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ParallelVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yhn Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 4 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) so then they told the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said, but now that we’ve heard him for ourselves, we can see that he really is the saviour of the world.”![]()
OET-LV to_the and women they_were_saying, that We_are_believing no_longer because_of the your speech, because/for we_have_heard ourselves and we_have_known that this is truly the saviour of_the world.
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SR-GNT τῇ τε γυναικὶ ἔλεγον, ὅτι “Οὐκέτι διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλιὰν πιστεύομεν· αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ Σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου.” ‡
(taʸ te gunaiki elegon, hoti “Ouketi dia taʸn saʸn lalian pisteuomen; autoi gar akaʸkoamen kai oidamen hoti houtos estin alaʸthōs ho Sōtaʸr tou kosmou.”)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT And they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your speech, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this one is truly the Savior of the world.”
UST The townspeople told the woman, “We believe in Jesus now, but not just because of what you told us about him. We believe because we have heard his message for ourselves. Now we know that this man truly is the one who saves the believers in the world from their sins.”
BSB They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this [man] truly is the Savior of the world.”
MSB They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this [man] truly is the Christ,[fn] the Savior of the world.”
4:42 CT does not include the Christ.
BLB And they were saying to the woman, "No longer because of your speech do we believe; for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world."
AICNT and they said to the woman [that],[fn] “We no longer believe because of your {words},[fn] for we have heard [[from him]][fn] for ourselves and know that this one is [truly][fn] [[the Christ]][fn] the Savior of the world.”
4:42 , that: Absent from some manuscripts. B(03) Latin(b) Syriac(syc)
4:42, words: Some manuscripts read “testimony.” ℵ(01) D(05) Latin(b d)
4:42, from him: Some manuscripts include. ℵ(01)
4:42, truly: Absent from some manuscripts. Latin(ff2 )
4:42, the Christ: Some manuscripts include. A(02) D(05) Latin(d e) Syriac(syp) BYZ TR ‖ Absent from 𝔓66 𝔓75 ℵ(01) B(03) C(04) Latin(a b ff2 ) Syriac(syc) NA28 SBLGNT THGNT
OEB and they said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you say that we believe in him, for we have heard him ourselves and know that he really is the Saviour of the world.’
LSB and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is truly the Savior of the world.”
WEBBE They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”
WMBB They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.”
NET They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the world.”
LSV and said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your speaking; for we ourselves have heard and known that this is truly the Savior of the world—the Christ.”
FBV They said to the woman, “Now our trust in him isn't just because of what you told us but because we have heard him for ourselves. We're convinced that he really is the Savior of the world.”
TCNT So they said to the woman, “It is no longer because of yoʋr report that we believe, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this is truly [fn]the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
4:42 the Christ, ¦ — CT
T4T They 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.”
LEB And they were saying to the woman, “No longer because of ⌊what you said⌋[fn] do we believe, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this one is truly the Savior of the world!”
4:42 Literally “your speaking”
BBE And they said to the woman, Now we have faith, but not because of your story: we ourselves have given ear to his words, and we are certain that he is truly the Saviour of the world.
Moff As they told the woman, "We no longer believe on account of what you said; we have heard for ourselves, we know that he is really the Saviour of the world."
Wymth and they said to the woman, "We no longer believe in Him simply because of your statements; for we have now heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world."
ASV and they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy speaking: for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.
DRA And they said to the woman: We now believe, not for thy saying: for we ourselves have heard him, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.
YLT and said to the woman — 'No more because of thy speaking do we believe; for we ourselves have heard and known that this is truly the Saviour of the world — the Christ.'
Drby and they said to the woman, [It is] no longer on account of thy saying that we believe, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.
RV and they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy speaking: for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.
(and they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy/your speaking: for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world. )
SLT And they said to the woman, That we no more believe for thy speaking: for we ourselves have heard and know, that this is truly Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Wbstr And said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
KJB-1769 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
(And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy/your saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. )
KJB-1611 And said vnto the woman, Now we beleeue, not because of thy saying, for we haue heard him our selues, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Sauiour of the world.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)
Bshps And sayde vnto the woman: Nowe we beleue, not because of thy saying: for we haue heard him our selues, & know that this is euen Christe, the sauiour of the worlde.
(And said unto the woman: Now we believe, not because of thy/your saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is even Christ, the saviour of the world.)
