John 4
Expanded Bible
Jesus and a Samaritan Woman
4 The Pharisees [C a religious party which strictly observed OT laws and later customs] heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more ·followers [disciples] than John, 2 although Jesus himself did not baptize people, but his ·followers [disciples] did. 3 Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard about him, so he left Judea [C the southern region of Israel] and went back to Galilee [C the northern region of Israel; Mark 1:14]. 4 But on the way he had to go through the country of Samaria [C the central region occupied by a people disliked because they were only partly Jewish].
5 In Samaria Jesus came to the town called Sychar [C perhaps Shechem or a village near it; compare Gen. 33:18–19; 48:22], which is near the ·field [plot of ground] Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from ·his long trip [L the journey], so he sat down beside the well. It was about ·twelve o’clock noon [L the sixth hour; C hours were counted from dawn, about 6 AM]. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to the well to ·get some [draw] water, Jesus said to her, “·Please give [L Give] me a drink.” 8 (This happened while Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] were in town buying some food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said, “·I am surprised [L How is it…?] that you ask me for a drink, since you are a ·Jewish man [L a Jew] and I am a Samaritan woman.” (Jewish people ·are not friends [do not share things; have no dealings] with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus ·said [answered; replied], “If you only knew the ·free gift [L gift] of God and who it is that is asking you ·for water [L “Give me a drink”], you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” [C “Living water” in Greek can mean fresh running water, but Jesus means “water which gives eternal life”; the woman misunderstands this play on words.]
11 The woman said, “Sir, where will you get this living water? The well is very deep, and you have ·nothing to get water with [L no bucket]. 12 Are you greater than Jacob, our father [C a patriarch recognized by both Jews and Samaritans], who gave us this well and drank from it himself along with his sons and ·flocks [or livestock]?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again [C because physical water only temporarily satisfies thirst], 14 but whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty [C because spiritual renewal/eternal life is forever]. [L But; Indeed] The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life [Is. 12:3; 49:10; 55:1–3; Rev. 7:16].”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty again and will not have to come back here to ·get [draw] more water.” [C Her response indicates she does not understand.]
16 Jesus told her, “Go ·get [call] your husband and come back here.”
17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right to say you have no husband. 18 ·Really [For] you have had five husbands, and the man you ·live with [L have] now is not your husband. You told the truth.”
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ·ancestors [forefathers; L fathers] worshiped on this mountain [C the Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim near Shechem], but you [C plural, referring to the Jews] say that Jerusalem [C Mount Zion, the location of the temple] is the place where people must worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman [C a respectful form of address in that culture; 2:4]. The ·time [L hour; C the time of salvation established by the death and resurrection of Christ; see 2:4] is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain will you ·actually worship [L worship] the Father. 22 You Samaritans worship something you don’t understand. We [C Jews] understand what we worship, because salvation comes from the Jews [C because the Messiah who brings salvation comes through the Jews]. 23 [L But] The ·time [L hour; see 4:21] is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in ·spirit [or the Spirit] and truth, and that time ·is here already [has now come; is now here]. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is ·spirit [Spirit], and those who worship him must worship in ·spirit [Spirit] and truth.”
25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming.” (Messiah is the One called Christ [C both Hebrew Mashiach and Greek Christos mean “Anointed One”; see 1:41].) “When ·the Messiah [L that one] comes, he will ·explain [report; announce] everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus said to her, “I am he—I, the one talking to you.”
27 Just then his ·followers [disciples] came back from town and were surprised to see him talking with a woman [C some Jews thought it a waste of time for rabbis to teach women]. But none of them asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Do you think he might be the ·Christ [Messiah]?” 30 So the people left the town and ·went to see Jesus [L were coming toward him].
