New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John
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Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed
2 (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did).
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(although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people.
3 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
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So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
4 He had to go through Samaria on the way.
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To get there, he had to pass through Samaria.
5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
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He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph.
6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.
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Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”
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A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?"
8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
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(His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
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The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
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Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?
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The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this 'living water'?
12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
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Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"
13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.
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Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again.
14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
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Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst - not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
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The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"
16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
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He said, "Go call your husband and then come back."
17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—
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"I have no husband," she said.
18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
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You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough."
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet.
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"Oh, so you're a prophet!
20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”
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Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?"
21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
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"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.
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You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews.
23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.
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But the time is coming - it has, in fact, come - when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.
24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
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God is sheer being itself - Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."
25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
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The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story."
26 Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”
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"I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further."
27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”
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Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.
28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone,
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The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people,
29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”
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"Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?"
30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
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And they went out to see for themselves.
31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”
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In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, "Rabbi, eat. Aren't you going to eat?"
32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”
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He told them, "I have food to eat you know nothing about."
33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other.
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The disciples were puzzled. "Who could have brought him food?"
34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.
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Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started.
35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.
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As you look around right now, wouldn't you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I'm telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what's right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It's harvest time!
36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!
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"The Harvester isn't waiting. He's taking his pay, gathering in this grain that's ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant.
37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true.
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That's the truth of the saying, 'This one sows, that one harvests.'
38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”
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I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others."
39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!”
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Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman's witness: "He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!"
40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days,
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They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days.
41 long enough for many more to hear his message and believe.
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A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say.
42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”
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They said to the woman, "We're no longer taking this on your say-so. We've heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He's the Savior of the world!"
43 At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee.
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After the two days he left for Galilee.
44 He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown.
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Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up.
45 Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.
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So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to.
46 As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick.
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Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king's court whose son was sick.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.
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When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death.
48 Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?”
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Jesus put him off: "Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe."
49 The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.”
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But the court official wouldn't be put off. "Come down! It's life or death for my son."
50 Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.
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Jesus simply replied, "Go home. Your son lives."
51 While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well.
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On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, "Your son lives!"
52 He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!”
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He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, "The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o'clock."
53 Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.
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The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, "Your son lives."
54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.
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This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.