22You people from Samaria do not know the one you are worshipping. But we (exc) Jews know whom we worship, because it is from us Jews that God has sent the one who will save people from the guilt of their sins.
23However, there will be a time when those who genuinely worship God will worship him as God's Spirit directs and according to God's truth. In fact, that time is now. Those are the kind of worshipers my Father seeks.
24God is a spiritual being. So it is necessary that those who worship him must worship him as his Spirit directs and according to God's truth.”
25The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything we need to know.” ('Messiah❜ and ❛Christ❜ both mean ❛God's promised king❜.)
26Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am the Messiah!”
27Just then we disciples returned from town. Since it was contrary to our custom for Jewish religious teachers to converse with a woman they did not know, we were surprised that he was talking to a woman. However, none of us asked her, “What do you want?” and none of us asked him, “Why are you talking with her?”
28The woman left her water jar there and went into the town. She said to the people there,
29“Come and see a man who was able to tell me all about my past life HYP, even though I never met him before Could this man be the Messiah?”
30So many people left the town and started going to where Jesus was.
31Meanwhile, we disciples were urging him, “Teacher, eat some of the food we brought!”
32But he said to us, “I have food to eat that you do not know anything about!”
33So we started saying to each other, “◄Surely no one has brought him any food when we were not here!/Has anyone brought him any food when we were not here?► RHQ”
34Jesus said to us, “Doing what my Father who sent me wants me to do and finishing the work he gave me to do is ◄ what sustains me/like my food► MET.
35At this time of the year you are saying (OR, your ancestors used to say), ‘There are four months left before we harvest the crops.’ But I say to you, look carefully at the non-Jewish people around here. God says, ‘They are ready to accept my message MET, like crops in fields that are ready for people to harvest.
36If you help them to accept my message, I will reward you MET, as an owner of a field pays those who harvest the crops. Because of your work, people will gain eternal life.’ I have been telling people God's message. That is like MET a man who plants seeds. You will help people to accept my message. That will be like MET harvesting crops. When that happens, both you and I will rejoice.
37As a result, this saying will become true: One person plants seeds, but others harvest the crops.
38I am sending you to enable people to accept my message, but you will not be the first ones who tell them God's message. Others previously worked hard to tell people God's message, and now you will be harvesting the results of their work.”
39Many of the Samaria district people who lived in that town believed that Jesus was the Messiah because they heard what that woman said about Jesus, “That man was able to tell me all about my past life HYP!”
40So when those people of Samaria came to Jesus, they urged him to stay with them. So we stayed there two days.
41Many more of those people believed ◄ in Jesus/that he was the Messiah► because of what he said.
42They told the woman, “We believe in Jesus now , but not just because of what you told us. Now we have heard him ourselves. And now we know that this man truly is the one who can save people MTY from the guilt of their sins .”
43Jesus had said previously that people did not honor prophets like himself when they tried to teach people in their own home area. So, two days later, Jesus and we disciples left that area and went to his own area in Galilee district, because he knew that people there would not think very highly of him, and as a result the Jewish leaders would not be jealous.
John 4
John 4:22-43