John 4:5-42
Christian Standard Bible
5 so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property[a] that Jacob(A) had given his son Joseph.(B) 6 Jacob’s well(C) was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.[b]
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water.(D)
“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,(E) ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan(F) woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with[c] Samaritans.[d]
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God,(G) and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”(H)
11 “Sir,”(I) 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,(J) 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.(K) In fact, the water I will give him will become a well[e](L) of water springing up in him for eternal life.”(M)
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,(N) but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”(O)
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.(P) 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here,(Q) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.[f] Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit,(R) and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”(S)
25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah(T) is coming” (who is called Christ(U)). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”(V)
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?” (W) 30 They left the town and made their way to him.(X)
31 In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi,(Y) 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(Z) who sent me(AA) and to finish his work,”(AB) 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[g] your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready[h] for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life,(AC) so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’(AD) 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from[i] their labor.”
The Savior of the World
39 Now many Samaritans(AE) from that town believed in him because of what the woman said[j] when she testified,(AF) “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him,(AG) they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what he said.[k] 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(AH) of the world.”[l]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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
John 4:5-42
New Living Translation
5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.[a] She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim,[b] where our ancestors worshiped?”
21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”[c]
27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”
33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other.
34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe[d] for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”
Many Samaritans Believe
39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” 40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. 42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”
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