Gnva And they said vnto the woman, Nowe we beleeue, not because of thy saying: for we haue heard him our selues, and knowe that this is in deede that Christ the Sauiour of the world.
(And they said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy/your saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed that Christ the Saviour of the world. )
Cvdl and sayde vnto the woman: We beleue now hence forth, not because of thy sayenge, we haue herde him oureselues, and knowe, that this of a trueth is Christ the Sauioure of the worlde.
(and said unto the woman: We believe now henceforth, not because of thy/your saying, we have heard him ourselves, and know, that this of a truth is Christ the Saviour of the world.)
TNT and sayd vnto the woman: Now we beleve not because of thy sayinge. For we have herde him oure selves and knowe that this is even in dede Christ the savioure of the worlde.
(and said unto the woman: Now we believe not because of thy/your saying. For we have herd/heard him our selves and know that this is even indeed Christ the saviour of the world. )
Wycl and seiden to the womman, That now not for thi speche we bileuen; for we han herd, and we witen, that this is verili the sauyour of the world.
(and said to the woman, That now not for thy/your speech we believen; for we have herd, and we perceive, that this is verily/truly the saviour of the world.)
Luth und sprachen zum Weibe: Wir glauben nun hinfort nicht um deiner Rede willen; wir haben selber gehöret und erkannt, daß dieser ist wahrlich Christus, der Welt Heiland.
(and said for_the woman: We believe now henceforth not around/by/for your(s) speech will; we/us have himself belongs/pertains and recognised, that this is truly Christ, the/of_the world saviour.)
ClVg Et mulieri dicebant: Quia jam non propter tuam loquelam credimus: ipsi enim audivimus, et scimus quia hic est vere Salvator mundi.[fn]
(And womani they_said: Because already not/no because your(sg) loquelam we_believe: themselves because we_heard, and we_know because this/here it_is really/truly Salvator world. )
4.42 Et mulieri dicebant. Postquam Dominus carnis præsentia Judæis spiritualiter edoctis gratiam suæ cognitionis infudit mulieri, id est legi, dicebant, jam non propter tuam loquelam credimus.
4.42 And womani they_said. Postquam Master of_flesh presence To_the_Jews spiritually edoctis grace his/her_own knowledge poured_in womani, that it_is I_read, they_said, already not/no because your(sg) loquelam we_believe.
UGNT τῇ τε γυναικὶ ἔλεγον, ὅτι οὐκέτι διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλιὰν πιστεύομεν; αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ οἴδαμεν, ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ Σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου.
(taʸ te gunaiki elegon, hoti ouketi dia taʸn saʸn lalian pisteuomen; autoi gar akaʸkoamen kai oidamen, hoti houtos estin alaʸthōs ho Sōtaʸr tou kosmou.)
SBL-GNT τῇ τε γυναικὶ ἔλεγον ὅτι Οὐκέτι διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλιὰν πιστεύομεν· αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν, καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ ⸀κόσμου.
(taʸ te gunaiki elegon hoti Ouketi dia taʸn saʸn lalian pisteuomen; autoi gar akaʸkoamen, kai oidamen hoti houtos estin alaʸthōs ho sōtaʸr tou ⸀kosmou.)
RP-GNT τῇ τε γυναικὶ ἔλεγον ὅτι Οὐκέτι διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλιὰν πιστεύομεν· αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν, καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου, ὁ χριστός.
(taʸ te gunaiki elegon hoti Ouketi dia taʸn saʸn lalian pisteuomen; autoi gar akaʸkoamen, kai oidamen hoti houtos estin alaʸthōs ho sōtaʸr tou kosmou, ho ⱪristos.)
TC-GNT τῇ τε γυναικὶ ἔλεγον ὅτι Οὐκέτι διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλιὰν πιστεύομεν· αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν, καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου, [fn]ὁ Χριστός.
(taʸ te gunaiki elegon hoti Ouketi dia taʸn saʸn lalian pisteuomen; autoi gar akaʸkoamen, kai oidamen hoti houtos estin alaʸthōs ho sōtaʸr tou kosmou, ho Ⱪristos. )
4:42 ο χριστος ¦ — CT
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
4:42 The Samaritans had experienced for themselves that Jesus was true. Their name for Jesus, Savior of the world (also used in 1 Jn 4:14), demonstrated that the Samaritans were keenly aware of their distance from Judaism. Jesus’ ministry was not simply for Jews, but for all people (John 1:4-12; cp. 12:20-26).
