John 4 | King James Version :: ERF Bibleserver

King James Version

1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go through Samaria. 5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. 27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? 28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. 31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. 39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. 40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his own word; 42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. 43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. 44 For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. 45 Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast. 46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. 48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. 49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. 50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. 52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. 54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

New International Reader’s Version

Jesus talks with a woman from Samaria

1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard about him. They had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John. 2 But in fact Jesus was not baptising. His disciples were. 3 So Jesus left Judea and went back again to Galilee. 4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. It was near the piece of land Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from the journey. So he sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 A woman from Samaria came to get some water. Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew. I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ She said this because Jews don’t have anything to do with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered her, ‘You do not know what God’s gift is. And you do not know who is asking you for a drink. If you did, you would have asked him. He would have given you living water.’ 11 ‘Sir’, the woman said, ‘you don’t have anything to get water with. The well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Our father Jacob gave us the well. He drank from it himself. So did his sons and his livestock. Are you more important than he is?’ 13 Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But anyone who drinks the water I give them will never be thirsty. In fact, the water I give them will become a spring of water in them. It will flow up into eternal life.’ 15 The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty. And I won’t have to keep coming here to get water.’ 16 He told her, ‘Go. Get your husband and come back.’ 17 ‘I have no husband,’ she replied. Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands. And the man you live with now is not your husband. What you have just said is very true.’ 19 ‘Sir’, the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our people have always worshipped on this mountain. But you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’ 21 Jesus said, ‘Woman, believe me. A time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know. Salvation comes from the Jews. 23 But a new time is coming. In fact, it is already here. True worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. They are the kind of worshippers the Father is looking for. 24 God is spirit. His worshippers must worship him in the Spirit and in truth.’ 25 The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah is coming.’ Messiah means Christ. ‘When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ 26 Then Jesus said, ‘The one you’re talking about is the one speaking to you. I am he.’

The disciples join Jesus again

27 Just then Jesus’ disciples returned. They were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, ‘What do you want from her?’ No one asked, ‘Why are you talking with her?’ 28 The woman left her water jar and went back to the town. She said to the people, 29 ‘Come. See a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?’ 30 The people came out of the town and made their way towards Jesus. 31 His disciples were saying to him, ‘Rabbi, eat something!’ 32 But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’ 33 Then his disciples asked each other, ‘Did someone bring him food?’ 34 Jesus said, ‘My food is to do what my Father sent me to do. My food is to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying? You say, “It’s still four months until harvest time.” But I tell you, open your eyes! Look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest right now. 36 Even now the one who gathers the crop is getting paid. They are already harvesting the crop for eternal life. So the one who plants and the one who gathers can now be glad together. 37 Here is a true saying. “One plants and another gathers.” 38 I sent you to gather what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work. You have gathered the benefits of their work.’

Many Samaritans believe in Jesus

39 Many of the Samaritans from the town of Sychar believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman had said about him. She said, ‘He told me everything I’ve ever done.’ 40 Then the Samaritans came to him and tried to get him to stay with them. So he stayed two days. 41 Because of what he said, many more people became believers. 42 They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said. We have now heard for ourselves. We know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’

Jesus heals an official’s son

43 After the two days, Jesus left for Galilee. 44 He himself had pointed out that a prophet is not respected in his own country. 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the people living there welcomed him. They had seen everything he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. That was because they had also been there. 46 Once more, Jesus visited Cana in Galilee. Cana is where he had turned the water into wine. A royal official was there. His son was ill in bed at Capernaum. 47 The official heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea. So he went to Jesus and begged him to come and heal his son. The boy was close to death. 48 Jesus told him, ‘You people will never believe unless you see signs and wonders.’ 49 The royal official said, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’ 50 ‘Go’, Jesus replied. ‘Your son will live.’ The man believed what Jesus said, and so he left. 51 While he was still on his way home, his slaves met him. They gave him the news that his boy was living. 52 He asked what time his son got better. They said to him, ‘Yesterday, at one o’clock in the afternoon, the fever left him.’ 53 Then the father realised what had happened. That was the exact time Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he and his whole family became believers. 54 This was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.