John 4:16-26

New Testament for Everyone

Jesus and the woman

¹⁶ “Well then,” said Jesus to the woman, “go and call your husband and come here.”

¹⁷ “I haven’t got a husband,” replied the woman.

“You’re telling me you haven’t got a husband!” replied Jesus. ¹⁸ “The fact is, you’ve had five husbands, and the one you’ve got now isn’t your husband. You were speaking the truth!”

¹⁹ “Well, sir,” replied the woman, “I can see you’re a prophet . . . ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain. And you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

²¹ “Believe me, woman,” replied Jesus, “the time is coming when you won’t worship the father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You worship what you don’t know. We worship what we do know; salvation, you see, is indeed from the Jews. ²³ But the time is coming—indeed, it’s here already!—when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. Yes; that’s the kind of worshipers the father is looking for. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

²⁵ “I know that Messiah is coming,” said the woman, “the one they call ‘the anointed.’ When he comes, he’ll tell us everything.”

²⁶ “I’m the one—the one speaking to you right now,” said Jesus.