John 4:48

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders,

King James Version (1611)
Then said Iesus vnto him, Except ye see signes and wonders, yee will not beleeue.

King James Version
Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

English Standard Version
So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."

New American Standard Bible
Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe."

New Century Version
Jesus said to him, "You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me."

Amplified Bible
Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you [people] see [miraculous] signs and wonders, you [simply] will not believe."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe."

Legacy Standard Bible
So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe."

Berean Standard Bible
Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe."

Contemporary English Version
Jesus told the official, "You won't have faith unless you see miracles and wonders!"

Complete Jewish Bible
Yeshua answered, "Unless you people see signs and miracles, you simply will not trust!"

Darby Translation
Jesus therefore said to him, Unless ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe.

Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus said to him, "You people must see miraculous signs and wonders before you will believe in me."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then saide Iesus vnto him, Except ye see signes and wonders, ye will not beleeue.

George Lamsa Translation
Jesus said to him, Unless you see miracles and wonders, you will not believe.

Good News Translation
Jesus said to him, "None of you will ever believe unless you see miracles and wonders."

Lexham English Bible
So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe!"

Literal Translation
Then Jesus said to him, Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you will not at all believe.

American Standard Version
Jesus therefore said unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will in no wise believe.

Bible in Basic English
Then Jesus said to him, You will not have faith if you do not see signs and wonders.

Hebrew Names Version
Yeshua therefore said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe."

International Standard Version
Jesus told him, "Unless you peopleyou (pl.)">[fn] see signs and wonders, you will never believe."1 Corinthians 1:22;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
Jeshu saith to him, If signs and wonders you do not SEE, you will not believe.

Murdock Translation
Jesus said to him: Unless ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde Iesus vnto hym: except ye see signes and wonders, ye wyll not beleue.

English Revised Version
Jesus therefore said unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will in no wise believe.

World English Bible
Jesus therefore said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Jesus said to him, Unless ye see signs and wonders, ye will in no wise believe.

Weymouth's New Testament
"Unless you and others see miracles and marvels," said Jesus, "nothing will induce you to believe."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Jhesus seide to him, But ye se tokenes and grete wondris, ye bileuen not.

Update Bible Version
Jesus therefore said to him, Except you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said Jesus to him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

New English Translation
So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe!"

New King James Version
Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."

New Living Translation
Jesus asked, "Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?"

New Life Bible
Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you see special things and powerful works done, you will not believe."

New Revised Standard
Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Jesus therefore said unto him - Except, signs and wonders, ye see, in nowise will ye believe.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Jesus therefore said to him: Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not.

Revised Standard Version
Jesus therefore said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then sayde Iesus vnto him: excepte ye se signes and wodres ye canot beleve.

Young's Literal Translation
Jesus then said unto him, `If signs and wonders ye may not see, ye will not believe.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Iesus sayde vnto him: Excepte ye se tokens and wonders, ye beleue not.

Mace New Testament (1729)
but Jesus said to him, except you see signs and miracles, you will not believe.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Jesus said, "Y'all only believe when you see wondrous things."

Contextual Overview

⁴³After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to. ⁴⁶Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king's court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: "Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe." ⁴⁹ But the court official wouldn't be put off. "Come down! It's life or death for my son." ⁵⁰Jesus simply replied, "Go home. Your son lives." The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home. On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, "Your son lives!" ⁵²He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, "The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o'clock." The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, "Your son lives." That clinched it. Not only he but his entire household believed. This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee. ⁵⁴The Woman at the Well Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee. To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon. A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.) The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.) Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water." The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water'? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?" Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!" He said, "Go call your husband and then come back." "I have no husband," she said. "That's nicely put: ‘I have no husband.' You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough." "Oh, so you're a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?" "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story." "I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further." Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it. The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, "Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?" And they went out to see for themselves. In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, "Rabbi, eat. Aren't you going to eat?" He told them, "I have food to eat you know nothing about." The disciples were puzzled. "Who could have brought him food?" Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn't you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I'm telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what's right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It's harvest time! "The Harvester isn't waiting. He's taking his pay, gathering in this grain that's ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That's the truth of the saying, ‘This one sows, that one harvests.' I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others." Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman's witness: "He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!" They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, "We're no longer taking this on your say-so. We've heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He's the Savior of the world!" After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to. Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king's court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: "Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe." But the court official wouldn't be put off. "Come down! It's life or death for my son." Jesus simply replied, "Go home. Your son lives." The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home. On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, "Your son lives!" He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, "The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o'clock." The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, "Your son lives." That clinched it. Not only he but his entire household believed. This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Except: John 4:41, John 4:42, John 2:18, John 12:37, John 15:24, John 20:29, Numbers 14:11, Matthew 16:1, Matthew 27:42, Luke 10:18, Luke 16:31, Acts 2:22, 1 Corinthians 1:22

Reciprocal: Exodus 7:3 - multiply 1 Kings 14:3 - he shall tell 2 Kings 5:11 - Behold Matthew 9:28 - Believe Matthew 12:38 - Master Mark 5:36 - only Mark 8:11 - seeking Mark 9:23 - If Luke 4:23 - whatsoever

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said Jesus unto him,.... With some degree of roughness in his speech, and severity in his countenance, in a way of reproof for his unbelief, as if he could not heal his son without going down to Capernaum along with him:

except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe. This was the cast of the Jews every where, both in Judea and Galilee; they required signs and miracles to be wrought, in confirmation of Christ's being the Messiah, and which indeed was but right; and Christ did perform them for that purpose: but their sin of unbelief lay in this, that they wanted still more and more signs; they could not be contented with what they had seen, but required more, being sluggish and backward to believe. Our Lord seems to say this chiefly for the sake of the Galilaeans, that were about him; who, though they might be acquainted with his former miracles, when among them, of turning water into wine, and had seen his wondrous works at the feast at Jerusalem, yet were very desirous of seeing more, and perhaps very pressing for this cure.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Except ye see signs ... - This was spoken not to the nobleman only, but to the Galileans generally. The Samaritans had believed without any miracle. The Galileans, he said, were less disposed to believe him than even they were; and though he had performed miracles enough to convince them, yet, unless they continually saw them, they would not believe.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 48. Except ye see signs and wonders, c.] Our Lord does not tell this man that he had no faith, but that he had not enough. If he had had none, he would not have come from Capernaum to Cana, to beg him to heal his son. If he had had enough, he would have been contented with recommending his son to our Lord, without entreating him to go to Capernaum to heal him which intimates that he did not believe our Lord could do it at a distance. But the words are not addressed to the nobleman alone, but to all the Galilean Jews in general; for our Lord uses the plural number, which he never does when addressing an individual. These people differed widely from the people of Sychar: they had neither a love of the truth, nor simplicity of heart; and would not believe any thing from heaven, unless forced on their minds by the most striking miracles. They were favoured with the ministry of John Baptist; but, as that was not accompanied with miracles, it was not generally credited. They require the miracles of Christ, in order that they may credit the advent of the Messiah. There are many like these Galileans still in the world: they deny that God can have any influence among men; and as to the operations of the Holy Spirit, they, in the genuine Galilean spirit, boldly assert that they will not credit any man who professes to be made a partaker of them, unless he work a miracle in proof of his pretensions! These persons should know that the grace of working miracles was very different from that by which a man is saved; and that the former might exist, even in the most astonishing measure, where the latter did not. See 1 Corinthians 13:2.