But he had to go through
Samaria. So he came to a
Samaritan city called Sychar,
near the plot of ground that
Jacob had given to his son
Joseph. Jacob’s well was
there, and Jesus, tired out
by his journey, was sitting
by the well. It was about
noon.
A Samaritan woman came to
draw water, and Jesus said
to her, ‘Give me a drink’.
(His disciples had gone to
the city to buy food.) The
Samaritan woman said to him,
‘How is it that you, a Jew,
ask a drink of me, a woman
of Samaria?’ (Jews do not
share things in common with
Samaritans.) Jesus answered
her, ‘If you knew the gift
of God, and who it is that
is saying to you, “Give me a
drink”, you would have asked
him, and he would have given
you living water.’ The woman
said to him, ‘Sir, you have
no bucket, and the well is
deep. Where do you get that
living water? Are you
greater than our ancestor
Jacob, who gave us the well,
and with his sons and his
flocks drank from it?’ Jesus
said to her, ‘Everyone who
drinks of this water will be
thirsty again, but those who
drink of the water that I
will give them will never be
thirsty. The water that I
will give will become in
them a spring of water
gushing up to eternal life.’
The woman said to him, ‘Sir,
give me this water, so that
I may never be thirsty or
have to keep coming here to
draw water.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call
your husband, and come
back.’ The woman answered
him, ‘I have no husband.’
Jesus said to her, ‘You are
right in saying, “I have no
husband”; for you have had
five husbands, and the one
you have now is not your
husband. What you have said
is true!’ The woman said to
him, ‘Sir, I see that you
are a prophet. Our ancestors
worshipped on this mountain,
but you say that the place
where people must worship is
in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to
her, ‘Woman, believe me, the
hour is coming when you will
worship the Father neither
on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem. You worship what
you do not know; we worship
what we know, for salvation
is from the Jews. But the
hour is coming, and is now
here, when the true
worshippers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth,
for the Father seeks such as
these to worship him. God is
spirit, and those who
worship him must worship in
spirit and truth.’ The woman
said to him, ‘I know that
Messiah is coming’ (who is
called Christ). ‘When he
comes, he will proclaim all
things to us.’ Jesus said to
her, ‘I am he, the one who
is speaking to you.’
Just then his disciples
came. They were astonished
that he was speaking with a
woman, but no one said,
‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why
are you speaking with her?’
Then the woman left her
water-jar and went back to
the city. She said to the
people, ‘Come and see a man
who told me everything I
have ever done! He cannot be
the Messiah, can he?’ They
left the city and were on
their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were
urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat
something.’ But he said to
them, ‘I have food to eat
that you do not know about.’
So the disciples said to one
another, ‘Surely no one has
brought him something to
eat?’ Jesus said to them,
‘My food is to do the will
of him who sent me and to
complete his work. Do you
not say, “Four months more,
then comes the harvest”? But
I tell you, look around you,
and see how the fields are
ripe for harvesting. The
reaper is already receiving
wages and is gathering fruit
for eternal life, so that
sower and reaper may rejoice
together. For here the
saying holds true, “One sows
and another reaps.” I sent
you to reap that for which
you did not labour. Others
have laboured, and you have
entered into their labour.’
Many Samaritans from that
city believed in him because
of the woman’s testimony,
‘He told me everything I
have ever done.’ So when the
Samaritans came to him, they
asked him to stay with them;
and he stayed there for two
days. And many more believed
because of his word. They
said to the woman, ‘It is no
longer because of what you
said that we believe, for we
have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is
truly the Saviour of the
world.’
