John 4
The Voice
4 The picture was becoming clear to the Pharisees that Jesus had gained a following much larger than that of John the Baptist, the wandering prophet. Now He could see that the Pharisees were beginning to plot against Him. 2 This was because His disciples were busy ritually cleansing many new disciples through baptism,[a] 3 He chose to leave Judea where most Pharisees lived and return to a safer location in Galilee. 4 This was a trip that would take them through Samaria.
For Jews in Israel, Samaria is a place to be avoided. Before Solomon’s death 1,000 years earlier, the regions of Samaria and Judea were part of a united Israel. After the rebellion that divided the kingdom, Samaria became a hotbed of idol worship. The northern kings made alliances that corrupted the people by introducing foreign customs and strange gods. They even had the nerve to build a temple to the True God on Mt. Gerizim to rival the one in Jerusalem. By the time the twelve are traveling with Jesus, it has long been evident that the Samaritans have lost their way. By marrying outsiders, they have polluted the land. Israel’s Jews consider them to be half-breeds—mongrels—and the Jews know to watch out for them or else be bitten by temptation.
5-8 In a small Samaritan town known as Sychar, Jesus and His entourage stopped to rest at the historic well that Jacob gave his son Joseph. It was about noon when Jesus found a spot to sit close to the well while the disciples ventured off to find provisions. From His vantage, He watched as a Samaritan woman approached to draw some water. Unexpectedly He spoke to her.
Jesus: Would you draw water, and give Me a drink?
Woman: 9 I cannot believe that You, a Jew, would associate with me, a Samaritan woman; much less ask me to give You a drink.
Jews, you see, have no dealings with Samaritans.
Also, a man never approaches a woman like this in public. Jesus is breaking accepted social barriers with this confrontation.
Jesus: 10 You don’t know the gift of God or who is asking you for a drink of this water from Jacob’s well. Because if you did, you would have asked Him for something greater; and He would have given you the living water.
Woman: 11 Sir, You sit by this deep well a thirsty man without a bucket in sight. Where does this living water come from? 12 Are You claiming superiority to our father Jacob who labored long and hard to dig and maintain this well so that he could share clean water with his sons, grandchildren, and cattle?
Jesus: 13 Drink this water, and your thirst is quenched only for a moment. You must return to this well again and again. 14 I offer water that will become a wellspring within you that gives life throughout eternity. You will never be thirsty again.
Woman: 15 Please, Sir, give me some of this water, so I’ll never be thirsty and never again have to make the trip to this well.
Jesus: 16 Then bring your husband to Me.
Woman: 17-18 I do not have a husband.
Jesus: Technically you are telling the truth. But you have had five husbands and are currently living with a man you are not married to.
Woman: 19 Sir, it is obvious to me that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped here on this mountain, but Your people say that Jerusalem is the only place for all to worship. Which is it?
Jesus: 21-24 Woman, I tell you that neither is so. Believe this: a new day is coming—in fact, it’s already here—when the importance will not be placed on the time and place of worship but on the truthful hearts of worshipers. You worship what you don’t know while we worship what we do know, for God’s salvation is coming through the Jews. The Father is spirit, and He is seeking followers whose worship is sourced in truth and deeply spiritual as well. Regardless of whether you are in Jerusalem or on this mountain, if you do not seek the Father, then you do not worship.
Woman: 25 These mysteries will be made clear by He who is promised, the Anointed One.
Jesus: 26 The Anointed is speaking to you. I am the One you have been looking for.
27 The disciples returned to Him and gathered around Him in amazement that He would openly break their customs by speaking to this woman, but none of them would ask Him what He was looking for or why He was speaking with her. 28 The woman went back to the town, leaving her water pot behind. She stopped men and women on the streets and told them about what had happened.
Woman: 29 I met a stranger who knew everything about me. Come and see for yourselves; can He be the Anointed One?
30 A crowd came out of the city and approached Jesus. 31 During all of this, the disciples were urging Jesus to eat the food they gathered.
Jesus: 32 I have food to eat that you know nothing about.
Disciples (to one another): 33 Is it possible someone else has brought Him food while we were away?