31 Meanwhile, his ·followers [disciples] were ·begging [urging] him, “·Teacher [L Rabbi], eat something.”
32 But Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about [Deut. 8:3].”
33 So the ·followers [disciples] asked ·themselves [each other], “·Did somebody already bring him food [L No one brought him anything to eat, did they]?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do ·what the One who sent me wants me to do [L the will of the One who sent me] and to ·finish [complete] his work. 35 ·You have a saying [L Do you not say…?], ‘Four more months till harvest.’ ·But [Look; T Behold] I tell you, ·open your eyes and look at [L lift up your eyes and see] the fields ·ready [ripe; L white] for harvest now. 36 Already, the one who ·harvests [reaps] is ·being paid [L receiving wages] and is gathering ·crops [fruit] for eternal life. So the one who ·plants [sows] and the one who ·harvests [reaps] ·celebrate [rejoice] ·at the same time [together]. 37 [L For] ·Here [in this case] the saying is true, ‘One person ·plants [sows], and another ·harvests [reaps].’ 38 I sent you to ·harvest a crop that [reap what] you did not ·work [labor; toil] on. Others did the ·work [labor; toil], and you ·get to finish up [reap the benefits of; L have entered into] their work.”
39 Many of the Samaritans in that town believed in Jesus because of ·what the woman said [L the word of the woman who testified]: “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 When the Samaritans came to Jesus, they ·begged [urged; asked] him to stay with them, so he stayed there two more days. 41 And many more believed because of ·the things he said [L his word].
42 They said to the woman, “·First we believed in Jesus [L It is no longer] because of what you said, but now we believe because we heard him ourselves. We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Jesus Heals an Officer’s Son(A)
43 Two days later, Jesus left [L from there] and went to Galilee [C the northern region of Israel]. 44 (Jesus had ·said [testified; witnessed] before that a prophet ·is not respected [L has no honor] in his own ·country [or hometown; C probably a reference to Galilee, but some think Judea].) 45 When [L therefore] Jesus arrived in Galilee, the ·people there [L Galileans] ·welcomed [received] him. They had seen all the things he did at the Passover Feast in Jerusalem, because they had been there, too.
46 Jesus went again to visit Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine [2:1–11]. One of the king’s important officers lived in the city of Capernaum, and his son was sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Jesus and ·begged [urged; asked] him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, because his son was almost dead. 48 Jesus said to him, “·You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me [L Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe; 2:23–25; 6:26].”
