A Woman of Samaria at the Well

4 Jesus knew the proud religious law-keepers had heard He was making and baptizing more followers than John. ² Jesus did not baptize anyone Himself but His followers did. ³ Then Jesus went from the country of Judea to the country of Galilee. ⁴ He had to go through the country of Samaria. ⁵ So He came to a town in Samaria called Sycar. It was near the piece of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from traveling so He sat down just as He was by the well. It was about noon.

⁷ A woman of Samaria came to get water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ His followers had gone to the town to buy food. ⁹ The woman of Samaria said to Him, “You are a Jew. I am of Samaria. Why do You ask me for a drink when the Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria?”

¹⁰ Jesus said to her, “You do not know what God has to give. You do not know Who said to you, ‘Give Me a drink.’ If you knew, you would have asked Him. He would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, the well is deep. You have nothing to get water with. Where will You get the living water? ¹² Are You greater than our early father Jacob? He gave us the well. He and his children and his cattle drank from it.”

Jesus Tells of the Living Water

¹³ Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again. ¹⁴ Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty. The water that I will give him will become in him a well of life that lasts forever.”

¹⁵ The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty. Then I will not have to come all this way for water.”

The True Kind of Worship

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” ¹⁷ The woman said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said, “You told the truth when you said, ‘I have no husband.’ ¹⁸ You have had five husbands. The one you have now is not your husband. You told the truth.”

¹⁹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, I think You are a person Who speaks for God. ²⁰ Our early fathers worshiped on this mountain. You Jews say Jerusalem is the place where men should worship.”

²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me. The time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You people do not know what you worship. We Jews know what we worship. It is through the Jews that men are saved from the punishment of their sins. ²³ The time is coming, yes, it is here now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father wants that kind of worshipers. ²⁴ God is Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus Is the One the Jews Are Looking For

²⁵ The woman said to Him, “I know the Jews are looking for One Who is coming. He is called the Christ. When He comes, He will tell us everything.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I am the Christ, the One talking with you!”

David Becomes King

16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you be filled with sorrow because of Saul, since I have turned away from him being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse of Bethlehem. For I have chosen a king for Myself among his sons.” ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will kill me when he hears about it.” The Lord said, “Take a young cow with you, and say, ‘I have come to give a gift to the Lord.’ ³ Ask Jesse to come when you give the gift, and I will show you what you should do. You will choose for Me the one I name to you.” ⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem. The leaders of the city came shaking with fear to meet him. They said, “Do you come in peace?” ⁵ Samuel said, “I have come in peace to give a gift to the Lord. Make yourselves holy and come with me as I give the gift.” He set apart Jesse and his sons also, and asked them to come to the gift-giving. ⁶ When they had come, Samuel looked at Eliab and thought, “For sure he is the Lord’s chosen one who is standing before Him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at the way he looks on the outside or how tall he is, because I have not chosen him. For the Lord does not look at the things man looks at. A man looks at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one.” ⁹ Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Jesse made seven of his sons pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And Jesse said, “There is yet the youngest one. See, he is taking care of the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him. We will not sit down until he comes here.” ¹² So he sent for him and brought him in. His youngest son had good color in his skin, beautiful eyes and was good-looking. The Lord said, “Rise up and choose him. For this is the one.” ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and poured the oil on him in front of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord came upon David with strength from that day on. And Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

¹⁴ Save me from the guilt of blood, O God. You are the God Who saves me. Then my tongue will sing with joy about how right and good You are. ¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, so my mouth will praise You. ¹⁶ For You are not happy with a gift given on the altar in worship, or I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt gifts. ¹⁷ The gifts on an altar that God wants are a broken spirit. O God, You will not hate a broken heart and a heart with no pride.

The Locked Book

⁹ Stop and wait. Blind yourselves and be blind. They are drunk, but not with wine. They walk from side to side, but not because of strong drink. ¹⁰ For the Lord has given you a deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, you who speak for God. He has covered your heads, men of God. ¹¹ And the special dream of all this will be to you like the words of a locked book. When they give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is locked.” ¹² Then they will give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

¹³ The Lord said, “These people show respect to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach rules that men have made. ¹⁴ So see, I will once again do great things with these people, great and wonderful things. And the wisdom of their wise men will be gone. The understanding of their wise men will be hidden.”

Hope for the Future

¹⁵ It is bad for those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, and whose works are done in a dark place. They say, “Who sees us?” or, “Who knows us?” ¹⁶ You turn things up-side-down! Is the pot-maker the same as the clay? Should what is made say to its maker, “He did not make me”? Should what is made say to him who made it, “He has no understanding”?

