John 4
1 When Jesus realized that the Pharisees were aware He was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John
[At that time, many people were asking] Jesus to baptize them. He did not baptize people; it was [we] his disciples who were doing the baptizing. But when some of the Pharisee [religious group] heard [people say that] Jesus was making more disciples than John [the Baptizer] and was baptizing them, [they became very jealous].
2 (although it was not Jesus who baptized, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and returned to Galilee.
When the Lord [Jesus] heard about that, [so that the Pharisees would not cause trouble for him], he left Judea [district], and went again [with us disciples] to Galilee district.
4 Now He had to pass through Samaria.
[He] knew that God wanted him to travel through Samaria [district].
5 So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
So we arrived at a town named Sychar in Samaria [district]. That was near the plot of ground that [our ancestor] Jacob had given to his son Joseph [long ago].
6 Since Jacob’s well was there, Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
The well that [used to] belong to Jacob was on that plot of ground. Jesus was tired from walking. So while [we] disciples went into the town to buy some food, he sat down alongside the well. It was about noontime. A woman who [lived there] in Samaria came to get some water [from the well]. Jesus said to her, “Will you give me [from the well] some water [to drink]?” The [woman knew that] Jews did not like ([to touch things that belong to] Samaritans/[to] come near Samaritans), (OR, Jews did not like to associate with Samaritans, )
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 “You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
so the woman said to him, “You are a Jew, and I am from Samaria. Furthermore, I am a woman. So ([I am surprised] that you are asking me for a drink [of water]!/how is it that you are asking me for a drink [of water]?) [RHQ]”
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
Jesus replied to her, “If you [(sg)] knew what God [wanted to] give you, and if you knew who I am, the one who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked me, and I would have given you water that gives life.”
11 “Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water?
She [thought he was talking about] ordinary [water. So she] said to him, “Sir, you do not have a bucket [or a rope with which to get water from the well], and the well is deep. So [since you cannot get water from this well], where can you get that life-giving water?
12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?”
Our ancestor Jacob left us this well. He drank water from it, and there was [enough good water] so that his sons and his flocks [of sheep] and goats drank from it also. [Do you claim that] you are greater than Jacob, [and because of that you can give us life-giving water]?”
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.
Jesus replied to her, “Everyone who drinks water from this [well] will later become thirsty again.
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
The woman [did not understand that Jesus was speaking figuratively about something that would sustain her spiritually. So she] said to him, “Sir, give me that kind of water so that I will not get thirsty again, and so that I will not have to keep returning here to get water!”
16 Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
[Jesus knew that she did not understand, but he wanted to show her by his God-given knowledge of her personal life that because he was the Messiah he could supply her spiritual need. So] he said to her, “Woman, go and call your husband, and bring him here!”
17 “I have no husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said to her, “You are correct to say that you have no husband.
She replied, “I do not have a husband!” Jesus said to her, “You said that you do not have a husband, and that is true.
18 In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truthfully.”
It is also true that you have had five husbands [one by one]. And the man you are living with now is not your husband! What you have said is very true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I see that You are a prophet.
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive you must be a prophet [because you are] able [to know people’s secrets].
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.”
But [let me ask you a different question]: Our ancestors worshipped God here on [Gerizim Mountain], but you [Jews] say that Jerusalem is the place where we must worship [God. So who is right]?”
21 “Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me [when I say that] there will be a time when it will not [matter whether] you worship [God our] Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem [or somewhere else].
22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
You [people from Samaria] do not know the one you are worshipping. But we [(exc) Jews] know whom we worship, because it is from [us] Jews that [God has sent the one who] will save people [from the guilt of their sins].
23 But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.
However, there will be a time when those who genuinely worship God will worship him as [God’s] Spirit [directs] and according to [God’s] truth. In fact, that time is now. Those are the kind of worshipers my Father seeks.
24 God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
God is a spiritual being. So it is necessary that those who worship him must worship him as his Spirit [directs] and [according to God’s] truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything [we need to know].” (‘Messiah’ and ‘Christ’ [both mean ‘God’s promised king]’.)
26 Jesus answered, “I who speak to you am He.”
Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am [the Messiah]!”
27 Just then His disciples returned and were surprised that He was speaking with a woman. But no one asked Him, “What do You want from her?” or “Why are You talking with her?”
Just then [we] disciples returned [from town]. [Since it was contrary to our custom for Jewish religious teachers to converse with a woman they did not know], we were surprised that he was talking to a woman. However, none of us asked her, “What do you want?” and none of us asked him, “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people,
The woman left her water jar there and went into the town. She said to the people there,
29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
“Come and see a man who [was able to] tell me all about my past life [HYP], [even though I never met him before] Could this man be the Messiah?”
