John 4:1–14

Jesus Talks With a Woman From Samaria

4The Pharisees heard that Jesus was winning and baptizing more disciples than John. ²But in fact Jesus was not baptizing. His disciples were. ³When the Lord found out about all this, he left Judea. He went back to Galilee again.

⁴Jesus had to go through Samaria. ⁵He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. It was near the piece of land Jacob had given his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from the journey. So he sat down by the well. It was about noon.

⁷A woman from Samaria came to get some water. Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.

⁹The 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.

¹⁰Jesus 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 flocks and herds. Are you more important than he is?”

¹³Jesus answered, “All who drink this water will be thirsty again. ¹⁴But anyone who drinks the water I give him will never be thirsty. In fact, the water I give him will become a spring of water in him. It will flow up into eternal life.”