John 4
Worldwide English (New Testament)
4 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.
2 The Lord knew that they had heard about it. So he left Judea and went back to Galilee again.
3 He had to pass through the country of Samaria.
4 He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. It was near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
5 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.
6 A woman from Samaria came to the well to draw water. Jesus said, `Please give me a drink of water.'
7 His disciples had gone into the town to buy some food.
8 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.)
9 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.
John 4
New American Standard Bible
Jesus Goes to Galilee
4 So then, when (A)the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that [a]He was making and (B)baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although (C)Jesus Himself was not baptizing; rather, His (D)disciples were), 3 He left (E)Judea and went away (F)again to 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 parcel of land that (J)Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired from His journey, was just sitting by the well. It was about [b]the sixth hour.
The Woman of Samaria
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 to (L)the city to buy food. 9 So the (M)Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For (N)Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying 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, “[c]Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this (P)living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who (Q)gave us the 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 be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him (R)shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to (S)eternal life.”
15 The woman *said to Him, “[d]Sir, (T)give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said to Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this which you have said is true.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “[e]Sir, I perceive that You are (U)a prophet. 20 (V)Our fathers worshiped on (W)this mountain, and yet you Jews say that (X)in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Believe Me, woman, that [f](Y)a time is coming when you will worship the Father (Z)neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 (AA)You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because (AB)salvation is from the Jews. 23 But [g](AC)a time is coming, and [h]even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (AD)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be [i]His worshipers. 24 God is [j]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 Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “(AH)I am He, the One speaking to you.”
27 And at this point His (AI)disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What are You seeking?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and *said to the people, 29 “Come, see a Man (AJ)who told me all the things that I have done; (AK)this is not the [k]Christ, is He?” 30 They left the city and were coming to Him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “(AL)Rabbi, eat something.” 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, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to (AN)do the will of Him who sent Me, and to (AO)accomplish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields, that they are white (AP)for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving (AQ)wages and is gathering (AR)fruit for (AS)eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one 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 [l]come into their labor.”
The Samaritans
39 Now from (AU)that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “(AV)He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to [m]Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 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 truly is (AW)the Savior of the world.”
43 And after (AX)the two days, He departed from there for Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that (AY)a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, only because (AZ)they had seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.
Healing an Official’s Son
46 Therefore He came again to (BA)Cana of Galilee, (BB)where He had made the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at (BC)Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come (BD)from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see [n](BE)signs and (BF)wonders, you simply will not believe.” 49 The royal official *said to Him, “[o]Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus *said to him, “(BG)Go; your son [p]is alive.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went home. 51 And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his [q]son was [r]alive. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the [s]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 is alive”; and he himself believed, and (BH)his entire household. 54 This is again a (BI)second [t]sign that Jesus performed when He had (BJ)come from Judea into Galilee.
Footnotes
- John 4:1 Lit Jesus
- John 4:6 I.e., noon
- John 4:11 Or Lord
- John 4:15 Or Lord
- John 4:19 Or Lord
- John 4:21 Lit an hour
- John 4:23 Lit an hour
- John 4:23 Lit now is, when
- John 4:23 Lit the ones worshiping Him
- John 4:24 Or Spirit
- John 4:29 I.e., Messiah
- John 4:38 I.e., enjoyed the fruit of their labor
- John 4:40 Lit Him
- John 4:48 I.e., confirming miracles
- John 4:49 Or Lord
- John 4:50 I.e., is well
- John 4:51 Or boy
- John 4:51 I.e., well
- John 4:52 I.e., 1 p.m.
- John 4:54 I.e., confirming miracle
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