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The Pharisees heard that Jesus was getting people to follow him and was baptizing them. (Jesus' disciples baptized them, not he himself.) He now had more followers than John.

The Lord knew that they had heard about it. So he left Judea and went back to Galilee again.

He had to pass through the country of Samaria.

He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. It was near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Jacob's well was there. Jesus was very tired from walking on the road. So he sat down by the well. It was about midday.

A woman from Samaria came to the well to draw water. Jesus said, `Please give me a drink of water.'

His disciples had gone into the town to buy some food.

The woman said to Jesus, `Why do you ask me for a drink of water? You are a Jew and I am from Samaria.' (The Jews are not friends with the people of Samaria.)

Jesus answered her, `You do not know what God gives people. And you do not know who is asking you for a drink. If you knew him, then it is you who would have asked for a drink of water. He would give you living water.'

10 The woman said, `Sir, you have nothing to draw with. The well is deep. Where do you get that living water?

11 Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this well? He drank water from this well, also his children and cattle.'

12 Jesus answered her, `Anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.

13 But anyone who drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty. The water I give him will become a well inside of him that will never be dry. It will give him life for ever.'

14 The woman said, `Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty again. I will not need to come here to draw water.'

15 Jesus said, `Go, call your husband, then come here.'

16 She said, `I have no husband.' Jesus said, `You say, "I have no husband." That is true.

17 You have had five husbands, but the man you are living with now is not your husband. You have told the truth.'

18 The woman said, `Sir, this shows me you are a prophet of God.

19 Our fathers came to this mountain to worship God. But you people say Jerusalem is the place people must go to worship him.'

20 Jesus said, `Woman, believe what I say. The time is coming when you will not come to this mountain or to Jerusalem to worship my Father.

21 You worship one whom you do not know. But we know whom we worship. The Saviour will come of the Jews.

22 But the time is coming, yes, the time is here already, when those who worship God will worship him in spirit and in a true way. My Father is looking for that kind of people to worship him.

23 God is Spirit. Those who worship him must do so in spirit and in a true way.'

24 The woman said to Jesus, `I know that Messiah is coming. His name is Christ. When he comes he will tell us everything.'

25 Jesus said to her, `I who am talking to you am he.'

26 When Jesus had said this, his disciples came back. They were surprised to hear him talking to a woman. But not one of them asked, `What do you want?' or, `Why are you talking to her?'

27 The woman left her water-pot and went back to the town.

28 She said to the people, `Come, I will show you a man who has told me everything I have done. Can this be the Christ?'

29 The people left the town and went to him.

30 While they were on the way coming to Jesus, the disciples asked him, `Teacher, will you please eat.'

31 Jesus said to them, `I have food that you do not know about.'

32 So the disciples asked one another, `Has anyone brought him food to eat?'

33 Jesus said to them, `My food is to obey the one who sent me and to finish his work.

34 Do you not say, "In four months it will be harvest time"? Listen, I say. Look up and see the fields. The harvest is ready to cut now.

35 The one who gathers the harvest receives a reward for it. He gathers a harvest that will live for ever. Then the one who sows and the one who gathers will both be happy.

36 This saying is true here: "One sows and another gathers."

37 I sent you to gather what you did not help to plant. Other people have worked hard and you have been helped through their work.'

38 Many of the people of the town believed in Jesus because of what the woman told them. She said, `He told me everything I have done.'

39 When the people from Samaria came, they begged him to stay with them. So he stayed with them for two days.

40 Many more people believed in Jesus because of his own word.

41 They said to the woman, `Now we believe, not because of what you told us, but because of what he himself has told us. We know it is true. This is the Saviour of the world.'

42 Two days after this, Jesus left Samaria and went to Galilee.

43 Jesus himself said, `No prophet is honoured by the people in his own country.'

44 When he came to Galilee, the people of that country were glad to see him. They had seen all the things he did when he was at the feast in Jerusalem. They had been at the feast also.

45 So Jesus came back to the town of Cana in Galilee. That was the place where he had changed water into wine. One of the king's officers was there. His son was sick in the town of Capernaum.

46 He heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, and he went to Jesus and said, `I beg you, come and heal my son. He is dying.'

47 Jesus said to him, `If you do not see some signs and big works, then you will not believe.'

48 The officer said, `Sir, I beg you. Come right away before my son dies.'

49 Jesus said, `Go home. Your son will not die.' The man believed what Jesus said and went home.

50 On the way, his servants met him. They said, `Your son is living.'

51 He asked, `What time did he begin to get well?' They said, `Yesterday at one hour after midday the fever left him.'

52 The father knew that was the time when Jesus said to him `Your son will not die.' So he and all his family believed in Jesus.

53 This was the second big work that Jesus did after he came back from Judea to Galilee.

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and (A)baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed (B)again for Galilee. (C)And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field (D)that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, (E)wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.[a]

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, (F)“Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” ((G)For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you (H)living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 (I)Are you greater than our father Jacob? (J)He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but (K)whoever drinks of the water that I will give him (L)will never be thirsty again.[b] The water that I will give him will become (M)in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, (N)give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, (O)call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that (P)you are (Q)a prophet. 20 (R)Our fathers worshiped on (S)this mountain, but you say that (T)in Jerusalem is (U)the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, (V)“Woman, believe me, (W)the hour is coming when (X)neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 (Y)You worship what you do not know; (Z)we worship what we know, for (AA)salvation is (AB)from the Jews. 23 But (AC)the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (AD)in spirit and (AE)truth, for the Father (AF)is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that (AG)Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, (AH)he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, (AI)“I who speak to you am he.”

27 Just then (AJ)his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man (AK)who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town 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 disciples said to one another, (AM)“Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, (AN)“My food is (AO)to do the will of him who sent me and (AP)to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that (AQ)the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that (AR)sower and (AS)reaper (AT)may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, (AU)‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap (AV)that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, (AW)and you have entered into their labor.”

39 Many Samaritans (AX)from that town believed in him (AY)because of (AZ)the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed (BA)because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, (BB)and we know that this is indeed (BC)the Savior (BD)of the world.”

43 After (BE)the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified (BF)that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, (BG)having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For (BH)they too had gone to the feast.

Jesus Heals an Official's Son

46 So he came again to (BI)Cana in Galilee, (BJ)where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus (BK)had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, (BL)“Unless you[c] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down (BM)before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants[d] met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour[e] the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, (BN)and all his household. 54 (BO)This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

Footnotes

  1. John 4:6 That is, about noon
  2. John 4:14 Greek forever
  3. John 4:48 The Greek for you is plural; twice in this verse
  4. John 4:51 Or bondservants
  5. John 4:52 That is, at 1 p.m.