Yahuchanan 4

1 When Rebbe Y’shua heard that the Separatists were aware that the good news of Yahushua had attracted more disciples for water baptism than had Yahuchanan’s call for repentance,

2 Although the disciples of Rebbe Y’shua— not he, himself—were performing the baptisms, 

3 He withdrew from the lands of the Yehudim to minister, again, within Galil. 

4 After passing the watch station Shimron nwrmc, which takes advantage of fear in order to convince c people m to fear r desires w and any discomfort n,

5  Y’shua determined to visit the city of Sh’khem mkc, whose name invokes the dilemmas of spiritual concerns c about confusing issues k whose resolutions are difficult m. Like the head sitting upon its shoulders, Sh’khem lies close to the Amori land Ya’akov gave to his son Yosef. A pivotal city, its purpose had veen corrupted, and it became a means of diversion under the Amori, a people so preoccupied with pedigree that they neglected posterity; and  they avoided matters of substance in favor of anything and everything that might support their conviction that the universe must give answer to their fantasies. Turning this delusion to Y’sharal’s benefit, Ya’akov had been able to purchase the lands of Sh’khem for a good price; and he bequeathed it to Yosef, the son that had earned a double portion, having protected Y’sharal during the captivity in Mitzraim under Pharoah. 

6 Now, Ya’akov’s well was at Sh’khem, and Y’shua had grown weary because of the long journey and the stress of settling back into solitude after spending so much time fielding intense interactions with those who heard his teachings. As noontime approached, he reached Ya’aqov’s well; and he decided to sit on its casing, in order to rest, for a moment. 

7 By and by, a woman of Shomron came to draw water; and Y’shua asked if he might drink of her water, 

8 Because his disciples had gone into the city to buy food, leaving him on his own.

9 This woman of Ephrayim said to him, “How is that you, being of the Yehudim, ask me for a drink, seeing I’m a woman of Shomron? The Yehudim have nothing to do with the people of Shomron.”

10 Sensing that her words could easily become sharp, he teased her, “If you had known of the gift HaShem has reserved for you and who it is that asks for a drink of your water, you would have asked him for a drink of Living Water, and he would have given it to you.”

11 Intrigued, the woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing with which to draw water, and the well is deep. Where might that “living water” come from? 

12 “Are you greater than our father Ya’akov, who gave us the well and who also drank of its water: him and his children and, also, his cattle?”

13 Y’shua addressed the question hidden in his cousin’s words, saying, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again; 

14 “But any who drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; for the water that I give becomes a cistern of Living Waters that will well up from within him, bringing everlasting Life.”

15 Disarmed by his gentle advances, she said, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never thirst again! I would no longer have to come here every single day to draw water, either!”

16 Y’shua said to her, “Go. Call your husband, and return here.”

17 Deflated but amused, the woman protested, “I have no husband.” Y’shua reached out to her, “You have well said, that you have no husband! 

18 “You have had five husbands, and the one that you now have isn’t your husband, either! In this, you are truthful.”

19 Interested, the woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you’re a prophet. 

20 Perhaps you can explain to me which is correct! Our fathers worshipped here, in this mountain. There were two worship centers in those days, and the sons of Ephraim could choose between them as befit their needs; but the Yehudim say that in Yerushaliem is the place where men ought to worship.”

21 Y’shua answered her, “Woman, believe me! The hour is coming when you shall worship the Father neither in this mountain, nor even at Yerushaliem. 

22 “You don’t know what you worship, but we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Yehudim.

23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truthfulness; for the Father seeks such to worship him.

24 “HaShem is a Spirit; and those who worship him must worship him within their own, truthful spirits, and not by traveling to some particularly hallowed place to perform some approved mantra or ritual.”

25 The woman artfully replied, “I have heard that the Rabbi that is the King under HaMashiyach is coming: a man called the ‘messiah.’ When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

26 Yahushua said to her, “I that speak with you am he.”

27 While they still talked, his disciples returned and marvelled that Y’shua talked with the woman, and they wondered what it was all about; and yet no man asked of her, “What is your business, here?” Nor did they press Y’shua to ask him why he was talking with her.

28 Coming to her senses because of the new arrivals and the old disputes, the woman left her waterpot on the well’s casing and made her way back to the city, where she exhorted the men of Sh’khem, pleading,

29 “Come! See a man who told me all I ever did! Is not he the messiah?”

30 And so, the people of Sh’khem set out, leaving the city to take care of itself; and they cautiously made their way back to the well, wanting to question Y’shua.

31 Meanwhile, Y’shua’s disciples looked after him, saying, “Master, eat.”

32 Setting a hook, Y’shua said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

33 In the consternation that followed this remark, his disciples asked one another whether any of them had brought him food; and they traded theories about what the rebbe was talking about.

34 Watching them the way a fisherman studies his bobber, Y’shua allowed them to bicker among themselves for awhile, then he reeled them in with a teaching: “My food is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

35 “You’ve heard everyone say that there are four hard months after Pesach, and then comes harvest time? “Look! I say to you, just look! Lift up your eyes and look at the fields! The tips of the grain are already whitened, ready for the harvest! 

36 “And he that reaps will receive wages, gathering fruit unto eternal Life, so that both he who has sown and all who reap can rejoice together.

37 “Therein lies the truth of the saying, One man sows; another man reaps.’ 

38 “I send you to reap that for which you have bestowed no labor. You have entered into the labors of those who sowed. Honor the seed; for it sustains us all.”

39 Many of the people of the city of Sh’khem and the countryside of Shomron believed on Y’shua because of the testimony of the woman, when she confessed, “He told me all I ever did.” 

40 And thus, the people of Shomron gathered around Y’shua and implored him, urging him to stay with them; and he rested there two days.

41 Many more believed on him because of the things he said; 

42  And they congratulated the woman, saying, “Now we believe, but not because of what you told us. We have heard him, ourselves; and we know that this one, indeed, speaks in the room of HaMashiyach, the Savior of the World.”

43 After the two days were past, they departed Sh’khem and returned to Galilah; 

44 For, as Y’shua had said, a prophet has little honor in his own country. 

45 And when he had again come into Galil, the people welcomed him. They had seen the things he had done in Yerushaliem during the holy days; for they, also attended the feast at Yerushaliem.

46 Later, when Y’shua had come again into plaintive Qanah of the Galil where he had made rainwater into wine, he was met by an official of royal blood whose son was sick at K’far-Nachum. 

47 When the man heard that Y’shua had come out of the land of Yehudah into Galil, he sought him out. Finding him, he implored Y’shua, that he should come to his home and heal his son; for the boy was at the point of death.

48 Y’shua said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

49 But the nobleman pleaded, “Sir, come down with me, before my child dies.”

50 So Yahushua said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.” The man believed the word Y’shua had given him, and he went his way; 

51 And while he was returning to his home, his servants met him along the way, greeting him with the good news, “Your son lives.”

52 So the nobleman asked them of the time his son began to get better. And the servants said to him, “The fever left him yesterday, at the seventh hour.” And the father knew that the fever broke within the same hour Y’shua had said, “Your son lives.”

53 The ruler therefore believed on Y’shua: both he, himself, and his entire household.

54 This is the second sign that Y’shua performed after he had left the lands of Yehudah and returned into the Galil.