John 4 Clementine Vulgate
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Ut ergo cognovit Jesus quia audierunt pharisæi quod Jesus plures discipulos facit, et baptizat, quam Joannes
1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John
2 (quamquam Jesus non baptizaret, sed discipuli ejus),
2 (although Jesus himself didn’t baptize, but his disciples),
3 reliquit Judæam, et abiit iterum in Galilæam.
3 he left Judea and departed into Galilee.
4 Oportebat autem eum transire per Samariam.
4 He needed to pass through Samaria.
5 Venit ergo in civitatem Samariæ, quæ dicitur Sichar, juxta prædium quod dedit Jacob Joseph filio suo.
5 So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Erat autem ibi fons Jacob. Jesus ergo fatigatus ex itinere, sedebat sic supra fontem. Hora erat quasi sexta.
6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 Venit mulier de Samaria haurire aquam. Dicit ei Jesus: Da mihi bibere.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
8 (Discipuli enim ejus abierant in civitatem ut cibos emerent.)
8 For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Dicit ergo ei mulier illa Samaritana: Quomodo tu, Judæus cum sis, bibere a me poscis, quæ sum mulier Samaritana? non enim coutuntur Judæi Samaritanis.
9 The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
10 Respondit Jesus, et dixit ei: Si scires donum Dei, et quis est qui dicit tibi: Da mihi bibere, tu forsitan petisses ab eo, et dedisset tibi aquam vivam.
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
11 Dicit ei mulier: Domine, neque in quo haurias habes, et puteus altus est: unde ergo habes aquam vivam?
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where do you get that living water?
12 Numquid tu major es patre nostro Jacob, qui dedit nobis puteum, et ipse ex eo bibit, et filii ejus, et pecora ejus?
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his livestock?”
13 Respondit Jesus, et dixit ei: Omnis qui bibit ex aqua hac, sitiet iterum; qui autem biberit ex aqua quam ego dabo ei, non sitiet in æternum:
13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 sed aqua quam ego dabo ei, fiet in eo fons aquæ salientis in vitam æternam.
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
15 Dicit ad eum mulier: Domine, da mihi hanc aquam, ut non sitiam, neque veniam huc haurire.
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.”
16 Dicit ei Jesus: Vade, voca virum tuum, et veni huc.
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 Respondit mulier, et dixit: Non habeo virum. Dicit ei Jesus: Bene dixisti, quia non habeo virum;
17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’
18 quinque enim viros habuisti, et nunc, quem habes, non est tuus vir: hoc vere dixisti.
18 for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.”
19 Dicit ei mulier: Domine, video quia propheta es tu.
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
20 Patres nostri in monte hoc adoraverunt, et vos dicitis, quia Jerosolymis est locus ubi adorare oportet.
20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
21 Dicit ei Jesus: Mulier, crede mihi, quia venit hora, quando neque in monte hoc, neque in Jerosolymis adorabitis Patrem.
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
22 Vos adoratis quod nescitis: nos adoramus quod scimus, quia salus ex Judæis est.
22 You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Sed venit hora, et nunc est, quando veri adoratores adorabunt Patrem in spiritu et veritate. Nam et Pater tales quærit, qui adorent eum.
23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers.
24 Spiritus est Deus: et eos qui adorant eum, in spiritu et veritate oportet adorare.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 Dicit ei mulier: Scio quia Messias venit (qui dicitur Christus): cum ergo venerit ille, nobis annuntiabit omnia.
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. When he has come, he will declare to us all things.”
26 Dicit ei Jesus: Ego sum, qui loquor tecum.
26 Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.”
27 Et continuo venerunt discipuli ejus, et mirabantur quia cum muliere loquebatur. Nemo tamen dixit: Quid quæris? aut, Quid loqueris cum ea?
27 Just then, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?”
28 Reliquit ergo hydriam suam mulier, et abiit in civitatem, et dicit illis hominibus:
28 So the woman left her water pot, went away into the city, and said to the people,
29 Venite, et videte hominem qui dixit mihi omnia quæcumque feci: numquid ipse est Christus?
29 “Come, see a man who told me everything that I have done. Can this be the Christ?”
