John 4

²(Note: Jesus Himself did not do the baptising — His disciples did it on His behalf.)

³So Jesus left Judaea and headed back toward Galilee.

⁴The route took Him through Samaria — and He had to go that way.

⁵He came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that the patriarch Jacob had given to his son Joseph long ago.

⁶Jacob's famous well was right there. Jesus was tired from the long journey, so He sat down beside the well to rest. It was around midday.

⁷A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her: 'Please, will you give me a drink?'

⁸(His disciples had gone into town to buy some food, which is why He was alone at the well.)

⁹The Samaritan woman was surprised. She said: 'You are a Jew — why are You asking me for a drink? I am a Samaritan woman! Jews do not usually talk to Samaritans.'

¹⁰Jesus answered: 'If you only knew the gift God is offering — and who it is who is speaking to you right now — you would have asked Me, and I would have given you living water.'

¹¹The woman replied: 'Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep. Where would You get this living water?'

¹²She continued: 'Are You greater than our ancestor Jacob? He gave us this well and drank from it himself — along with all his family and his animals!'

¹³Jesus answered: 'Anyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again.',

¹⁴Jesus said: 'But whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again! The water I give becomes a spring inside them — welling up into life that lasts forever!'

¹⁵The woman said: 'Sir, please give me this water! Then I will never be thirsty again — and I will not have to keep coming here to draw water.'

¹⁶Then Jesus said to her: 'Go and call your husband, and come back here.'

¹⁷The woman answered: 'I have no husband.' Jesus said: 'You are right to say that — I have no husband.'

¹⁸Jesus already knew everything about her life — even the sad and broken parts she hadn't told anyone. He knew, and He still spoke to her with kindness and respect.

¹⁹The woman said: 'Sir, I can see that You are a prophet!'

²⁰She said: 'Our ancestors worshipped God on this mountain — but you Jews say Jerusalem is the only right place to worship. Which one is right?'

²¹Jesus replied: 'Believe Me — the time is coming when people will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.',

²²Jesus said: 'You Samaritans worship something you do not fully know. We Jews worship what we know — because salvation comes through the Jewish people.',

²³Jesus said: 'The time is coming — and it has already arrived — when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is actually looking for people to worship Him that way.',

²⁴God is Spirit — and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

²⁵The woman said: 'I know that the Messiah is coming — the one called Christ. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.',

²⁶Jesus said to her: 'I am He — the one speaking to you right now.'

²⁷Right then the disciples returned and were surprised to find Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them dared to ask: 'What do You want?' or 'Why are You talking with her?'

²⁸The woman was so overwhelmed that she left her water jar right there at the well and ran back into the city. She said to the people there:

²⁹She called out: 'Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Could this be the Messiah — the Christ?'

³⁰The people of the town came out to see Jesus.

³¹Meanwhile, His disciples were urging Him: 'Teacher, please eat something!'

³²Jesus said: 'I have food to eat that you know nothing about.'

³³The disciples whispered to each other: 'Did someone bring Him food without us knowing?'

³⁴Jesus said: 'My food — what truly sustains Me — is to do the will of the One who sent Me and to finish His work.',

³⁵Jesus said: 'You say there are four more months until harvest — but I tell you, look up and look around at the fields. They are already white and ready to be harvested right now!',

³⁶Jesus said: 'The one who harvests receives a great reward and gathers fruit for eternal life. Both the one who sows the seed and the one who reaps the harvest will be glad together.',

³⁷This confirms the saying: 'One person sows, another reaps.'

³⁸Jesus told them: 'I am sending you to harvest a crop you did not plant. Others worked hard before you — and you are stepping into the fruit of their labour.',

³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony. She had said: 'He told me everything I ever did.'

⁴⁰When the Samaritans reached Jesus, they begged Him to stay with them — and He stayed for two days.

⁴¹And many more people believed — now because they heard Jesus speak for themselves.

⁴²They told the woman: 'We believe now — not just because of what you told us. We have heard Him ourselves and we know: this truly is the Christ, the Saviour of the whole world!'

⁴³After two days, Jesus left Samaria and continued on to Galilee.

⁴⁴Jesus Himself had said that a prophet is not honoured in his own hometown.

⁴⁵But when He arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him — they had seen the miracles He did in Jerusalem at the festival, since many of them had been there too.

⁴⁶Jesus returned to Cana in Galilee — the town where He had turned water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was seriously ill in Capernaum.

⁴⁷When the official heard Jesus had come to Galilee, he travelled to find Him and begged Him to come back to Capernaum to heal his son — the boy was dying.

⁴⁸Jesus said to him: 'You people will not believe unless you see miraculous signs and wonders.',

⁴⁹The official said: 'Sir — please come down before my child dies!'

⁵⁰Jesus said to him: 'You can go. Your son is alive.' And the man believed what Jesus said — and started walking home.

⁵¹As he was on his way home, his servants met him with news: 'Your son is alive!'

⁵²He asked them what time the boy had started to get better. They told him: 'Yesterday at one o'clock in the afternoon, the fever left him.'

⁵³The father realised that the exact hour when Jesus had said 'your son is alive' was the same moment the fever broke. And he believed — and so did his whole household.

⁵⁴This was the second miracle Jesus performed after coming from Judaea into Galilee.