Jesus: 34 I receive My nourishment by serving the will of the Father who sent Me and completing His work. 35 You have heard others say, “Be patient; we have four more months to wait until the crops are ready for the harvest.” I say, take a closer look and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready for the harvest. 36 The harvester is collecting his pay, harvesting fruit ripe for eternal life. So even now, he and the sower are celebrating their fortune. 37 The saying may be old, but it is true: “One person sows, and another reaps.” 38 I sent you to harvest where you have not labored; someone else took the time to plant and cultivate, and you feast on the fruit of their labor.
39 Meanwhile, because one woman shared with her neighbors how Jesus exposed her past and present, the village of Sychar was transformed—many Samaritans heard and believed. 40 The Samaritans approached Jesus and repeatedly invited Him to stay with them, so He lingered there for two days on their account. 41 With the words that came from His mouth, there were many more believing Samaritans. 42 They began their faith journey because of the testimony of the woman beside the well; but when they heard for themselves, they were convinced the One they were hearing was and is God’s Anointed, the Liberating King, sent to rescue the entire world.
43-45 After two days of teaching and conversation, Jesus proceeded to Galilee where His countrymen received Him with familiar smiles. After all, they witnessed His miracle at the feast in Jerusalem; but Jesus understood and often quoted the maxim: “No one honors a hometown prophet.”
These old friends should be the first to believe, but it takes outsiders like the Samaritans to recognize Him.
46-47 As Jesus traveled to Cana (the village in Galilee where He transformed the water into fine wine), He was met by a government official. This man had heard a rumor that Jesus had left Judea and was heading to Galilee, and he came in desperation begging for Jesus’ help because his young son was near death. He was fearful that unless Jesus would go with him to Capernaum, his son would have no hope.
Jesus (to the official): 48 My word is not enough; you only believe when you see miraculous signs.
Official: 49 Sir, this is my son; please come with me before he dies.
Jesus (interrupting him): 50 Go home. Your son will live.
When he heard the voice of Jesus, faith took hold of him and he turned to go home. 51 Before he reached his village, his servants met him on the road celebrating his son’s miraculous recovery.
Official: 52 What time did this happen?
Servants: Yesterday about one o’clock in the afternoon.
53 At that moment, it dawned on the father the exact time that Jesus spoke the words, “He will live.” After that, he believed; and when he told his family about his amazing encounter with this Jesus, they believed too. 54 This was the second sign Jesus performed when He came back to Galilee from Judea.
Footnotes
- 4:2 Literally, immersing, to show repentance
John 4
Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus Talks to a Woman in Samaria
4 Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard the report that he was making and baptizing more followers than John. 2 (But really, Jesus himself did not baptize anyone; his followers baptized people for him.) 3 So he left Judea and went back to Galilee. 4 On the way to Galilee, he had to go through the country of Samaria.
5 In Samaria Jesus came to the town called Sychar, which 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, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 This happened while his followers were in town buying some food.
9 The woman answered, “I am surprised that you ask me for a drink! You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman!” (Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered, “You don’t know what God can give you. And you don’t know who I am, the one 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 our ancestor Jacob? He is the one who gave us this well. He drank from it himself, and his sons and all his animals drank from it too.”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But anyone who drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again. The water I give people will be like a spring flowing inside them. It will bring them eternal life.”
15 The woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty again and won’t have to come back here to get more water.”
16 Jesus told her, “Go get your husband and come back.”
17 The woman answered, “But I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right to say you have no husband. 18 That’s because, although you have had five husbands, the man you live with now is not your husband. That much was the truth.”
19 The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.[b] 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 something you don’t understand. We Jews understand what we worship, since salvation comes from the Jews. 23 But the time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. In fact, that time is now here. And these are the kind of people the Father wants to be his worshipers. 24 God is spirit. So the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming.” (He is the one called Christ.) “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus said, “He is talking to you now—I am the Messiah.”
27 Just then Jesus’ 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 told the people there, 29 “A man told me everything I have ever done. Come see him. Maybe he is the Messiah.” 30 So the people left the town and went to see Jesus.
31 While the woman was in town, Jesus’ 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 someone already bring him 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 When you plant, you always say, ‘Four more months to wait before we gather the grain.’ But I tell you, open your eyes, and look at the fields. They are ready for harvesting now. 36 Even now, the people who harvest the crop are being paid. They are gathering crops for eternal life. So now the people who plant can be happy together with those who harvest. 37 It is true when we say, ‘One person plants, but another person 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.”
