John 4:1-26 - The Samaritan Woman At Jacob's Well

¹ Now as soon as the Master was aware that the Pharisees had heard it said, "Jesus is gaining and baptizing more disciples than John"-- ² though Jesus Himself did not baptize them, but His disciples did-- ³ He left Judaea and returned to Galilee. ⁴ His road lay through Samaria, ⁵ and so He came to Sychar, a town in Samaria near the piece of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob's Well was there: and accordingly Jesus, tired out with His journey, sat down by the well to rest. It was about six o'clock in the evening.

⁷ Presently there came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus asked her to give Him some water; ⁸ for His disciples were gone to the town to buy provisions.

⁹ "How is it," replied the woman, "that a Jew like you asks me, who am a woman and a Samaritan, for water?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

¹⁰ "If you had known God's free gift," replied Jesus, "and who it is that said to you, 'Give me some water,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

¹¹ "Sir," she said, "you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; so where can you get the living water from? ¹² Are you greater than our forefather Jacob, who gave us the well, and himself drank from it, as did also his sons and his cattle?"

¹³ "Every one," replied Jesus, "who drinks any of this water will be thirsty again; ¹⁴ but whoever drinks any of the water that I shall give him will never, never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become a fountain within him of water springing up for the Life of the Ages."

¹⁵ "Sir," said the woman, "give me that water, that I may never be thirsty, nor continually come all the way here to draw from the well."

¹⁶ "Go and call your husband," said Jesus; "and come back."

¹⁷ "I have no husband," she replied. "You rightly say that you have no husband," said Jesus; ¹⁸ "for you have had five husbands, and the man you have at present is not your husband. You have spoken the truth in saying that."

¹⁹ "Sir," replied the woman, "I see that you are a Prophet. ²⁰ Our forefathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem."

²¹ "Believe me," said Jesus, "the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You worship One of whom you know nothing. We worship One whom we know; for salvation comes from the Jews. ²³ But a time is coming--nay, has already come--when the true worshippers will worship the Father with true spiritual worship; for indeed the Father desires such worshippers. ²⁴ God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must bring Him true spiritual worship."

²⁵ "I know," replied the woman, "that Messiah is coming--'the Christ,' as He is called. When He has come, He will tell us everything."

²⁶ "I am He," said Jesus--"I who am now talking to you."