In this section Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman who had come to get water from a well. Jesus asked her for a drink of water. The woman was surprised that he spoke to her. Jesus was a Jew, and most Jewish people hated the Samaritans. But Jesus stayed and talked with the woman.
Jesus told the woman that he could give her living water, and he told her that he was the Messiah. The women went back to her town and brought many of the other Samaritan people to Jesus.
It is good to translate the section before giving it a title. Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus brought good news to the hated Samaritan people
The conversation at the well
The people of the town listened to the woman and believed in Jesus. They came to meet him and asked him to stay for a few days. At the end of that time they declared that they now knew for certain that he was the Christ.
They said to the woman, “We now believe not only because of your words;
They said to the woman, “Now we(excl) believe in him not because of what you(sing) told us,
The people from Sychar said to the woman, “Now we(excl) believe in Jesus, not just because you(sing) told us about him,
The people from the town told the woman that it was no longer because of what she said that they believed in Jesus.
They said to the woman: The pronoun They refers to the people of Sychar. In some languages it is more natural to put in this information. For example:
The people of the town of Sychar said to the woman
We now believe not only because of your words: This clause indicates that there was a change in the people’s reason for believing. Before they met Jesus, they believed because of what the woman said. After they met Jesus, they believed because they heard Jesus themselves. In some languages it may be necessary to make it more explicit that their reason for believing had changed. For example:
First we believed in Jesus because of your speech, but now we believe because…. (NCV)
Now we believe, not just because of what you told us…. (NLT)
We now believe: The pronoun We is exclusive here, as the people were contrasting themselves with the woman. However, your translation should not imply that the woman did not believe. She believed, but for a different reason. You may need to make it clear that the woman also believed. For example:
we(excl) also believe
believe: This word includes the idea of believing the facts about who Jesus was, accepting him as the Messiah, and what he did. But it also includes the idea of trusting Jesus instead of trusting oneself or someone else. Both ideas are very closely related. If someone believes the facts about Jesus, it should result in trusting him. See how you translated this idea in 4:39 and 4:41. Here are other ways of translating this word:
have faith in Jesus (CEV)
trust in him
we have heard for ourselves,
but because we(excl) ourselves heard him.
but also because we(excl) listened to him ourselves.
No, it was because they heard him themselves,
The Greek text begins this clause with a conjunction that is usually translated as “for,” but the BSB leaves it implied. Here, the Greek conjunction indicates the reason why the Samaritans’ belief changed. Here is another way to translate this word:
because (GNT)
we have heard for ourselves: This clause gives the reason why the Samaritans started to believe for a different reason. Earlier, they had believed because of what the woman said. But when they heard Jesus themselves, they had a stronger reason to believe and that made their faith stronger. In some languages it may be necessary to make the object of the verb heard explicit. For example:
We have heard him ourselves (CEV)
We(excl) ourselves have heard what he has said
we: This pronoun is exclusive and in this context refers to the people of the town, but not the woman. The woman had always believed because she heard Jesus herself, so her reason to believe did not need to change.
and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world.”
And we(excl) now know that he really is the savior/deliverer of the people of the world.”
That convinced us that it is true that he will save people everywhere.”
and they realized that he was truly the one who would save people everywhere.
we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world: This is the most important idea in what the town’s people say. It also forms the climax (most important point) of this section. Try to translate this with emphasis. For example:
we are convinced that he is the Saviour of the world (REB)
we know: The pronoun we continues to be exclusive here. However, the town’s people did not disagree with the woman but agreed strongly with her. They also believed that Jesus was the Messiah (4:29b). So it may be natural to say:
we(excl) now also know
the Savior of the world: This is the only time the title Savior is used of Jesus in the Gospel of John. 1 John 4:14 uses the phrase the Savior of the world, and Luke 1:67 and 2:11 use the title Savior for Jesus. Old Testament verses (for example, 2 Samuel 22:3 and Psalm 106:21) and Luke 1:47 use the title for God.