39 Many of the Samaritan people in that town believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman had told them about him. She had told them, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 The Samaritans went to Jesus. They begged him to stay with them. So he stayed there two days. 41 Many more people became believers because of the things he said.
42 The people 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 now that he really is the one who will save the world.”
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son(A)
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 he arrived in Galilee, the people there welcomed him. They had been at the Passover festival in Jerusalem and had seen everything he did there.
46 Jesus went to visit Cana in Galilee again. Cana is where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officials 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. So he went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, who was almost dead. 48 Jesus said to him, “You people must see miraculous signs and wonders before you will believe in me.”
49 The king’s official said, “Sir, come before my little son dies.”
50 Jesus answered, “Go. Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. 51 On the way home, the man’s servants came and met him. They said, “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 same time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and everyone in his house believed in Jesus.
54 That was the second miraculous sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
John 4
New King James Version
A Samaritan Woman Meets Her Messiah
4 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and (A)baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that (B)Jacob (C)gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For (D)Jews have no dealings with (E)Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the (F)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 (G)living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but (H)whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him (I)will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 (J)The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, (K)I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on (L)this mountain, and you Jews say that in (M)Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming (N)when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship (O)what you do not know; we know what we worship, for (P)salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will (Q)worship the Father in (R)spirit (S)and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 (T)God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah (U)is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, (V)He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, (W)“I who speak to you am He.”
The Whitened Harvest
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man (X)who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, (Y)“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to (Z)finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes (AA)the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, (AB)for they are already white for harvest! 36 (AC)And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that (AD)both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: (AE)‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; (AF)others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
The Savior of the World
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him (AG)because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own (AH)word.
42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for (AI)we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed [a]the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
Welcome at Galilee
43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. 44 For (AJ)Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, (AK)having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; (AL)for they also had gone to the feast.
A Nobleman’s Son Healed
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee (AM)where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain [b]nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, (AN)“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”
49 The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”
50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”
52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.
54 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
Йоан 4
Библия, ревизирано издание
Исус Христос и самарянката
4 (A)А когато Господ узна какво са дочули фарисеите за Него, именно, че Исус придобивал и кръщавал повече ученици от Йоан,
2 не че сам Исус кръщаваше, а учениците Му,
3 напусна Юдея и пак отиде към Галилея.
4 И трябваше да мине през Самария.
5 (B)И така, дойде в един самарийски град, наречен Сихар, близо до землището, което Яков даде на сина си Йосиф.
6 Там беше Якововият кладенец[a]. Уморен от пътуване, Исус седеше на кладенеца. Беше около шестия час.
7 Дойде една самарянка да си извади вода. Исус ѝ каза: Дай Ми да пия.
8 Защото учениците Му бяха отишли в града да купят храна.
9 (C)Тогава самарянката Му каза: Как Ти, Който си юдеин, искаш вода от мене, която съм самарянка? Защото юдеите не общуват със самаряните.
10 (D)Исус ѝ отговори: Ако беше знаела Божия дар и Кой е Онзи, Който ти казва: Дай Ми да пия, ти би поискала от Него и Той би ти дал жива[b] вода!
11 Жената Му каза: Господине, нямаш с какво да загребеш вода, а и кладенецът е дълбок; тогава откъде имаш живата вода?
12 Нима си по-велик от баща ни Яков, който ни е дал кладенеца и сам той е пил от него, и синовете му, и добитъкът му?
13 Исус ѝ отговори: Всеки, който пие от тази вода, пак ще ожаднее;
14 (E)а който пие от водата, която Аз ще му дам, няма да ожаднее довека; но водата, която ще му дам, ще стане в него извор на вода, която извира за вечен живот.
15 (F)Жената Му каза: Господине, дай ми тази вода, за да не ожаднявам, нито да извървявам толкова път дотук, за да изваждам.
16 Исус ѝ каза: Иди, повикай мъжа си и ела тук.
17 Жената Му отговори: Нямам мъж. Исус ѝ каза: Право каза, че нямаш мъж;
18 защото петима мъже си имала, и този, когото сега имаш, не ти е мъж. Това, което казваш, е вярно.
