John 4

Part of Signs and Discourses📖 John introduction

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¹When therefore the LORD knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, ✦ ²(Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) ✦ ³He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. ✦ ⁴And he must needs go through Samaria. ✦ ⁵Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ✦ ⁶Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. ✦ ⁷There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. ✦ ⁸(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) ✦ ⁹Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. ✦ ¹⁰Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. ✦ ¹¹The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? ✦ ¹²Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? ✦ ¹³Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: ✦ ¹⁴But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. ✦ ¹⁵The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. ✦ ¹⁶Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. ✦ ¹⁷The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: ¹⁸For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. ✦ ¹⁹The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. ✦ ²⁰Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. ✦ ²¹Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. ✦ ²²Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. ✦ ²³But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. ✦ ²⁴God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. ✦ ²⁵The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. ✦ ²⁶Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. ✦ ²⁷And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? ✦ ²⁸The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, ✦ ²⁹Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? ✦ ³⁰Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. ✦ ³¹In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. ✦ ³²But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. ✦ ³³Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? ✦ ³⁴Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. ✦ ³⁵Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. ✦ ³⁶And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. ✦ ³⁷And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. ✦ ³⁸I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. ✦ ³⁹And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. ✦ ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. ✦ ⁴¹And many more believed because of his own word; ✦ ⁴²And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. ✦ ⁴³Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. ✦ ⁴⁴For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. ✦ ⁴⁵Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast. ✦ ⁴⁶So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. ✦ ⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. ✦ ⁴⁸Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. ✦ ⁴⁹The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. ✦ ⁵⁰Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. ✦ ⁵¹And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. ✦ ⁵²Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. ⁵³So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. ✦ ⁵⁴This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee. ✦

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In this chapter

Theme Living Water

Where this chapter connects

John 4 ·34 John 6 ·14 John 1 ·13 John 3 ·8 John 11 ·8 Luke 9 ·7 John 2 ·7 Luke 2 ·6

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 4YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 4David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 4Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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