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2 Kings 19-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 Kings 19-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Hezekiah Consults Isaiah
19 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.(A) 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.(B) 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.”(C) 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me.(D) 7 I myself will put a spirit in him so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”(E)
Sennacherib’s Threat
8 The Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.(F) 9 When the king[a] heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, “See, he has set out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to King Hezekiah of Judah: Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.(G) 11 See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my predecessors destroyed: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?(H) 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?”(I)
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.(J) 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.(K) 16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.(L) 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods but the work of human hands—wood and stone—and so they were destroyed.(M) 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, I pray you, from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”(N)
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.(O) 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
She despises you; she scorns you—
virgin daughter Zion;
she tosses her head—behind your back,
daughter Jerusalem.(P)
22 Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and haughtily lifted your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!(Q)
23 By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, ‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon;
I felled its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses;
I entered its farthest retreat,
its densest forest.(R)
24 I dug wells
and drank foreign waters,
I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.’(S)
25 Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,(T)
26 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded;
they have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops
that is scorched before the east wind.[b](U)
27 But I know your sitting
and your going out and your coming in
and your raging against me.
28 Because you have raged against me
and your arrogance has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth;
I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.(V)
29 “And this shall be the sign for you: This year you shall eat what grows of itself and in the second year what springs from that; then in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.(W) 30 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward,(X) 31 for from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out and from Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.(Y)
32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, shoot an arrow there, come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege ramp against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return; he shall not come into this city, says the Lord.(Z) 34 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”(AA)
Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death
35 That very night the angel of the Lord set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies.(AB) 36 Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left, went home, and lived at Nineveh.(AC) 37 As he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon succeeded him.(AD)
Hezekiah’s Illness
20 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.”(AE) 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember now, O Lord, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight.” Hezekiah wept bitterly.(AF) 4 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, 5 “Turn back and say to Hezekiah prince of my people: Thus says the Lord, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.(AG) 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.”(AH) 7 Then Isaiah said, “Bring a lump of figs. Let them take it and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.”(AI)
8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” 9 Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: Shall the shadow advance[c] ten intervals, or shall it retreat ten intervals?” 10 Hezekiah answered, “It is normal for the shadow to lengthen ten intervals; rather, let the shadow retreat ten intervals.” 11 The prophet Isaiah cried to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back the ten intervals, by which the sun[d] had declined on the dial of Ahaz.(AJ)
Envoys from Babylon
12 At that time King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.(AK) 13 Hezekiah welcomed them;[e] he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(AL) 14 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah answered, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”(AM)
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 Days are coming when all that is in your house and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord.(AN) 18 Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”(AO) 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”(AP)
Death of Hezekiah
20 The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah, all his power, how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?(AQ) 21 Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and his son Manasseh succeeded him.(AR)
Manasseh Reigns over Judah
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.(AS) 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, following the abominable practices of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.(AT) 3 For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he erected altars for Baal, made a sacred pole,[f] as King Ahab of Israel had done, worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.(AU) 4 He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my name.”(AV) 5 He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 He made his son pass through fire; he practiced soothsaying and augury and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.(AW) 7 The carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever;(AX) 8 I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land that I gave to their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.”(AY) 9 But they did not listen; Manasseh misled them to do more evil than the nations had done that the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.(AZ)
10 The Lord said by his servants the prophets, 11 “Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these abominations, has done things more wicked than all that the Amorites who were before him did, and has caused Judah also to sin with his idols,(BA) 12 therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.(BB) 13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line for Samaria and the plummet for the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.(BC) 14 I will cast off the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies; they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their ancestors came out of Egypt even to this day.”
16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he caused Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.(BD)
17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, all that he did and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?(BE) 18 Manasseh slept with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza. His son Amon succeeded him.(BF)
Amon Reigns over Judah
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.(BG) 20 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done.(BH) 21 He walked in all the way in which his father walked, served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them; 22 he abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.(BI) 23 The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his house.(BJ) 24 But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in place of him. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza; then his son Josiah succeeded him.(BK)
2 Kings 19-21
New International Version
2 Kings 19-21
New International Version
Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(A)
19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore(B) his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim(C) the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests,(D) all wearing sackcloth,(E) to the prophet Isaiah(F) son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment(G) of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(H) the living God, and that he will rebuke(I) him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant(J) that still survives.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(K) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(L) me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report,(M) I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.(N)’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(O) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(P)
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend(Q) on deceive(R) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver(S) them—the gods of Gozan,(T) Harran,(U) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”(V)
Hezekiah’s Prayer(W)
14 Hezekiah received the letter(X) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(Y) you alone(Z) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear,(AA) Lord, and hear;(AB) open your eyes,(AC) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods(AD) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(AE) 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver(AF) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms(AG) of the earth may know(AH) that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(AI)(AJ)
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard(AK) your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against(AL) him:
“‘Virgin Daughter(AM) Zion
despises(AN) you and mocks(AO) you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head(AP) as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(AQ)
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One(AR) of Israel!
