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John · Berean Standard Bible

John 4 Berean Standard Bible

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  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Critical text
  • Protestant (66 books)
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  • 2022
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Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 When Jesus realized that the Pharisees were aware He was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although it was not Jesus who baptized, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and returned to Galilee. 4 Now He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Since Jacob’s well was there, Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 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.) 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.” 11 “Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living 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?” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” 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.” 16 Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said to her, “You are correct to say that you have no husband. 18 In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truthfully.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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. 24 God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” 26 Jesus answered, “I who speak to you am He.” 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?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 So they left the town and made their way toward Jesus. 31 Meanwhile the disciples urged Him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But He told them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 So the disciples asked one another, “Could someone have brought Him food?” 34 Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work. 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. 36 Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 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.” 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. 41 And many more believed because of His message. 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.” 43 After two days, Jesus left for Galilee. 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. 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. 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. 48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” 49 “Sir,” the official said, “come down before my child dies.” 50 “Go,” said Jesus. “Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at His word and departed. 51 And while he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. 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.” 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. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus performed after coming from Judea into Galilee.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

Places

  • Cana

    Today: Northern Israel (Galilee)

    Cana's exact site is debated — Kafr Kanna and Khirbet Qana near Nazareth are the leading candidates (approximate location). It is remembered as the place of Jesus' first miracle.

    Cited in the guide: John 2:1-11; John 4:46

Cross references (52)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 John 3:26; John 3:22; 2 Corinthians 4:5; Luke 1:76; 1 Corinthians 15:47
  2. 2 1 Corinthians 1:13–17; Acts 10:48
  3. 3 Matthew 10:23; John 11:54; John 3:22; John 10:40; John 2:11
  4. 4 Luke 17:11; Luke 9:51–52; Matthew 10:5–6; Luke 2:49
  5. 5 Joshua 24:32; Genesis 33:19; Genesis 48:22; John 4:12
  6. 6 Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 2:17; Matthew 8:24; Matthew 4:2; Matthew 27:45
  7. 7 Matthew 10:42; 1 Kings 17:10; John 19:28; Genesis 24:43; 2 Samuel 23:15–17
  8. 8 John 6:5–7; Luke 9:13; John 4:39; John 4:5
  9. 9 Acts 10:28; 2 Kings 17:24–41; Matthew 10:5; John 8:48; Luke 17:16–19
  10. 10 John 4:14; Revelation 7:17; John 7:37–39; Isaiah 44:3; Revelation 21:6
  11. 11 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 3:4
  12. 12 John 8:53; Matthew 12:42; Hebrews 3:3; Isaiah 53:2–3; John 4:6
  13. 13 John 6:27; Isaiah 65:13–14; Luke 16:24
  14. 14 John 7:38–39; John 6:35; Isaiah 49:10; Revelation 7:16; Ephesians 1:13–14
  15. 15 John 6:34; Romans 8:5; Psalm 4:6; James 4:3; John 6:26
  16. 16 Hebrews 4:13; Revelation 2:23; John 21:17; John 2:24–25; John 4:18
  17. 18 Jeremiah 3:20; Romans 7:3; 1 Corinthians 7:10–11; Mark 10:12; Genesis 34:7–8
  18. 19 John 6:14; Luke 7:39; John 9:17; Luke 7:16; John 7:40
  19. 20 Deuteronomy 12:5–11; Genesis 33:18–20; 2 Chronicles 7:12; Genesis 12:6–7; Deuteronomy 11:29
  20. 21 1 Timothy 2:8; Ephesians 2:18; Malachi 1:11; Matthew 18:20; John 4:23
  21. 22 Acts 17:23; Romans 9:4–5; Isaiah 2:3; Luke 24:47; Acts 17:30
  22. 23 Philippians 3:3; Matthew 15:7–9; John 5:25; Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:26
  23. 24 2 Corinthians 3:17; Matthew 15:8–9; Philippians 3:3; Psalm 51:17; Isaiah 57:15
  24. 25 John 1:49; Daniel 9:24–26; John 4:29; John 4:42; Matthew 1:16
  25. 26 John 8:24; Mark 14:61–62; John 9:35–37; Romans 10:20–21; Matthew 26:63–64
  26. 27 Luke 7:39; John 4:8–9
  27. 28 John 4:7; Luke 24:33; Matthew 28:8; Luke 24:9; Mark 16:8–10
  28. 29 Revelation 22:17; 1 Corinthians 14:24–25; John 1:41–49; John 4:25; John 4:17–18
  29. 30 Acts 10:33; Acts 13:42; Matthew 11:20–24; Matthew 2:1–3; Luke 17:16–18
  30. 31 John 1:38; Genesis 24:33
  31. 32 Job 23:12; Psalm 119:103; John 4:34; Proverbs 18:20; Jeremiah 15:16
  32. 33 Luke 9:45; Matthew 16:6–11
  33. 34 John 6:38; John 5:30; Job 23:12; John 17:4; John 19:30
  34. 35 Luke 10:2–3; Matthew 9:37–38
  35. 36 James 5:19–20; 1 Corinthians 3:5–9; Romans 1:13; Proverbs 11:30; 2 Timothy 4:7–8
  36. 37 Micah 6:15; Job 31:8; Judges 6:3; Luke 19:21
  37. 38 John 1:7; Acts 10:42–43; 2 Chronicles 36:15; 1 Peter 1:11–12; Acts 8:14–17
  38. 39 John 4:29; John 4:5; John 10:41–42; John 11:45; John 4:42
  39. 40 Revelation 3:20; Luke 24:29; 2 Corinthians 6:1–2; Acts 16:15; Luke 8:38
  40. 41 Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:4–5; Acts 8:25; Acts 8:12; Matthew 7:28–29
  41. 42 1 John 4:14; John 1:29; 1 Timothy 4:10; 1 John 5:20; 2 Corinthians 5:19
  42. 43 Mark 7:27–28; Matthew 15:21–24; Matthew 4:13; John 4:40; Romans 15:8
  43. 44 Matthew 13:57; Luke 4:24; Mark 6:4
  44. 45 John 2:23; John 2:13–16; Deuteronomy 16:16; Luke 9:53; John 3:2
  45. 46 John 2:1–11; Psalm 50:15; Hosea 5:15; Matthew 9:18; Luke 8:42
  46. 47 Acts 9:38; John 11:32; Luke 7:6–8; Mark 10:47; Luke 8:41
  47. 48 John 20:29; 1 Corinthians 1:22; Hebrews 2:4; Daniel 4:2; John 12:37
  48. 49 Mark 5:23; Mark 5:35–36; Psalm 88:10–12; Psalm 40:17
  49. 50 Matthew 8:13; Romans 4:20–21; Mark 7:29–30; Luke 17:14; Acts 14:9–10
  50. 51 1 Kings 17:23
  51. 53 Psalm 107:20; Luke 19:9; Psalm 33:9; Acts 16:34; Acts 11:14
  52. 54 John 2:1–11; John 4:45

