoured by the people in his own country.'
44 When he came to Galilee, the people of that country were glad to see him. They had seen all the things he did when he was at the feast in Jerusalem. They had been at the feast also.
45 So Jesus came back to the town of Cana in Galilee. That was the place where he had changed water into wine. One of the king's officers was there. His son was sick in the town of Capernaum.
46 He heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, and he went to Jesus and said, `I beg you, come and heal my son. He is dying.'
47 Jesus said to him, `If you do not see some signs and big works, then you will not believe.'
48 The officer said, `Sir, I beg you. Come right away before my son dies.'
49 Jesus said, `Go home. Your son will not die.' The man believed what Jesus said and went home.
50 On the way, his servants met him. They said, `Your son is living.'
51 He asked, `What time did he begin to get well?' They said, `Yesterday at one hour after midday the fever left him.'
52 The father knew that was the time when Jesus said to him `Your son will not die.' So he and all his family believed in Jesus.
53 This was the second big work that Jesus did after he came back from Judea to Galilee.
John 4
New International Version
John 4
New International Version
Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John(A)— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea(B) and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria.(C) 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.(D) 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”(E) 8 (His disciples had gone into the town(F) to buy food.)
9 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
- John 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used
John 4
New Catholic Bible
John 4
New Catholic Bible
The Savior of the World and the New Worship
Chapter 4
Journeying to Galilee through Samaria.[a] 1 Now when the Lord learned that the Pharisees had been informed that he had more disciples and was baptizing more people than John 2 (although actually it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who were baptizing), 3 he left Judea and set forth for Galilee.
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman.[b] 4 He had to pass through Samaria.[c] 5 So he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar,[d] near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.[e]
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to purchase food. 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew. How can you ask me, a Samaritan woman,[f] for some water to drink?” (Jews do not share anything in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus replied,
“If you recognized the gift of God
and who it is that is asking you for something to drink,
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you do not have a bucket, and the well is deep.[g] Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself along with his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus said to her,
“Everyone who drinks this water
will be thirsty again.
14 But whoever drinks the water that I will give him
will never be thirsty.
The water that I will give him
will become a spring of water within him
welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I may not be thirsty and have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,[h] but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus told her,
“Believe me, woman,
the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain
nor in Jerusalem.
22 You worship what you do not know;
we worship what we do know,
for salvation is from the Jews.
23 “But the hour is coming,
indeed it is already here,
when the true worshipers
will worship the Father
in Spirit and truth.[i]
Indeed it is worshipers like these
that the Father seeks.
24 God is Spirit,
and those who worship him
must worship in Spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will reveal everything to us.”[j] 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he,[k] the one who is speaking to you.”
27 At this point, his disciples returned, and they were astonished to find him speaking with a woman, but no one asked, “What do you want from her?” or “Why are you conversing with her?” 28 The woman left behind her water jar and went off to the town, where she said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done. Could this be the Christ?” 30 And so they departed from the town and made their way to see him.
31 The Time of the Harvest.[l] Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he told them,
“I have food to eat
about which you do not know.”
33 Then his disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them,
“My food is to do the will
of the one who sent me,
and to accomplish his work.
35 Do you not have a saying,
‘Four months more,
and then comes the harvest’?
“I tell you,
open your eyes and look at the fields;
already they are white for the harvest.
36 The reaper is even now receiving his pay;
already he is gathering the crops for eternal life
so that the sower and the reaper can rejoice together.
37 “Thus, the saying holds true,
‘One sows and another reaps.’
38 I sent you to reap
what you had not worked for.
Others have performed the work,
and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
39 Jesus Is Truly the Savior of the World.[m] Many Samaritans from that town came to believe in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they pleaded with him to stay with them, and he remained there for two days. 41 And many more began to believe in him because of the words he spoke to them. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe simply because of what you said, for we have heard him for ourselves, and we are convinced that this man is truly the Savior of the world.”
43 Return to Galilee.[n] When the two days were over, Jesus departed for Galilee. 44 He himself had declared that a prophet is not treated with honor in his own hometown. 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem during the feast, having been at the feast themselves.
46 Jesus Heals the Official’s Son.[o] He went again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. At Capernaum, there was a royal official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and pleaded that he come and heal his son who was near death.
48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you witness signs and wonders, you will not believe.” 49 The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus replied, “Return home. Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him, and he departed. 51 While he was still on his way, his servants met him saying that his child was going to live. 52 He asked them at what time the boy had begun to recover, and they told him, “The fever left him yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon.”[p] 53 Then the father realized that was the exact hour at which Jesus had assured him, “Your son will live,” and he and his entire household came to believe.
