John 4:1-30
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.
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John 4:1-30
International Standard Version
Jesus Meets a Samaritan Woman
4 Now when Jesus[a] realized that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although it was not Jesus who did the baptizing but his disciples— 3 he left Judea and went back to Galilee. 4 Now it was necessary for him to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s Well was also there, and Jesus, tired out by the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.[b]
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus told her, “Please give me a drink,” 8 since his disciples had gone off into town to buy food.
9 The Samaritan woman asked him, “How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” Because Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans.[c]
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Please give me a drink,’ you would have been the one to ask him, and he would have given you living water.”
11 The woman[d] told him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this living water? 12 You’re not greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it, along with his sons and his flocks, are you?”
13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a well of water for him, springing up to eternal life.”
15 The woman told him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I won’t get thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go and call your husband, and come back here.”
17 The woman answered him, “I don’t have a husband.”
Jesus told her, “You are quite right in saying, ‘I don’t have a husband,’ 18 because you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
19 The woman told him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet! 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain. But you Jews[e] say that the place where people should worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus told her, “Believe me, dear lady,[f] the hour is coming when you Samaritans[g] will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You don’t know what you’re worshiping. We Jews[h] know what we’re worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews. 23 Yet the time is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit[i] and truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him. 24 God is spirit,[j] and those who worship him must worship in spirit[k] and truth.”
25 The woman told him, “I know that the Anointed One[l] is coming, who is being called ‘the Messiah’.[m] When that person comes, he will explain everything.”
26 “I AM,” Jesus replied, “the one who is speaking to you.”
27 At this point his disciples arrived, and they were astonished that he was talking to a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want from her?”[n] or, “Why are you talking to her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She told people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”[o] 30 The people[p] left the town and started on their way to him.
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- John 4:1 Other mss. read the Lord
- John 4:6 Lit. the sixth hour
- John 4:9 Other mss. lack For Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans.
- John 4:11 Other mss. read She
- John 4:20 The Gk. lacks Jews
- John 4:21 Or me, woman
- John 4:21 The Gk. lacks Samaritans
- John 4:22 The Gk. lacks Jews
- John 4:23 Or in the Spirit
- John 4:24 Or Spirit
- John 4:24 Or in the Spirit
- John 4:25 The Gk. word messias is a transliteration of the Heb. word for Messiah
- John 4:25 Or Christ
- John 4:27 The Gk. lacks from her
- John 4:29 Or Christ
- John 4:30 Lit. They
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