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Commentary 4:1 Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John (Chapter IV — 1-42)

    It is nothing new to your ears, beloved, that the Evangelist John, like an eagle, takes a loftier flight, and soars above the dark mist of earth, to gaze with steadier eyes upon the light of truth.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)

  2. Commentary 4:13 John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of John (Homily XXXII)

    Scripture calls the grace of the Spirit sometimes "Fire," sometimes "Water," showing that these names are not descriptive of its essence, but of its operation; for the Spirit, being Invisible and Simple, cannot be made up of different substances. Now the one John declares, speaking thus, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with Fire" ( Matt. iii.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 14 (1889)

  3. Quotes verse 4:50 Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies (Book II, Chapter XXI)

    Then, again, withdrawing Himself [from Judæa], He is found in Samaria; on which occasion, too, He conversed with the Samaritan woman, and while at a distance, cured the son of the centurion by a word, saying, "Go thy way, thy son liveth." Afterwards He went up, the second time, to observe the festival day of the passover in Jerusalem; on …

    Read in context · Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885)

  4. Quotes verse 4:14 Augustine of Hippo, Confessions (Book VI)

    … out more frequent prayers and tears, that Thou wouldest hasten Thy aid, and enlighten my darkness; and she hurried all the more assiduously to the church, and hung upon the words of Ambrose, praying for the fountain of water that springeth up into everlasting life. For she loved that man as an angel of God, because she knew that it …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)

  5. Quotes verse 4:49 John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew (Homily XXVI)

    He, for example, who is set down in John, is for dragging Him unto his house, and saith, "Come down, for my child is ready to die." But not so this man; rather he is far superior both to him, and to those who let down the bed through the roof.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)