John 4-6

Christian Standard Bible

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

4 When Jesus^[a] learned that the Pharisees^(A) had heard he was making^(B) and baptizing more disciples than John^{(C) 2} (though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), ³ he left Judea^(D) and went again to Galilee.^{(E) 4} He had to travel through Samaria;^{(F) 5} so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property^[b] that Jacob^(G) had given his son Joseph.^{(H) 6} Jacob’s well^(I) was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.^[c]

⁷ A woman of Samaria came to draw water.^(J)

“Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, ⁸ because his disciples had gone into town to buy food.

⁹ “How is it that you, a Jew,^(K) ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan^(L) woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with^[d] Samaritans.^[e]

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God,^(M) and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”^(N)

¹¹ “Sir,”^(O) said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’? ¹² You aren’t greater than our father Jacob,^(P) are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”

¹³ Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. ¹⁴ But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again.^(Q) In fact, the water I will give him will become a well^[f](R) of water springing up in him for eternal life.”^(S)

¹⁵ “Sir,” the woman said to him, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

¹⁶ “Go call your husband,” he told her, “and come back here.”

¹⁷ “I don’t have a husband,” she answered.

“You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said. ¹⁸ “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,^(T) but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”^(U)

²¹ Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.^{(V) 23} But an hour is coming, and is now here,^(W) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.^[g] Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit,^(X) and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”^(Y)

²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah^(Z) is coming” (who is called Christ^(AA)). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”^(AB)

The Ripened Harvest

²⁷ Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” ^{(AC) 30} They left the town and made their way to him.^(AD)

³¹ In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi,^(AE) eat something.”

³² But he said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

³³ The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”

³⁴ “My food is to do the will of him^(AF) who sent me^(AG) and to finish his work,”^(AH) Jesus told them. ³⁵ “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open^[h] your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready^[i] for harvest. ³⁶ The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life,^(AI) so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’^{(AJ) 38} I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from^[j] their labor.”

The Savior of the World

³⁹ Now many Samaritans^(AK) from that town believed in him because of what the woman said^[k] when she testified,^(AL) “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him,^(AM) they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹ Many more believed because of what he said.^{[l] 42} And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior^(AN) of the world.”^[m]

A Galilean Welcome

⁴³ After two days he left there for Galilee.^{(AO) 44} (Jesus himself had testified^(AP) that a prophet has no honor in his own country.^(AQ)) ⁴⁵ When^(AR) they entered Galilee, the Galileans^(AS) welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem^(AT) during the festival.^(AU) For they also had gone to the festival.

The Second Sign: Healing an Official’s Son

⁴⁶ He went again to Cana^(AV) of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.^{(AW) 47} When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea^(AX) into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.

⁴⁸ Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders,^(AY) you will not believe.”^(AZ)

⁴⁹ “Sir,”^(BA) the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”

⁵⁰ “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what^[n] Jesus said to him and departed.

⁵¹ While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive. ⁵² He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon^[o] the fever left him,” they answered. ⁵³ The father^(BB) realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household.

⁵⁴ Now this was also the second sign^(BC) Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee.^(BD)

The Third Sign: Healing the Sick

5 After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.^{(BE) 2} By the Sheep Gate^(BF) in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda^[p] in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. ³ Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.^[q]

⁵ One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time,^(BG) he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,”^(BH) the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath,^{(BI) 10} and so the Jews^(BJ) said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath.^(BK) The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”

¹¹ He replied, “The man who made me well^(BL) told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹² “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. ¹³ But the man who was healed did not know who it was,^(BM) because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.^[r]

¹⁴ After this, Jesus found him in the temple^(BN) and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.^{(BO) 16} Therefore, the Jews began persecuting^(BP) Jesus^[s] because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.^(BQ)

Honoring the Father and the Son

¹⁷ Jesus responded to them, “My Father^(BR) is still working, and I am working also.” ¹⁸ This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him:^(BS) Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

¹⁹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[t] does, the Son likewise does these things.^{(BT) 20} For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works^(BU) than these so that you will be amazed. ²¹ And just as the Father raises^(BV) the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.^{(BW) 22} The Father,^(BX) in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.^(BY) Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.^(BZ)

Life and Judgment

²⁴ “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life^(CA) and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here,^(CB) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.^{(CC) 26} For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son^(CD) to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has granted him the right to pass judgment,^(CE) because he is the Son of Man.^{(CF) 28} Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.

³⁰ “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment^(CG) is just,^(CH) because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.^(CI)

Witnesses to Jesus

³¹ “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.^{(CJ) 33} You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth.^{(CK) 34} I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ John^[u](CL) was a burning and shining lamp,^(CM) and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.^(CN)

³⁶ “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish.^(CO) These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent^(CP) me. ³⁷ The Father who sent me has himself testified^(CQ) about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.^{(CR) 38} You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent. ³⁹ You pore over the Scriptures^(CS) because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.^{(CT) 40} But you are not willing^(CU) to come to me^(CV) so that you may have life.

