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The Death of Lazarus

¹ Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of ^(a)Mary and her sister Martha. ^2 (b)It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, ^(c)he whom you love is ill." ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, ^(d)"This illness does not lead to death. It is for ^(e)the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

⁵ Now ^(f)Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus^[a] was ill, ^(g)he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, ^(h)"Let us go to Judea again." ⁸ The disciples said to him, ⁽ⁱ⁾"Rabbi, ^(j)the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" ⁹ Jesus answered, ^(k)"Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^(l)If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But ^(m)if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not ⁽ⁿ⁾in him." ¹¹ After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus ^(o)has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." ¹² The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." ^16 (p)So Thomas, called the Twin,^[b] said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, ^(q)that we may die with him."

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb ^(r)four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[c] off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary ^(s)to console them concerning their brother. ^20 (t)So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to ^(u)Jesus, "Lord, ^(v)if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, ^(w)God will give you." ²³ Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." ^24 (x)Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in ^(y)the resurrection on the last day." ²⁵ Jesus said to her, ^(z)"I am the resurrection and ^(aa)the life.^[d] Whoever believes in me, ^(ab)though he die, ^(ac)yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me ^(ad)shall never die. Do you believe this?" ²⁷ She said to him, "Yes, Lord; ^(ae)I believe that ^(af)you are the Christ, the Son of God, ^(ag)who is coming into the world."

Jesus Weeps

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ^(ah)"The Teacher is here and is calling for you." ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews ^(ai)who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ^(aj)"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he ^(ak)was deeply moved^[e] in his spirit and ^(al)greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." ^35 (am)Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, "See ^(an)how he loved him!" ³⁷ But some of them said, "Could not he ^(ao)who opened the eyes of the blind man ^(ap)also have kept this man from dying?"

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸ Then Jesus, ^(aq)deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was ^(ar)a cave, and ^(as)a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for ^(at)he has been dead four days." ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, ^(au)"Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see ^(av)the glory of God?" ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus ^(aw)lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ^42 (ax)I knew that you always hear me, but I said this ^(ay)on account of the people standing around, ^(az)that they may believe that you sent me." ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." ^44 (ba)The man who had died came out, ^(bb)his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and ^(bc)his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

The Plot to Kill Jesus

^45 (bd)Many of the Jews therefore, ^(be)who had come with Mary and ^(bf)had seen what he did, believed in him, ⁴⁶ but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees ^(bg)gathered ^(bh)the council and said, ^(bi)"What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and ^(bj)the Romans will come and take away both our ^(bk)place and our nation." ⁴⁹ But one of them, ^(bl)Caiaphas, ^(bm)who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰ Nor do you understand that ^(bn)it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish." ⁵¹ He did not say this of his own accord, but ^(bo)being high priest that year ^(bp)he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and ^(bq)not for the nation only, but also ^(br)to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³ So from that day on they ^(bs)made plans to put him to death.

⁵⁴ Jesus therefore ^(bt)no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵ Now ^(bu)the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and ^(bv)many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover ^(bw)to purify themselves. ^56 (bx)They were looking for^[f] Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?" ⁵⁷ Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.