Woman at the Well Story - Bible

Jesus left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria. He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. It was near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Jesus was tired from the journey. So he sat down by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?' His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him, 'You are a Jew. I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?' Jews did not associate with Samaritans.

Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him. He would have given you living water.'

'Sir,' the woman said, 'you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself. His sons and his livestock drank from it also.'

Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'

The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'

Jesus told her, 'Go, call your husband and come back.'

'I have no husband,' she replied.

Jesus said to her, 'You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.'

'Sir,' the woman said, 'I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'

Jesus said, 'Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know. Salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. They are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.'

The woman said, 'I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.'

Then Jesus declared, 'I, the one speaking to you, I am he.'

Just then his disciples returned. They were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, 'What do you want?' or 'Why are you talking with her?'

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town. She said to the people, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?' They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, 'Rabbi, eat something.'

But he said to them, 'I have food to eat that you know nothing about.'

Then his disciples said to each other, 'Could someone have brought him food?'

Jesus said, 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don't you have a saying, 'It's still four months until harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life. So the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.'

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. 'He told me everything I ever did,' she said. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them. He stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.

They said to the woman, 'We no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves. We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.'

Jesus broke down barriers that day. He talked to a Samaritan, a woman, someone with a bad reputation. He showed her that he knew everything about her, yet he still loved her. He offered her living water that would satisfy her soul forever. She left her water jar behind. She had found something better than water. She ran to tell everyone about Jesus. Many people believed because of her testimony. Jesus came to save all people, no matter who they are or what they have done. He offers living water to everyone who is thirsty.

The Woman at the Well story teaches acceptance and revelation. It shows that God’s love reaches everyone. This story highlights faith and spiritual awakening.