The title indicates here that Jesus is the one who saves or rescues/delivers people from evil or danger. In the New Testament the emphasis is on saving people from spiritual and eternal danger. That means rescuing people from the spiritual dangers of sin and the punishment from God that results from sinning. See KBT Save, Salvation Savior, C. In some languages it may be natural to translate Savior using a verb form. For example:
the one who will save the people of the world
the one who delivers people everywhere from evil
of the world: The Samaritans used this phrase to say that Jesus is the savior of all groups of people in the world. He was not just the savior of the Jews. They did not mean that Jesus saves every person in the world. See the examples above for other ways to translate this phrase.
Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns
ἔλεγον
˱they˲_˓were˒_saying
Here, they refers to the Samaritans from Sychar. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [the local Samaritans said]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
πιστεύομεν & ἀκηκόαμεν & οἴδαμεν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: τῇ τέ γυναικί ἔλεγον ὅτι οὐκέτι διά τήν σήν λαλιάν Πιστεύομεν αὐτοί γάρ ἀκηκόαμεν καί οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτος ἐστίν ἀληθῶς ὁ Σωτήρ τοῦ κόσμου)
We throughout this verse refers to the Samaritan townspeople who came to Jesus apart from the Samaritan woman, so the pronoun would be exclusive. Your language may require you to mark this form.
Note 3 topic: writing-pronouns
οὗτός
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: τῇ τέ γυναικί ἔλεγον ὅτι οὐκέτι διά τήν σήν λαλιάν Πιστεύομεν αὐτοί γάρ ἀκηκόαμεν καί οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτος ἐστίν ἀληθῶς ὁ Σωτήρ τοῦ κόσμου)
Here, this one refers to Jesus. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [this man, Jesus]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
κόσμου
world
Here, world refers to everyone throughout the world who believes in Jesus. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [all the believers in the world]

John 4
As the story of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman demonstrates, even simple geography–the divine arrangement of places where God leads us in life–can position us for fruitful ministry if we are willing to reach out to those along our journey. This episode in Jesus’ ministry occurred immediately after Jesus had cleared the Temple in Jerusalem and was gaining even more followers than John the Baptist (John 2:13-25; 4:1-3). Likely wanting to avoid a direct clash with Jewish leadership so early in his ministry, Jesus chose instead to return to Galilee. The most direct route from Jerusalem to Galilee passed through Samaria, and, as the Jewish historian Josephus notes, this was the route normally chosen by most Jews at the time (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XX:6). The city of Samaria (renamed Sebaste by Jesus’ time) was originally the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, but in 722 B.C. the Assyrians exiled many Israelites to other parts of their empire and relocated other foreign peoples in Israel (2 Kings 15:29; 17:1-24; 1 Chronicles 5:26; also see “Israelites Are Exiled to Assyria”). This diverse population then developed a new religion that mixed elements of Israelite worship with pagan worship (2 Kings 17:24-41), and centuries later they set up their own temple on Mount Gerizim. Because of their mixed ancestry and religion, Samaritans were often detested by many Jews (John 4:9), and hostilities periodically erupted between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus himself would later be refused entry into Samaria while traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem (Luke 9:52-56; also see “Jesus’ Final Journey to Jerusalem”), and Josephus notes that about 20 years after this time a number of Galileans were killed by Samaritans as they attempted to make their way to Jerusalem through the village of Ginae. Probably because of these hostilities, some Jews preferred to take alternate routes that bypassed Samaria. Still other Jews chose these routes to avoid even associating with Samaritans. Jesus, however, appears to have chosen the more direct route through Samaria, which led him to the village of Sychar–right next to the ancient site of Shechem and Mount Gerizim. There he met a Samaritan woman by a well and spoke to her about God’s gift of living water for her soul. He also revealed supernatural knowledge about her, so she asked him whether Mount Gerizim or Jerusalem was the proper place to worship. Jesus gently rebuked her belief in Samaritan worship practices, but he also assured her that one day the physical location of worshipers will no longer matter. Instead, all true believers will worship God in spirit and truth. When Jesus revealed to the woman that he was the Messiah, she left her water jar and told the townspeople about Jesus. Meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples returned, and Jesus urged them to recognize that the fields were ripe for harvesting, presumably meaning that many Samaritans were ready to believe in him. Because of the Samaritan woman’s testimony, many of the townspeople believed in Jesus and persuaded him to stay there two more days before returning to Galilee. Years later the apostle Philip found fruitful ministry among the Samaritans as well, and many came to faith in Jesus (Acts 8:5-13; also see “The Ministries of Philip and Peter”).