John 4
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)
Footnotes
- 4:1 Other mss read the Lord
- 4:5 Lit piece of land
- 4:6 Lit about the sixth hour
- 4:9 Or do not share vessels with
- 4:9 Other mss omit For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
- 4:14 Or spring
- 4:23 Or in spirit and truth, also in v. 24
- 4:35 Lit Raise
- 4:35 Lit white
- 4:38 Lit you have entered into
- 4:39 Lit because of the woman’s word
- 4:41 Lit because of his word
- 4:42 Other mss add , the Messiah
- 4:50 Lit the word
- 4:52 Lit at the seventh hour
John 4
New Matthew Bible
The loving conversation of Christ with the woman from Samaria by the well’s side. How he heals the ruler’s son.
4 As soon as the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard how Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples), 3 he left Judea and went back to Galilee. 4 And it so was that he had to go through Samaria. 5 Then he came to a village of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 And there was Jacob’s well.
Jesus, then wearied in his journey, sat on the well. And it was about the sixth hour, 7 and there came a woman of Samaria to draw water. And Jesus said to her, Give me to drink. 8 For his disciples had gone away to the town to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask drink of me, a Samaritan? (For the Jews will have nothing to do with the Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink, you would have asked of him, and he would have given you the water of life.
11 The woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do you have that water of life from? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well, and he himself drank from it, and his children and his animals?
13 Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. 14 But whoever drinks of the water that I give him shall never more thirst, but the water that I give him will be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman said to him, Sir, give me of that water so that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw. 16 Jesus said to her, Go and call your husband, and come here. 17 The woman answered and said to him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have well said, I have no husband. 18 For you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.
19 The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, but you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
21 Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You Samaritans worship you know not what. We know what we worship, for salvation comes of the Jews. 23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For indeed, the Father seeks such to worship him. 24 God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.
25 The woman said to him, I know well the Messiah will come, who is called Christ. When he is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he.
27 And at that point his disciples came, and were surprised that he talked with the woman. Yet no one said to him, What are you asking? or, Why are you talking with her? 28 The woman then left her water-pot, and went her way into the village and said to the people, 29 Come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Is he not the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the village and came to him.
31 And in the meanwhile his disciples urged him, saying, Rabbi, eat! 32 He said to them, I have food to eat that you know not of. 33 Then the disciples said between themselves, Has anyone brought him food?
34 Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to 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, for they are already white for harvest. 36 And he who reaps receives reward, and gathers fruit unto life eternal, so that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 And this saying is true, that one sows and another reaps. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labour. Other men laboured, and you have entered into their labours.
39 Many of the Samaritans of that village believed on him because of the word of the woman who testified, He told me all that I ever did. 40 Then when the Samaritans had come to him, they besought him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his own words, 42 and said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of what you said, but because we have heard him ourselves and know that this is even indeed Christ, the Saviour of the world.
43 After two days he departed from there and went away into Galilee. 44 And Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honour in his own country. 45 Then, as soon as he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast. For they had also gone to the feast day.
46 And Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 As soon as he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and besought him to come down and heal his son, for he was even ready to die. 48 Then Jesus said to him, Unless you see signs and wonders, you cannot believe. 49 The nobleman said to him, Sir, come away before my child dies! 50 Jesus said to him, Go your way, your son lives.
And the man believed the words that Jesus had spoken to him, and went his way. 51 And as he was going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, Your child lives. 52 Then he enquired of them the hour when the child began to recover. And they said to him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53 And the father knew that it was the same hour in which Jesus had said to him, Your son lives. And he believed, and all his household. 54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did after he had come out of Judea into Galilee.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 by Ruth Magnusson (Davis). Includes emendations to February 2022. All rights reserved.