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John 4:7-26
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
John 4:7-26
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. 9 [a]The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”(A) (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) 10 [b]Jesus answered and said to her,(B) “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 [The woman] said to him, “Sir,[c] you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?”(C) 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”(D) 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” 17 The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ 18 For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”(E) 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.(F) 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain;[d] but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”(G) 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews.(H) 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth;[e] and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”(I) 25 [f]The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming,(J) the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he,[g] the one who is speaking with you.”(K)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 4:9 Samaritan women were regarded by Jews as ritually impure, and therefore Jews were forbidden to drink from any vessel they had handled.
- 4:10 Living water: the water of life, i.e., the revelation that Jesus brings; the woman thinks of “flowing water,” so much more desirable than stagnant well water. On John’s device of such misunderstanding, cf. note on Jn 3:3.
- 4:11 Sir: the Greek kyrios means “master” or “lord,” as a respectful mode of address for a human being or a deity; cf. Jn 4:19. It is also the word used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew ’adônai, substituted for the tetragrammaton YHWH.
- 4:20 This mountain: Gerizim, on which a temple was erected in the fourth century B.C. by Samaritans to rival Mount Zion in Jerusalem; cf. Dt 27:4 (Mount Ebal = the Jews’ term for Gerizim).
- 4:23 In Spirit and truth: not a reference to an interior worship within one’s own spirit. The Spirit is the spirit given by God that reveals truth and enables one to worship God appropriately (Jn 14:16–17). Cf. “born of water and Spirit” (Jn 3:5).
- 4:25 The expectations of the Samaritans are expressed here in Jewish terminology. They did not expect a messianic king of the house of David but a prophet like Moses (Dt 18:15).
- 4:26 I am he: it could also be translated “I am,” an Old Testament self-designation of Yahweh (Is 43:3, etc.); cf. Jn 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5–6, 8. See note on Mk 6:50.
John 4:7-26
New International Version
John 4:7-26
New International Version
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”(A) 8 (His disciples had gone into the town(B) to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan(C) 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.”(D)
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(E) 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.(F) Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water(G) welling up to eternal life.”(H)
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty(I) 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.(J) 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,(K) but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”(L)
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming(M) when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.(N) 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;(O) we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.(P) 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come(Q) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit(R) and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit,(S) and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)(T) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”(U)
Footnotes
- John 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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