King James Version · Under Rome
John 4
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When therefore knew how the had heard that made and more than , (Though himself not, but his ,) He left , and departed again into . And he must needs go through . Then cometh he to a city of , which is called , near to the parcel of ground that gave to his son . Now ’s well was there. therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of to draw water: saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of unto him, How is it that thou, being a , askest drink of me, which am a woman of ? for the have no dealings with the . answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of , and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than , which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into . The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17The woman answered and said, I have no husband. said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a . Our fathers in this mountain; and ye say, that in is the place where men ought to . saith unto her, Woman, me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at , . Ye ye know not what: we know what we : for is of the . But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall in and in truth: for seeketh such to him. is a : and they that him must him in and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called : when he is come, he will tell us all things. saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his , and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. In the mean while his him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life : that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. And many of the of that city on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we , not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed , the of the world. Now after two days he departed thence, and went into . For himself testified, that a hath no in his own country. Then when he was come into , the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did at at the feast: for they also went unto the feast. So came again into of , where he made the water . And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at . When he heard that was come out of into , he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of . Then said unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not . The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child . saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man the word that had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. 52Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So knew that it was at the same hour, in the which said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself , and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that did, when he was come out of into .
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.