Two Fathers and Two Sons

7. So now, my sons, listen to me.
         Never stray from what I am about to say:
    
15. Drink water from your own well—
          share your love only with your wife.
21. For the Lord sees clearly what a man does,
          examining every path he takes.
22. An evil man is held captive by his own sins;
          they are ropes that catch and hold him.
23. He will die for lack of self-control;
          he will be lost because of his great foolishness.

NLT

1. Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John ²(though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). ³So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4. He had to go through Samaria on the way. ⁵Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. ⁷Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” ⁸He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
9. The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
10. Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
11. “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? ¹²And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
13. Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. ¹⁴But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
15. “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
16. “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
17. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
    Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
19. “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. ²⁰So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”
21. Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²²You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. ²³But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. ²⁴For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
25. The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26. Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”

NLT