1 When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus makes and baptises more disciples than John 2 (however, Jesus himself did not baptise, but his disciples), 3 he left Judaea and went away again unto Galilee. 4 And he must needs pass through Samaria. 5 He comes therefore to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near to the land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now a fountain of Jacob's was there; Jesus therefore, being wearied with the way he had come, sat just as he was at the fountain. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman comes out of Samaria to draw water. Jesus says to her, Give me to drink 8 (for his disciples had gone away into the city that they might buy provisions). 9 The Samaritan woman therefore says to him, How dost thou, being a Jew, ask to drink of me who am a Samaritan woman? for Jews have no intercourse with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman says to him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: whence then hast thou the living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said to her, Every one who drinks of this water shall thirst again; 14 but whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever, but the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life. 15 The woman says to him, Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst nor come here to draw. 16 Jesus says to her, Go, call thy husband, and come here. 17 The woman answered and said, I have not a husband. Jesus says to her, Thou hast well said, I have not a husband; 18 for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom now thou hast is not thy husband: this thou hast spoken truly. 19 The woman says to him, Sir, I see that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship. 21 Jesus says to her, Woman, believe me, [the] hour is coming when ye shall neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what; we worship what we know, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But [the] hour is coming and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for also the Father seeks such as his worshippers. 24 God [is] a spirit; and they who worship him must worship [him] in spirit and truth. 25 The woman says to him, I know that Messias is coming, who is called Christ; when he comes he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus says to her, I who speak to thee am [he]. 27 And upon this came his disciples, and wondered that he spoke with a woman; yet no one said, What seekest thou? or, Why speakest thou with her? 28 The woman then left her waterpot and went away into the city, and says to the men, 29 Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ? 30 They went out of the city and came to him. 31 But meanwhile the disciples asked him saying, Rabbi, eat. 32 But he said to them, I have food to eat which ye do not know. 33 The disciples therefore said to one another, Has any one brought him [anything] to eat? 34 Jesus says to them, My food is that I should do the will of him that has sent me, and that I should finish his work. 35 Do not ye say, that there are yet four months and the harvest comes? Behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes and behold the fields, for they are already white to harvest. 36 He that reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto life eternal, that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this is [verified] the true saying, It is one who sows and another who reaps. 38 I have sent you to reap that on which ye have not laboured; others have laboured, and ye have entered into their labours. 39 But many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him because of the word of the woman who bore witness, He told me all things that I had ever done. 40 When therefore the Samaritans came to him they asked him to abide with them, and he abode there two days. 41 And more a great deal believed on account of his word; 42 and they said to the woman, [It is] no longer on account of thy saying that we believe, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world. 43 But after the two days he went forth thence and went away into Galilee, 44 for Jesus himself bore witness that a prophet has no honour in his own country. 45 When therefore he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem during the feast, for they also went to the feast. 46 He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain courtier in Capernaum whose son was sick. 47 He, having heard that Jesus had come out of Judaea into Galilee, went to him and asked [him] that he would come down and heal his son, for he was about to die. 48 Jesus therefore said to him, Unless ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe. 49 The courtier says to him, Sir, come down ere my child die. 50 Jesus says to him, Go, thy son lives. And the man believed the word which Jesus said to him, and went his way. 51 But already, as he was going down, his servants met him and brought [him] word saying, Thy child lives. 52 He inquired therefore from them the hour at which he got better. And they said to him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53 The father therefore knew that [it was] in that hour in which Jesus said to him, Thy son lives; and he believed, himself and his whole house. 54 This second sign again did Jesus, being come out of Judaea into Galilee.