30 Exierunt ergo de civitate et veniebant ad eum.
30 They went out of the city, and were coming to him.
31 Interea rogabant eum discipuli, dicentes: Rabbi, manduca.
31 In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 Ille autem dicit eis: Ego cibum habeo manducare, quem vos nescitis.
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 Dicebant ergo discipuli ad invicem: Numquid aliquis attulit ei manducare?
33 The disciples therefore said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
34 Dicit eis Jesus: Meus cibus est ut faciam voluntatem ejus qui misit me, ut perficiam opus ejus.
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
35 Nonne vos dicitis quod adhuc quatuor menses sunt, et messis venit? Ecce dico vobis: levate oculos vestros, et videte regiones, quia albæ sunt jam ad messem.
35 Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest’? Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already.
36 Et qui metit, mercedem accipit, et congregat fructum in vitam æternam: ut et qui seminat, simul gaudeat, et qui metit.
36 He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit to eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
37 In hoc enim est verbum verum: quia alius est qui seminat, et alius est qui metit.
37 For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’
38 Ego misi vos metere quod vos non laborastis: alii laboraverunt, et vos in labores eorum introistis.
38 I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Ex civitate autem illa multi crediderunt in eum Samaritanorum, propter verbum mulieris testimonium perhibentis: Quia dixit mihi omnia quæcumque feci.
39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I have done.”
40 Cum venissent ergo ad illum Samaritani, rogaverunt eum ut ibi maneret. Et mansit ibi duos dies.
40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days.
41 Et multo plures crediderunt in eum propter sermonem ejus.
41 Many more believed because of his word.
42 Et mulieri dicebant: Quia jam non propter tuam loquelam credimus: ipsi enim audivimus, et scimus quia hic est vere Salvator mundi.
42 They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
43 Post duos autem dies exiit inde, et abiit in Galilæam.
43 After the two days he went out from there and went into Galilee.
44 Ipse enim Jesus testimonium perhibuit, quia propheta in sua patria honorem non habet.
44 For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
45 Cum ergo venisset in Galilæam, exceperunt eum Galilæi, cum omnia vidissent quæ fecerat Jerosolymis in die festo: et ipsi enim venerant ad diem festum.
45 So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast.
46 Venit ergo iterum in Cana Galilææ, ubi fecit aquam vinum. Et erat quidam regulus, cujus filius infirmabatur Capharnaum.
46 Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47 Hic cum audisset quia Jesus adveniret a Judæa in Galilæam, abiit ad eum, et rogabat eum ut descenderet, et sanaret filium ejus: incipiebat enim mori.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
48 Dixit ergo Jesus ad eum: Nisi signa et prodigia videritis, non creditis.
48 Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.”
49 Dicit ad eum regulus: Domine, descende priusquam moriatur filius meus.
49 The nobleman said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 Dicit ei Jesus: Vade, filius tuus vivit. Credidit homo sermoni quem dixit ei Jesus, et ibat.
50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
51 Jam autem eo descendente, servi occurrerunt ei, et nuntiaverunt dicentes, quia filius ejus viveret.
51 As he was going down, his servants met him and reported, saying “Your child lives!”
52 Interrogabat ergo horam ab eis in qua melius habuerit. Et dixerunt ei: Quia heri hora septima reliquit eum febris.
52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him.”
53 Cognovit ergo pater, quia illa hora erat in qua dixit ei Jesus: Filius tuus vivit; et credidit ipse et domus ejus tota.
53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” He believed, as did his whole house.
54 Hoc iterum secundum signum fecit Jesus, cum venisset a Judæa in Galilæam.
54 This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of 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
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
Shechem
Shechem lay between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Abram built an altar here, Joshua gathered Israel for covenant renewal, and Jacob's well stands nearby.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 12:6; Joshua 24:1; John 4:5
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)