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.

8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.^(A)

² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.^{(B) 3} The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.^(C) Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap,^(D) in order to have a basis for accusing him.^(E)

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone^(F) at her.”^{(G) 8} Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”^(H) Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”^(I)

Dispute Over Jesus’ Testimony

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am^(J) the light of the world.^(K) Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”^(L)

¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”^(M)

¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going.^(N) But you have no idea where I come from^(O) or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards;^(P) I pass judgment on no one.^{(Q) 16} But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.^{(R) 17} In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.^{(S) 18} I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”^(T)

¹⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,”^(U) Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”^{(V) 20} He spoke these words while teaching^(W) in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put.^(X) Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.^(Y)

Dispute Over Who Jesus Is

²¹ Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die^(Z) in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”^(AA)

²² This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

²³ But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.^{(AB) 24} I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he,^(AC) you will indeed die in your sins.”

²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶ “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy,^(AD) and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”^(AE)

²⁷ They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up^[a] the Son of Man,^(AF) then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.^{(AG) 29} The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone,^(AH) for I always do what pleases him.”^{(AI) 30} Even as he spoke, many believed in him.^(AJ)

Dispute Over Whose Children Jesus’ Opponents Are

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching,^(AK) you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”^(AL)

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants^(AM) and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.^{(AN) 35} Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.^{(AO) 36} So if the Son sets you free,^(AP) you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me,^(AQ) because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence,^(AR) and you are doing what you have heard from your father.^[b]”^(AS)

³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,”^(AT) said Jesus, “then you would^[c] do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me,^(AU) a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.^(AV) Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”^(AW)

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”^(AX)

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,^(AY) for I have come here from God.^(AZ) I have not come on my own;^(BA) God sent me.^{(BB) 43} Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil,^(BC) and you want to carry out your father’s desires.^(BD) He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.^{(BE) 45} Yet because I tell the truth,^(BF) you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.^(BG) The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jesus’ Claims About Himself

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan^(BH) and demon-possessed?”^(BI)

⁴⁹ “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I am not seeking glory for myself;^(BJ) but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”^(BK)

⁵² At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed!^(BL) Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham?^(BM) He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

⁵⁴ Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself,^(BN) my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.^{(BO) 55} Though you do not know him,^(BP) I know him.^(BQ) If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.^{(BR) 56} Your father Abraham^(BS) rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it^(BT) and was glad.”

⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born,^(BU) I am!”^{(BV) 59} At this, they picked up stones to stone him,^(BW) but Jesus hid himself,^(BX) slipping away from the temple grounds.