54 This was the second sign that Jesus performed after returning from Judea into Galilee.
Footnotes
- John 4:1 Jesus is forced to leave Judea in order to distance himself from the hostility of the Pharisees who are jealous of his growing popularity. The journey through Samaria affords him an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel in a mission land, so to speak, for the Samaritans were tantamount to Gentiles in the eyes of the Jews.
- John 4:4 Jesus converses with a woman, a daughter of Samaria, and therefore belonging to what the Jews considered to be a heretical breed and as accursed as the Gentiles; in addition, she is well known as a sinner. But God’s gift is for everyone. Jesus is the living water, and for peoples dwelling on the edge of the wilderness, living water symbolizes life, hope, renewal, and spiritual riches.
Jesus urges the new worship of God as Father “in Spirit and truth.” This means to pray to the Father in the Holy Spirit and in Jesus who is the truth. Such worship springs up from the heart; it comes from the Spirit. - John 4:4 The inhabitants of Samaria were a mixed race, descended from the intermarriage of Israelites and Assyrian colonists. Although they worshiped the same God as the Jews and believed in the Pentateuch, they disowned the Jerusalem temple and priesthood and erected a rival sanctuary on Mount Gerizim in the 4th century B.C. (see 2 Mac 6:2).
- John 4:5 Sychar was in the neighborhood of ancient Shechem. See Gen 33:18-20; 48:21f.
- John 4:6 Noon: literally, “the sixth hour.” See note on Mk 15:25.
- John 4:9 Samaritan woman: characterized as ritually unclean by the Jews, who were therefore forbidden to drink from any vessel handled by them.
- John 4:11 Well is deep: the depth of the well, which still exists, has not been determined. The estimates given over the centuries range from 240 feet to 150 feet to 75 feet (the most recent).
- John 4:20 This mountain: Gerizim (2,849 feet high, south of Sychar).
- John 4:23 In Spirit and truth: the Spirit is the Holy Spirit and the truth is Jesus. For he is the true Son of God.
- John 4:25 The Samaritan Messiah was called the Ta’eb. He revealed the secrets of God to his people. Jesus reveals to us how much God loves us.
- John 4:26 I am he: this phrase may also be translated as “I AM,” the name Yahweh used for himself in the Old Testament (see note on Mk 6:50). The phrase “I am” is used in the text of this Gospel 23 times (4:26; 6:20, 35, 41, 48, 51; 8:12, 18, 24, 28, 58; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25; 13:19; 14:6; 15:1, 5; 18:5, 6, 8). In several of these passages, Jesus joins the phrase with seven significant metaphors that express his saving relationship toward the world: “I am the bread of life” (Jn 6:35, 41, 48, 51). “I am the light of the world” (Jn 8:12). “I am the gate of the sheepfold” (Jn 10:7, 9). “I am the good shepherd” (Jn 10:11, 14). “I am the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25). “I am the way and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). “I am the true vine” (Jn 15:1, 5).
- John 4:31 Jesus is not thinking of an ordinary harvest. The arrival of the Samaritans announces the crops of the end time, the harvest in which all will be gathered together by the coming of God. Samaritans wore white robes: they are the harvest.
- John 4:39 The personal and prolonged encounter with Jesus allows believers to measure the magnitude of their mission. This Jewish teacher is not only a prophet who announces salvation. He is the Messiah who brings about salvation for the whole world, for all human beings.
- John 4:43 Jesus’ stay in Galilee and his ministry in his own town will not be crowned by a more satisfactory success than the one in Judea, the heart of Judaism. With this sad reflection, the fourth evangelist confirms a saying of the Lord found in Mt 13:57 and parallels.
- John 4:46 Jesus shows the price of faith (believing in the Word) to his unbelieving companions (v. 44) even though they had already seen him at work. Faith, and it alone, is necessary to be saved. To believe is to welcome in Jesus the salvation that God gives. The miracle is first of all a response to faith. Then it sheds light on the man’s faith and makes it strong. The cure is reported less to bring a demonstration of faith than to call upon us to believe. This account may be a third version of the cure of the centurion’s son (Mt 8:5-13) or servant (Lk 7:1-10).
- John 4:52 One o’clock in the afternoon: literally, “the seventh hour.” See note on Mk 15:25.
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