23 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,(AS)
“With my many chariots(AT)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down(AU) its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25 “‘Have you not heard?(AV)
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned(AW) it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.(AX)
26 Their people, drained of power,(AY)
are dismayed(AZ) and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,(BA)
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched(BB) before it grows up.
27 “‘But I know(BC) where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(BD) in your nose
and my bit(BE) in your mouth,
and I will make you return(BF)
by the way you came.’
29 “This will be the sign(BG) for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself,(BH)
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards(BI) and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant(BJ) of the kingdom of Judah
will take root(BK) below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(BL)
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(BM)
“The zeal(BN) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;(BO)
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend(BP) this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David(BQ) my servant.’”
35 That night the angel of the Lord(BR) went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!(BS) 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.(BT) He returned to Nineveh(BU) and stayed there.
37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek(BV) and Sharezer killed him with the sword,(BW) and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(BX) And Esarhaddon(BY) his son succeeded him as king.
Hezekiah’s Illness(BZ)
20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember,(CA) Lord, how I have walked(CB) before you faithfully(CC) and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard(CD) your prayer and seen your tears;(CE) I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend(CF) this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
7 Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil,(CG) and he recovered.
8 Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”
9 Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign(CH) to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”
10 “It is a simple(CI) matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”
11 Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back(CJ) the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
Envoys From Babylon(CK)(CL)
12 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. 13 Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”
15 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.(CM) Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your descendants,(CN) your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”(CO)
19 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
20 As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool(CP) and the tunnel(CQ) by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 21 Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
Manasseh King of Judah(CR)(CS)
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.(CT) 2 He did evil(CU) in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices(CV) of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places(CW) his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal(CX) and made an Asherah pole,(CY) as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts(CZ) and worshiped them. 4 He built altars(DA) in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.”(DB) 5 In the two courts(DC) of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son(DD) in the fire, practiced divination,(DE) sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists.(DF) He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing(DG) his anger.
7 He took the carved Asherah pole(DH) he had made and put it in the temple,(DI) of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name(DJ) forever. 8 I will not again(DK) make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses(DL) gave them.” 9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil(DM) than the nations(DN) the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
10 The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 11 “Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil(DO) than the Amorites(DP) who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols.(DQ) 12 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster(DR) on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.(DS) 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line(DT) used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe(DU) out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake(DV) the remnant(DW) of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; 15 they have done evil(DX) in my eyes and have aroused(DY) my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”
16 Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood(DZ) that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah(EA) to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
17 As for the other events of Manasseh’s reign, and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 18 Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace garden,(EB) the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.
Amon King of Judah(EC)
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. 20 He did evil(ED) in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the idols his father had worshiped, and bowing down to them. 22 He forsook(EE) the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk(EF) in obedience to him.
23 Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated(EG) the king in his palace. 24 Then the people of the land killed(EH) all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah(EI) his son king in his place.
25 As for the other events of Amon’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden(EJ) of Uzza. And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region
John 4:1-30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
John 4:1-30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
4 Now when Jesus[a] learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John”(A) 2 (although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized), 3 he left Judea and started back to Galilee. 4 But he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.(B) 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)[b](C) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”(D) 11 The woman said to him, “Sir,[c] you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”(E) 15 The woman said to him, “Sir,[d] give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”(F)
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 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 one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir,[e] I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you[f] say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.”(G) 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you[g] will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.(H) 22 You[h] worship what you[i] do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.(I) 23 But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.(J) 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”(K) 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”(L) 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he,[j] the one who is speaking to you.”(M)
27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,[k] can he?”(N) 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 4.1 Other ancient authorities read the Lord
- 4.9 Other ancient authorities lack this sentence
- 4.11 Or Lord
- 4.15 Or Lord
- 4.19 Or Lord
- 4.20 The Greek word for you is plural
- 4.21 The Greek word for you is plural
- 4.22 The Greek word for you is plural
- 4.22 The Greek word for you is plural
- 4.26 Gk I am
- 4.29 Or the Christ
John 4:1-30
New International Version
John 4:1-30
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.
Footnotes
- John 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.