Israel Must Not Trust in Lying Words

7 This word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

Wise Men Visit the Young Child Jesus

2 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in the country of Judea. It was the time when Herod was king of that part of the country. Soon after Jesus was born, some wise men who learned things from stars came to Jerusalem from the East. ² They asked, “Where is the King of the Jews Who has been born? We have seen His star in the East. We have come to worship Him.”

³ King Herod heard this. He and all the people of Jerusalem were worried. ⁴ He called together all the religious leaders of the Jews and the teachers of the Law. Herod asked them where Christ was to be born. ⁵ They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea. The early preacher wrote, ⁶ ‘You, Bethlehem of Judah, are not the least of the leaders of Judah. Out of you will come a King Who will lead My people the Jews.’” ^(A)

⁷ Then Herod had a secret meeting with the men who learned things from stars. He asked them about what time the star had been seen. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and find the young Child. When you find Him, let me know. Then I can go and worship Him also.”

⁹ After the king had spoken, they went on their way. The star they had seen in the East went before them. It came and stopped over the place where the young Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were filled with much joy.

¹¹ They went into the house and found the young Child with Mary, His mother. Then they got down before Him and worshiped Him. They opened their bags of riches and gave Him gifts of gold and perfume and spices. ¹² Then God spoke to them in a dream. He told them not to go back to Herod. So they went to their own country by another road.

Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Leaders ^(A)

15 Some of the teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers from Jerusalem came to Jesus. They asked, ² “Why do Your followers not obey the teaching that was given to them by our fathers? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” ³ Jesus said to them, “Why do you break the Law of God by trying to keep their teaching? ⁴ For God said, ‘Show respect to your father and mother.’ ^(B) And, ‘He who curses his father or mother will be put to death.’ ^{(C) 5} But you say that if a man says to his parents that anything he has, that might have been of help to them, is already given to God, ⁶ he does not have to show respect by helping his father and mother. You are putting aside the Word of God to keep their teaching. ⁷ You who pretend to be someone you are not, Isaiah told about you. He said, ⁸ ’These people show respect to Me with their mouth, but their heart is far from Me. ⁹ Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach what men have made up.’” ^(D)

¹⁰ Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, “Listen and understand this! ¹¹ It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes his mind and heart sinful. It is what comes out of a man’s mouth that makes him sinful.”

¹² His followers came to Him. They said, “Did You know the proud religious law-keepers were ashamed and turned away because of You when they heard this?” ¹³ He said, “Every plant that My Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. If one blind man leads another blind man, they will both fall into a hole.”

¹⁵ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Tell us this picture-story so we can understand it.” ¹⁶ Jesus said, “Do you not understand yet? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But whatever comes from the mouth has come out of the heart. These things make the man unclean inside. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come bad thoughts, killing other people, sex sins of a married person, sex sins of a person not married, stealing, lying, speaking against God. ²⁰ These are the things that make the man unclean inside. It does not make a man sinful to eat with hands that have not been washed.”

²⁴ The next day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was looking for them. He had gathered all his family and close friends at his house. ²⁵ When Peter came, Cornelius got down at his feet and worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter raised him up and said, “Get up! I am just a man like you.” ²⁷ As Peter spoke with Cornelius, he went into the house and found a large group of people gathered together. ²⁸ Peter said to them, “You know it is against our Law for a Jew to visit a person of another nation. But God has shown me I should not say that any man is unclean. ²⁹ For this reason I came as soon as you sent for me. But I want to ask you why you sent for me?”

³⁰ Cornelius said, “Four days ago at three o’clock in the afternoon I was praying here in my house. All at once, I saw a man standing in front of me. He had on bright clothes. ³¹ He said to me, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayers and has remembered your gifts of love. ³² You must send to Joppa and ask Simon Peter to come here. He is staying at the house of Simon, the man who works with leather. His house is by the sea-shore.’ ³³ I sent for you at once. You have done well to come. We are all here and God is with us. We are ready to hear whatever the Lord has told you to say.”

²⁰ Christian brothers, do not be like children in your thinking. Be full-grown, but be like children in not knowing how to sin. ²¹ God says in the Holy Writings, “I will speak to My people. I will speak through men from other lands in other languages. Even then My people will not listen to Me.” ^{(A) 22} So then speaking in special sounds is for those who do not believe. It is not for those who believe. But speaking God’s Word is for those who believe. It is not for those who do not believe.

Church Meetings

²³ If some people who are not Christians come to your church meeting while all the people are speaking in special sounds, they will think you are crazy. ²⁴ But if a man who is not a Christian comes to your church meeting while you are all speaking God’s Word, he will understand that he is a sinner by what he hears. He will know he is guilty. ²⁵ The secrets of his heart will be brought into the open. He will get on his knees and worship God. He will say, “For sure, God is here with you!”