30 So they left the town and made their way toward Jesus.
So [many people] left the town and started going to where Jesus was.
31 Meanwhile the disciples urged Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
Meanwhile, we disciples were urging him, “Teacher, eat [some of the food we brought]!”
32 But He told them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
But he said to us, “I have food to eat that you do not know anything about!”
33 So the disciples asked one another, “Could someone have brought Him food?”
So we started saying to each other, “(Surely no one has brought him any food [when we] were not [here]!/Has anyone brought him any food [when we] were not [here]?) [RHQ]”
34 Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
Jesus said to us, “Doing what [my Father] who sent me wants [me to do] and finishing the work he [gave me to do] is ([what sustains me/like] my food) [MET].
35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.
[At this time of the year] you are saying (OR, your ancestors used to say), ‘There are four months left before we harvest [the crops].’ But I say to you, look carefully [at the non-Jewish people around here. God says, ‘They are ready to accept my message] [MET], [like crops in] fields that are ready for people to harvest.
36 Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. (aiōnios g166)
[If you help them to accept my message], I will reward you [MET], [as an owner of a field] pays those who harvest the crops. Because of your work, people will gain eternal life.’ [I have been telling people God’s message. That is like] [MET] a man who plants seeds. [You will help people to accept my message. That will be like] [MET] harvesting crops. [When that happens], both you and I will rejoice. (aiōnios g166)
37 For in this case the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.
As a result, this saying will become true: One person plants [seeds], but others harvest [the crops].
38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the hard work, and now you have taken up their labor.”
I am sending you [to enable people to accept my message, but you will not be the first ones who tell them God’s message]. Others [previously] worked hard [to tell people God’s message], and now you will be harvesting the results of their work.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
Many of the Samaria [district] people who [lived] in that town believed that Jesus [was the Messiah] because they heard what that woman said [about Jesus], “That man [was able to] tell me all about my past life [HYP]!”
40 So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days.
So when those people of Samaria came to Jesus, they urged him to stay with them. So we stayed there two days.
41 And many more believed because of His message.
Many more of those people believed ([in Jesus/that he was the Messiah]) because of what he said.
42 They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world.”
They told the woman, “We believe in Jesus [now], but not [just] because of what you told us. Now we have heard him ourselves. And now we know that this man truly is the one who [can] save [people] [MTY] [from the guilt of their sins].”
43 After two days, Jesus left for Galilee.
Jesus had said [previously] that people did not honor prophets [like himself when they tried to teach people] in their own home area. So, two days later, Jesus and [we] disciples left that area and went to [his own area in] Galilee [district, because he knew that people there would not think very highly of him, and as a result the Jewish leaders would not be jealous].
44 Now He Himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.
45 Yet when He arrived, the Galileans welcomed Him. They had seen all the great things He had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they had gone there as well.
However, when we arrived in Galilee [district, many] of the people there welcomed him, because they had been in Jerusalem during the [Passover] celebration and had seen all the things he did there.
46 So once again He came to Cana in Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
Jesus went again to Cana in Galilee [district]. That was where he [previously] turned water into wine. There was one of the king’s officials who lived in Capernaum, whose son was very sick.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die.
When that man heard [others say] that Jesus had returned to Galilee [district] from Judea [district], he went to Jesus [in Cana] and pleaded with him, “Please come down [to Capernaum] and heal my son, who is about to die!”
48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
Jesus said to him, “You people will believe my message only if you see me perform [more] miracles!”
49 “Sir,” the official said, “come down before my child dies.”
But the official said to him, “Sir, ([I] believe [in you/I believe that you came from God]). [So please] come down [to my home] before my son dies!”
50 “Go,” said Jesus. “Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at His word and departed.
Jesus said to him, “Then you may go [home]. Your son (will live/not die)!” The man believed what Jesus said, and left.
51 And while he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive.
[The next day] while he was on the way home, his servants met him. They told him, “Your child is going to live!”
52 So he inquired as to the hour when his son had recovered, and they told him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.”
He asked them, “At what time did my son start to become well?” They said to him, “His fever ceased yesterday [afternoon] at one o’clock.”
53 Then the father realized that this was the very hour in which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and all his household believed.
Then the boy’s father realized that this was the time Jesus told him, “Your son will (live/not die).” So he and all the people in his house believed [that Jesus was the Messiah].
54 This was now the second sign that Jesus performed after coming from Judea into Galilee.
That was the second miracle that Jesus performed in Galilee [district], after he had returned from Judea [district].
