John 4
International Children’s Bible
Jesus and a Samaritan Woman
4 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more followers than John. 2 (But really Jesus himself did not baptize people. His followers did the baptizing.) Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard about him. 3 So he left Judea and went back to Galilee. 4 On the way he had to go through the country of Samaria.
5 In Samaria Jesus came to the town called Sychar. This town is near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his long trip. So he sat down beside the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water. Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 (This happened while Jesus’ followers were in town buying some food.)
9 The woman said, “I am surprised that you ask me for a drink. You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan.” (Jews are not friends with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus said, “You don’t know what God gives. And you don’t know who asked you for a drink. If you knew, you would have asked me, and I would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said, “Sir, where will you get that living water? The well is very deep, and you have nothing to get water with. 12 Are you greater than Jacob, our father? Jacob is the one who gave us this well. He drank from it himself. Also, his sons and flocks drank from this well.”
13 Jesus answered, “Every person who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again. The water I give will become a spring of water flowing inside him. It will give him eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty again. And I will not have to come back here to get more water.”
16 Jesus told her, “Go get your husband and come back here.”
17 The woman answered, “But I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right to say you have no husband. 18 Really you have had five husbands. But the man you live with now is not your husband. You told the truth.”
19 The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where people must worship.”
21 Jesus said, “Believe me, woman. The time is coming when you will not have to be in Jerusalem or on this mountain to worship the Father. 22 You Samaritans worship what you don’t understand. We Jews understand what we worship. Salvation comes from the Jews. 23 The time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. That time is now here. And these are the kinds of worshipers the Father wants. 24 God is spirit. Those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming.” (Messiah is the One called Christ.) “When the Messiah comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus said, “He is talking to you now. I am he.”
27 Just then his followers came back from town. They were surprised because they saw Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She said to the people, 29 “A man told me everything I have ever done. Come see him. Maybe he is the Christ!” 30 So the people left the town and went to see Jesus.
31 While the woman was away, the followers were begging him, “Teacher, eat something!”
32 But Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 So the followers asked themselves, “Did somebody already bring Jesus some food?”
34 Jesus said, “My food is to do what the One who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that he gave me to do. 35 You say, ‘Four more months to wait before we gather the grain.’ But I tell you, open your eyes. Look at the fields that are ready for harvesting now. 36 Even now, the one who harvests the crop is being paid. He is gathering crops for eternal life. So now the one who plants can be happy along with the one who harvests. 37 It is true when we say, ‘One person plants, but another harvests the crop.’ 38 I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work for. Others did the work, and you get the profit from their work.”[b]
39 Many of the Samaritans in that town believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman said: “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 The Samaritans came to Jesus and begged him to stay with them. So he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of the things he said.
42 They said to the woman, “First we believed in Jesus because of what you told us. But now we believe because we heard him ourselves. We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Jesus Heals an Officer’s Son
43 Two days later, Jesus left and went to Galilee. 44 (Jesus had said before that a prophet is not respected in his own country.) 45 When Jesus arrived in Galilee, the people there welcomed him. They had seen all the things he did at the Passover Feast in Jerusalem. They had been at the Passover Feast, too.
46 Jesus went to visit Cana in Galilee again. This is where Jesus had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officers lived in the city of Capernaum. This man’s son was sick. 47 The man heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was now in Galilee. He went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son. His son was almost dead. 48 Jesus said to him, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.”
49 The officer said, “Sir, come before my child dies.”
50 Jesus answered, “Go. Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. 51 On the way the man’s servants came and met him. They told him, “Your son is well.”
52 The man asked, “What time did my son begin to get well?”
They answered, “It was about one o’clock yesterday when the fever left him.”
53 The father knew that one o’clock was the exact time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and all the people of his house believed in Jesus.
54 That was the second miracle that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
John 4
Legacy Standard Bible
Jesus Goes to Galilee
4 Therefore when (A)Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and (B)baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although (C)Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His (D)disciples were), 3 He left (E)Judea and went away (F)again into Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through (G)Samaria. 5 So He *came to a city of (H)Samaria called Sychar, near (I)the field that (J)Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about [a]the sixth hour.
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
7 A woman of Samaria *came to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His (K)disciples had gone away into (L)the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the (M)Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How do You, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?” (For (N)Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you (O)living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “[b]Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do You get that (P)living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who (Q)gave us this well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him (R)will never thirst—ever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to (S)eternal life.”
15 The woman *said to Him, “[c]Sir, (T)give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come back here to draw.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come back here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “[d]Sir, I see that You are (U)a prophet. 20 (V)Our fathers worshiped on (W)this mountain, and you people say that (X)in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, (Y)an hour is coming when (Z)neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 (AA)You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for (AB)salvation is from the Jews. 23 But (AC)an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (AD)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is [e]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship (AE)in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that (AF)Messiah is coming ((AG)He who is called [f]Christ); when He comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “(AH)I who speak to you am He.”
27 And at this point His (AI)disciples came, and they were marveling that He was speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man (AJ)who told me all the things that I have done; (AK)is this not the [g]Christ?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “(AL)Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the (AM)disciples were saying to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” 34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to (AN)do the will of Him who sent Me and to (AO)finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white (AP)for harvest. 36 Even now he who reaps is receiving (AQ)wages and is gathering (AR)fruit for (AS)life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘(AT)One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
Many Samaritans Believe
39 From (AU)that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who bore witness, “(AV)He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is truly (AW)the Savior of the world.”
43 And after (AX)the two days He went from there into Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself bore witness that (AY)a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, (AZ)having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.
Jesus Heals a Royal Official’s Son
46 Then He came again to (BA)Cana of Galilee (BB)where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at (BC)Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come (BD)out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was about to die. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see [h](BE)signs and (BF)wonders, you will never believe.” 49 The royal official *said to Him, “[i]Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus *said to him, “(BG)Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51 And while he was still going down, his slaves met him, saying that his [j]son was alive. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the [k]seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and (BH)his whole household. 54 This is again a (BI)second [l]sign that Jesus did when He had (BJ)come out of Judea into Galilee.
Footnotes
- John 4:6 Perhaps 6 p.m. Roman time or noon Jewish time
- John 4:11 Or Lord
- John 4:15 Or Lord
- John 4:19 Or Lord
- John 4:24 Or Spirit
- John 4:25 Gr Christos; lit Anointed One
- John 4:29 Messiah
- John 4:48 Or attesting miracles
- John 4:49 Or Lord
- John 4:51 Or boy
- John 4:52 Perhaps 7 p.m. Roman time or 1 p.m. Jewish time
- John 4:54 Or attesting miracle
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.