49 The [royal] officer said, “Sir, ·come [L come down] before my child dies.”
50 Jesus ·answered [said to him], “Go. Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus told him [C he did not need “signs” and miracles] and went home. 51 On the way the man’s ·servants [slaves; bond-servants] came and met him and told him, “Your son is alive.”
52 [L So/Then] The man asked, “What ·time [hour] did my son begin to get well?”
They answered, “Yesterday at ·one o’clock [L the seventh hour; C hours were counted from dawn, about 6 AM] the fever left him.”
53 [L So/Then] The father knew that ·one o’clock was the exact time that [L in that hour] Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and all ·the people who lived in his house [his household] believed in Jesus.
54 That was the second ·miracle [L sign; C the first sign was turning water into wine; 2:1–11] Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
约翰福音 4
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
生命的活水
4 主知道法利賽人聽見他收門徒和施洗比約翰更多（ 2 其實不是耶穌親自施洗，而是他的門徒施洗）， 3 就離開了猶太，再往加利利去。 4 他必須經過撒瑪利亞。 5 於是到了撒瑪利亞的一座城，名叫敘加；這城靠近雅各給他兒子約瑟的那塊地。 6 在那裡有雅各井。耶穌因為旅途疲倦了，就坐在井旁；那時大約正午。
7 有一個撒瑪利亞婦人來打水。耶穌對她說：“請給我水喝。” 8 那時，他的門徒都進城買食物去了。 9 撒瑪利亞婦人對耶穌說：“你是猶太人，怎麼向我，一個撒瑪利亞婦人要水喝呢？”（原來猶太人和撒瑪利亞人不相往來。） 10 耶穌回答她：“你若知道 神的恩賜，和對你說‘請給我水喝’的是誰，你必早已求他，他也必早把活水賜給你了。” 11 婦人說：“先生，你沒有打水的器具，井又深，你從哪裡得活水呢？ 12 我們的祖先雅各把這口井留給我們，他自己和子孫以及牲畜都喝這井的水，難道你比他還大嗎？” 13 耶穌回答：“凡喝這水的，還要再渴； 14 人若喝我所賜的水，就永遠不渴。我所賜的水要在他裡面成為湧流的泉源，直湧到永生。” 15 婦人說：“先生，請把這水賜給我，使我不渴，也不用來這裡打水。”
必須用心靈按真理敬拜 神
16 耶穌說：“你去，叫你的丈夫，然後回到這裡來。” 17 婦人對他說：“我沒有丈夫。”耶穌說：“你說‘沒有丈夫’是不錯的。 18 你以前有五個丈夫，現在有的並不是你的丈夫；你說這話是真的。” 19 婦人說：“先生，我看出你是先知。 20 我們的祖先在這山上敬拜 神，而你們卻說，敬拜的地方必須在耶路撒冷。” 21 耶穌說：“婦人，你應當信我，時候將到，那時你們敬拜父，不在這山上，也不在耶路撒冷。 22 你們敬拜你們所不知道的，我們卻敬拜我們所知道的，因為救恩是從猶太人出來的。 23 然而時候將到，現在就是了，那用心靈按真理敬拜父的，才是真正敬拜的人；因為父在尋找這樣敬拜他的人。 24 神是靈，敬拜他的必須藉著靈按真理敬拜他。” 25 婦人說：“我知道那稱為基督的彌賽亞要來；他來了，要把一切都告訴我們。” 26 耶穌說：“我這現在跟你說話的就是他。”
27 正在這時候，門徒回來了，見耶穌和一個婦人說話，就很希奇；但是沒有人問：“你要甚麼？”或說：“你為甚麼跟她說話？” 28 那婦人撇下了她的水罐，進到城裡去，對眾人說： 29 “你們來，看看一個人，他把我所作的一切都說出來，難道這人就是基督嗎？” 30 眾人就出城，往耶穌那裡去。
莊稼已經熟了
31 當時，門徒對耶穌說：“拉比，請吃。” 32 耶穌說：“我有食物吃，是你們所不知道的。” 33 門徒就彼此說：“難道有人拿東西給他吃了嗎？” 34 耶穌說：“我的食物就是遵行差我來者的旨意，並且完成他的工作。 35 你們不是說‘還有四個月才到收穫的時候’嗎？我告訴你們，舉目向田觀看，莊稼已經熟了，可以收割了。 36 收割的人得到工資，也積儲五穀直到永生，使撒種的和收割的一同快樂。 37 ‘這人撒種，那人收割’，這話是真的。 38 我派你們去收割你們所沒有勞苦的；別人勞苦，你們卻享受他們勞苦的成果。”
39 因著那婦人作見證的話：“他把我所作的一切都說出來了”，那城裡就有許多撒瑪利亞人信了耶穌。 40 於是他們來到耶穌那裡，求他和他們同住，耶穌就在那裡住了兩天。 41 因著耶穌的話，信他的人就更多了。 42 他們就對那婦人說：“現在我們信，不再是因為你的話，而是因為我們親自聽見了，知道這位真是世人的救主。”
治好大臣的兒子
43 兩天之後，耶穌離開那裡，往加利利去。 44 耶穌自己說過：“先知在本鄉是不受尊敬的。” 45 耶穌到了加利利的時候，加利利人都歡迎他，因為他們曾經上耶路撒冷去過節，見過他所行的一切。
46 耶穌又到了加利利的迦拿，就是他變水為酒的地方。有一個大臣，他的兒子在迦百農患病。 47 他聽見耶穌從猶太到了加利利，就來見他，求他下去醫治他的兒子，因為他的兒子快要死了。 48 耶穌對他說：“你們若看不見神蹟奇事，總是不肯信。” 49 大臣說：“先生，求你趁我的孩子還沒有死就下去吧！” 50 耶穌告訴他：“回去吧，你的兒子好了。”那人信耶穌對他說的話，就回去了。 51 正下去的時候，他的僕人迎著他走來，說他的孩子好了。 52 他就向僕人查問孩子是甚麼時候好轉的。他們告訴他：“昨天下午一點鐘，熱就退了。” 53 這父親就知道，那正是耶穌告訴他“你的兒子好了”的時候，他自己和全家就信了。 54 這是耶穌從猶太回到加利利以後所行的第二件神蹟。
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
