And He had to pass through (A)Samaria. So He *came to a city of (B)Samaria called Sychar, near (C)the parcel of land that (D)Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired from His journey, was just sitting by the well. It was about [a]the sixth hour.

The Woman of Samaria

A woman of Samaria *came to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His (E)disciples had gone away to (F)the city to buy food. So the (G)Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For (H)Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you (I)living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “[b]Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this (J)living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who (K)gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him (L)shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to (M)eternal life.”

15 The woman *said to Him, “[c]Sir, (N)give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said to Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this which you have said is true.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “[d]Sir, I perceive that You are (O)a prophet. 20 (P)Our fathers worshiped on (Q)this mountain, and yet you Jews say that (R)in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Believe Me, woman, that [e](S)a time is coming when you will worship the Father (T)neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 (U)You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because (V)salvation is from the Jews. 23 But [f](W)a time is coming, and [g]even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (X)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be [h]His worshipers. 24 God is [i]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship (Y)in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that (Z)Messiah is coming ((AA)He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, (AB)I am He, the One speaking to you.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. John 4:6 I.e., noon
  2. John 4:11 Or Lord
  3. John 4:15 Or Lord
  4. John 4:19 Or Lord
  5. John 4:21 Lit an hour
  6. John 4:23 Lit an hour
  7. John 4:23 Lit now is, when
  8. John 4:23 Lit the ones worshiping Him
  9. John 4:24 Or Spirit

Now he had to go through Samaria.(A) So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.(B) 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?”(C) (His disciples had gone into the town(D) to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan(E) 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.”(F)

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(G) 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.(H) Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water(I) welling up to eternal life.”(J)

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty(K) 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.(L) 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,(M) but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”(N)

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

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

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

Read full chapter

Footnotes

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