John 4 Darby Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
Places
Cana
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 John 3:26; John 3:22; 2 Corinthians 4:5; Luke 1:76; 1 Corinthians 15:47
- 2 1 Corinthians 1:13–17; Acts 10:48
- 3 Matthew 10:23; John 11:54; John 3:22; John 10:40; John 2:11
- 4 Luke 17:11; Luke 9:51–52; Matthew 10:5–6; Luke 2:49
- 5 Joshua 24:32; Genesis 33:19; Genesis 48:22; John 4:12
- 6 Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 2:17; Matthew 8:24; Matthew 4:2; Matthew 27:45
- 7 Matthew 10:42; 1 Kings 17:10; John 19:28; Genesis 24:43; 2 Samuel 23:15–17
- 8 John 6:5–7; Luke 9:13; John 4:39; John 4:5
- 9 Acts 10:28; 2 Kings 17:24–41; Matthew 10:5; John 8:48; Luke 17:16–19
- 10 John 4:14; Revelation 7:17; John 7:37–39; Isaiah 44:3; Revelation 21:6
- 11 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 3:4
- 12 John 8:53; Matthew 12:42; Hebrews 3:3; Isaiah 53:2–3; John 4:6
- 13 John 6:27; Isaiah 65:13–14; Luke 16:24
- 14 John 7:38–39; John 6:35; Isaiah 49:10; Revelation 7:16; Ephesians 1:13–14
- 15 John 6:34; Romans 8:5; Psalm 4:6; James 4:3; John 6:26
- 16 Hebrews 4:13; Revelation 2:23; John 21:17; John 2:24–25; John 4:18
- 18 Jeremiah 3:20; Romans 7:3; 1 Corinthians 7:10–11; Mark 10:12; Genesis 34:7–8
- 19 John 6:14; Luke 7:39; John 9:17; Luke 7:16; John 7:40
- 20 Deuteronomy 12:5–11; Genesis 33:18–20; 2 Chronicles 7:12; Genesis 12:6–7; Deuteronomy 11:29
- 21 1 Timothy 2:8; Ephesians 2:18; Malachi 1:11; Matthew 18:20; John 4:23
- 22 Acts 17:23; Romans 9:4–5; Isaiah 2:3; Luke 24:47; Acts 17:30
- 23 Philippians 3:3; Matthew 15:7–9; John 5:25; Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:26
- 24 2 Corinthians 3:17; Matthew 15:8–9; Philippians 3:3; Psalm 51:17; Isaiah 57:15
- 25 John 1:49; Daniel 9:24–26; John 4:29; John 4:42; Matthew 1:16
- 26 John 8:24; Mark 14:61–62; John 9:35–37; Romans 10:20–21; Matthew 26:63–64
- 27 Luke 7:39; John 4:8–9
- 28 John 4:7; Luke 24:33; Matthew 28:8; Luke 24:9; Mark 16:8–10
- 29 Revelation 22:17; 1 Corinthians 14:24–25; John 1:41–49; John 4:25; John 4:17–18
- 30 Acts 10:33; Acts 13:42; Matthew 11:20–24; Matthew 2:1–3; Luke 17:16–18
- 31 John 1:38; Genesis 24:33
- 32 Job 23:12; Psalm 119:103; John 4:34; Proverbs 18:20; Jeremiah 15:16
- 33 Luke 9:45; Matthew 16:6–11
- 34 John 6:38; John 5:30; Job 23:12; John 17:4; John 19:30
- 35 Luke 10:2–3; Matthew 9:37–38
- 36 James 5:19–20; 1 Corinthians 3:5–9; Romans 1:13; Proverbs 11:30; 2 Timothy 4:7–8
- 37 Micah 6:15; Job 31:8; Judges 6:3; Luke 19:21
- 38 John 1:7; Acts 10:42–43; 2 Chronicles 36:15; 1 Peter 1:11–12; Acts 8:14–17
- 39 John 4:29; John 4:5; John 10:41–42; John 11:45; John 4:42
- 40 Revelation 3:20; Luke 24:29; 2 Corinthians 6:1–2; Acts 16:15; Luke 8:38
- 41 Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:4–5; Acts 8:25; Acts 8:12; Matthew 7:28–29
- 42 1 John 4:14; John 1:29; 1 Timothy 4:10; 1 John 5:20; 2 Corinthians 5:19
- 43 Mark 7:27–28; Matthew 15:21–24; Matthew 4:13; John 4:40; Romans 15:8
- 44 Matthew 13:57; Luke 4:24; Mark 6:4
- 45 John 2:23; John 2:13–16; Deuteronomy 16:16; Luke 9:53; John 3:2
- 46 John 2:1–11; Psalm 50:15; Hosea 5:15; Matthew 9:18; Luke 8:42
- 47 Acts 9:38; John 11:32; Luke 7:6–8; Mark 10:47; Luke 8:41
- 48 John 20:29; 1 Corinthians 1:22; Hebrews 2:4; Daniel 4:2; John 12:37
- 49 Mark 5:23; Mark 5:35–36; Psalm 88:10–12; Psalm 40:17
- 50 Matthew 8:13; Romans 4:20–21; Mark 7:29–30; Luke 17:14; Acts 14:9–10
- 51 1 Kings 17:23
- 53 Psalm 107:20; Luke 19:9; Psalm 33:9; Acts 16:34; Acts 11:14
- 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).
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)
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)
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 …
… 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)
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)