John 4:1-42

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria

1Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and ^abaptizing more disciples than John 2(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3he left Judea and departed ^bagain for Galilee. 4 ^cAnd he had to pass through Samaria. 5So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field ^dthat Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, ^ewearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. ▼

▼That is, about noon

7A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ^g“Give me a drink.” 8(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” ( ^hFor Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10Jesus 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 ⁱliving water.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 ^jAre you greater than our father Jacob? ^kHe gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but ^lwhoever drinks of the water that I will give him ^mwill never be thirsty again. ▼

▼Greek forever

The water that I will give him will become ^oin him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, ^pgive me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16Jesus said to her, “Go, ^qcall your husband, and come here.” 17The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that ^ryou are ^sa prophet. 20 ^tOur fathers worshiped on ^uthis mountain, but you say that ^vin Jerusalem is ^wthe place where people ought to worship.” 21Jesus said to her, ^x“Woman, believe me, ^ythe hour is coming when ^zneither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 ^aaYou worship what you do not know; ^abwe worship what we know, for ^acsalvation is ^adfrom the Jews. 23But ^aethe hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^afin spirit and ^agtruth, for the Father ^ahis seeking such people to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that ^aiMessiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, ^ajhe will tell us all things.” 26Jesus said to her, ^ak“I who speak to you am he.”

27Just then ^alhis disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29“Come, see a man ^amwho told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ^an“Rabbi, eat.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33So the disciples said to one another, ^ao“Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, ^ap“My food is ^aqto do the will of him who sent me and ^arto accomplish his work. 35Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that ^asthe fields are white for harvest. 36Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that ^atsower and ^aureaper ^avmay rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, ^aw‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I sent you to reap ^axthat for which you did not labor. Others have labored, ^ayand you have entered into their labor.”

39Many Samaritans ^azfrom that town believed in him ^babecause of ^bbthe woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed ^bcbecause of his word. 42They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, ^bdand we know that this is indeed ^bethe Savior ^bfof the world.”

Acts 8:5-25

5 ^bgPhilip went down to the city ▼

▼Some manuscripts a city

of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 ^biAnd the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him ^bjand saw the signs that he did. 7For ^bkunclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8So ^blthere was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

9But there was a man named Simon, ^bmwho had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, ^bnsaying that he himself was somebody great. 10They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ^bo“This man is the power of God that is called ^bpGreat.” 11And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had ^bqamazed them with his magic. 12But when ^brthey believed Philip as he preached good news ^bsabout the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, ^btthey were baptized, both men and women. 13Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And ^buseeing signs and ^bvgreat miracles ▼

▼Greek works of power

performed, ^bxhe was amazed.

14Now when ^bythe apostles at Jerusalem heard that ^bzSamaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15who came down and prayed for them ^cathat they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16for ^cbhe had not yet ^ccfallen on any of them, but ^cdthey had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then ^cethey laid their hands on them and ^cfthey received the Holy Spirit. 18Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20But Peter said to him, ^cg“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God ^chwith money! 21You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for ^ciyour heart is not right before God. 22Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^cjif possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23For I see that you are in ^ckthe gall ▼

▼That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile

of bitterness and in ^cmthe bond of iniquity.” 24And Simon answered, ^cn“Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

25Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, ^copreaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.