19 (G)Жената Му каза: Господине, виждам, че Ти си пророк.
20 (H)Нашите бащи на този хълм са се покланяли; а вие казвате, че в Йерусалим е мястото, където трябва да се покланяме.
21 (I)Исус ѝ каза: Жено, вярвай Ми, че идва час, когато нито на този хълм, нито в Йерусалим ще се покланяте на Отца.
22 (J)Вие се покланяте на онова, което не знаете; ние се покланяме на онова, което знаем; защото спасението е от юдеите.
23 (K)Но иде час, и сега е, когато истинските поклонници ще се покланят на Отца с дух и истина; защото такива иска Отец да бъдат поклонниците Му.
24 (L)Бог е Дух; и онези, които Му се покланят, с дух и истина трябва да се покланят.
25 (M)Жената Му каза: Зная, че ще дойде Месия, Който се нарича Христос; Той, когато дойде, ще ни изяви всичко.
26 (N)Исус ѝ каза: Аз, Който говоря с тебе, съм Месията.
27 В това време дойдоха учениците Му и се учудиха, че разговаря с жена; но никой не попита: Какво търсиш?, или: Защо разговаряш с нея?
28 Тогава жената остави стомната си, отиде в града и каза на хората:
29 (O)Елате да видите един Човек, Който ми каза всичко, което съм направила. Да не би Той да е Христос?
30 Те излязоха от града и отиваха при Него.
31 В това време учениците молеха Исус: Учителю, яж.
32 А Той им каза: Аз имам храна да ям, за която вие не знаете.
33 Затова учениците казаха помежду си: Да не би някой да Му е донесъл нещо за ядене?
34 (P)Исус им каза: Моята храна е да изпълня волята на Онзи, Който Ме е пратил, и да довърша Неговото дело.
35 (Q)Не казвате ли: Още четири месеца и жътвата ще дойде? Ето, казвам ви, погледнете и вижте, че нивите са вече бели за жътва.
36 (R)Който жъне, получава заплата и събира плод за вечен живот, за да се радват заедно и който сее, и който жъне.
37 Защото в това отношение вярна е пословицата, че един сее, а друг жъне.
38 Аз ви пратих да жънете това, за което не сте се трудили; други се трудиха, а вие влязохте в наследството на техния труд.
39 И много самаряни от този град повярваха в Него поради думите на жената, която свидетелстваше: Той ми каза всичко, което съм правила.
40 И така, когато самаряните дойдоха при Него, Го помолиха да остане при тях; и Той остана там два дни.
41 И още мнозина повярваха поради Неговото учение;
42 (S)и на жената казаха: Ние вече вярваме не заради това, което ти ни каза, понеже сами чухме и знаем, че Той е наистина Спасителят на света.
Исус Христос изцелява сина на царски чиновник
43 (T)След два дни Той си тръгна оттам и отиде в Галилея.
44 (U)Защото сам Исус заяви, че пророк не е почитан в родината си.
45 (V)И така, когато дойде в Галилея, галилеяните Го приеха, след като бяха видели всичко, което извърши в Йерусалим на празника; защото и те бяха отишли на празника.
46 (W)И така, Исус пак дойде в Кана Галилейска, където беше превърнал водата във вино. И имаше един царски чиновник, чийто син беше болен в Капернаум.
47 Той, като чу, че Исус е дошъл от Юдея в Галилея, отиде при Него и Го помоли да слезе и да изцели сина му, защото беше на умиране.
48 (X)Тогава Исус му каза: Ако не видите знамения и чудеса, никак няма да повярвате.
49 Царският чиновник Му каза: Господине, слез, докато не е умряло детенцето ми.
50 Исус му каза: Иди си; синът ти е жив. Човекът повярва на думите, които му каза Исус, и си отиде.
51 И когато той вече слизаше към дома си, слугите му го посрещнаха и казаха, че синът му е жив.
52 А той ги попита за часа, когато му стана по-леко. Те му казаха: В седмия час треската го остави.
53 И така бащата разбра, че това е станало в същия час, когато Исус му каза: Синът ти е жив. И повярва той и целият му дом.
54 Това второ знамение извърши Исус, когато отново дойде от Юдея в Галилея.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright by © Българско библейско дружество 2015. Използвани с разрешение.