⁴¹ “I do not accept glory^(CW) from people, ⁴² but I know you—that you have no love for God^(CX) within you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name,^(CY) and yet you don’t accept me.^(CZ) If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only^(DA) God?^{(DB) 45} Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses,^(DC) on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But if you don’t believe what he wrote,^(DD) how will you believe my words?”^(DE)

The Fourth Sign: Feeding of the Five Thousand

6 After^(DF) this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee^(DG) (or Tiberias^(DH)). ² A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. ³ Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.

⁴ Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. ⁵ So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him,^(DI) he asked Philip,^(DJ) “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat?” ⁶ He asked this to test him,^(DK) for he himself knew what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii^[v](DL) worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew,^(DM) Simon^(DN) Peter’s^(DO) brother, said to him, ⁹ “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

There was plenty of grass in that place; so they sat down. The men numbered about five thousand.^{(DP) 11} Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.^(DQ)

¹² When they were full, he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.”^{(DR) 13} So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴ When the people saw the sign^[w] he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet^(DS) who is to come^(DT) into the world.”^(DU)

¹⁵ Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,^(DV) he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

The Fifth Sign: Walking on Water

¹⁶ When^(DW) evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷ got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum.^(DX) Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸ A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. ¹⁹ After they had rowed about three or four miles,^[x] they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid. ²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I.^[y](DY) Don’t be afraid.” ²¹ Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

The Bread of Life

²² The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw there had been only one boat.^[z](DZ) They also saw that Jesus had not boarded the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone off alone. ²³ Some boats from Tiberias^(EA) came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. ²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi,^(EB) when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw^[aa] the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Don’t work for the food that perishes^(EC) but for the food that lasts for eternal life,^(ED) which the Son of Man^(EE) will give you, because God the Father^(EF) has set his seal of approval on him.”

²⁸ “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

²⁹ Jesus replied, “This is the work^(EG) of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”^(EH)

³⁰ “What sign, then, are you going to do so that we may see and believe you?” they asked. “What are you going to perform? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna^(EI) in the wilderness,^(EJ) just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”^[ab](EK)

³² Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Moses^(EL) didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ “I am^(EM) the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me^(EN) will ever be hungry,^(EO) and no one who believes in me^(EP) will ever be thirsty^(EQ) again. ³⁶ But as I told you, you’ve seen me,^[ac] and yet you do not believe. ³⁷ Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.^{(ER) 38} For I have come down from heaven,^(ES) not to do my own will, but the will of him^(ET) who sent me. ³⁹ This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise^(EU) them up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father: ^(EV) that everyone who sees the Son^(EW) and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise^(EX) him up on the last day.”

⁴¹ Therefore the Jews started grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph,^(EY) whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws^[ad] him, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ^(EZ) And they will all be taught by God.^[ae](FA) Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father^(FB) comes to me— ⁴⁶ not that anyone has seen the Father^(FC) except the one who is from God.^(FD) He has seen the Father.^(FE)

⁴⁷ “Truly I tell you, anyone who believes^[af] has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna^(FF) in the wilderness,^(FG) and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die.^{(FH) 51} I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live^(FI) forever.^(FJ) The bread that I will give for the life^(FK) of the world is my flesh.”^(FL)

⁵² At that, the Jews argued^(FM) among themselves,^(FN) “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man^(FO) and drink his blood,^(FP) you do not have life in yourselves. ⁵⁴ The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood^(FQ) has eternal life, and I will raise^(FR) him up on the last day, ⁵⁵ because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.^{(FS) 57} Just as the living^(FT) Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live^(FU) because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna^[ag] your ancestors ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”^(FV)

⁵⁹ He said these things while teaching in the synagogue^(FW) in Capernaum.^(FX)

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

⁶⁰ Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept^[ah] it?”

⁶¹ Jesus, knowing in himself^(FY) that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man^(FZ) ascending^(GA) to where he was before? ⁶³ The Spirit^(GB) is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning^(GC) those who did not^[ai] believe and the one who would betray^(GD) him.) ⁶⁵ He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me^(GE) unless it is granted to him by the Father.”

⁶⁶ From that moment^[aj] many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to the Twelve,^(GF) “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

⁶⁸ Simon Peter^(GG) answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”^[ak](GH)

⁷⁰ Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve?^(GI) Yet one of you is a devil.”^{(GJ) 71} He was referring to Judas,^(GK) Simon Iscariot’s son,^[al] one of the Twelve, because he was going to betray^(GL) him.