Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 11

Lazarus Dies at Bethany

¹ Now a man was sick, Lazarus, from Bethany,^(a) the village of Mary and her sister Martha.^{(b) 2} Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair,^(c) and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. ³ So the sisters sent a message to Him: "Lord, the one You love is sick."

⁴ When Jesus heard it, He said, "This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God,^(d) so that the Son of God^(e) may be glorified through it." ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. ⁶ So when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after that, He said to the disciples, "Let's go to Judea^(f) again."

⁸ "Rabbi,"^(g) the disciples told Him, "just now the Jews tried to stone You,^(h) and You're going there again?"

⁹ "Aren't there 12 hours in a day?" Jesus answered. "If anyone walks during the day, he doesn't stumble, because he sees the light of this world.^{(i) 10} If anyone walks during the night,^(j) he does stumble, because the light is not in him." ¹¹ He said this, and then He told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,^(k) but I'm on My way to wake him up."

¹² Then the disciples said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well."

¹³ Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought He was speaking about natural sleep. ¹⁴ So Jesus then told them plainly, "Lazarus has died. ¹⁵ I'm glad for you that I wasn't there so that you may believe. But let's go to him."

¹⁶ Then Thomas^(l) (called "Twin") said to his fellow disciples, "Let's go so that we may die with Him."

The Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb^(m) four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem⁽ⁿ⁾ (about two miles^[a] away). ¹⁹ Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. ²⁰ As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him. But Mary remained seated in the house.

²¹ Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. ²² Yet even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You."

²³ "Your brother will rise^(o) again," Jesus told her.

²⁴ Martha said, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."^(p)

²⁵ Jesus said to her, "I am^(q) the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me,^(r) even if he dies, will live.^{(s) 26} Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever.^(t) Do you believe this?"

²⁷ "Yes, Lord," she told Him, "I believe You are the Messiah,^(u) the Son^(v) of God, who comes into the world."^(w)

Jesus Shares the Sorrow of Death

²⁸ Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you."

²⁹ As soon as she heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him.^{(x) 30} Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met Him. ³¹ The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. So they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb^(y) to cry there.

³² When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet^(z) and told Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died!"

³³ When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry^[b] in His spirit^(aa) and deeply moved. ³⁴ "Where have you put him?" He asked.

"Lord," they told Him, "come and see."

³⁵ Jesus wept.^(ab)

³⁶ So the Jews said, "See how He loved^(ac) him!" ³⁷ But some of them said, "Couldn't He who opened the blind man's eyes^(ad) also have kept this man from dying?"

The Seventh Sign: Raising Lazarus from the Dead

³⁸ Then Jesus, angry^[c] in Himself again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.^{(ae) 39} "Remove the stone," Jesus said.

Martha, the dead man's sister, told Him, "Lord, he's already decaying.^[d] It's been four days."

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory^(af) of God?" ^(ag)

⁴¹ So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, "Father, I thank^(ah) You that You heard Me.^{(ai) 42} I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent^(aj) Me." ⁴³ After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" ⁴⁴ The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him and let him go."

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what He did believed in Him.^{(ak) 46} But some of them went to the Pharisees^(al) and told them what Jesus had done.

⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin^(am) and said, "What are we going to do since this man does many signs? ⁴⁸ If we let Him continue in this way, everyone will believe in Him! Then the Romans^(an) will come and remove both our place^[e] and our nation."

⁴⁹ One of them, Caiaphas,^(ao) who was high priest^(ap) that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰ You're not considering that it is to your^[f] advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish."^{(aq) 51} He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die^(ar) for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children^(as) of God. ⁵³ So from that day on they plotted to kill Him.^{(at) 54} Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly^(au) among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness,^(av) to a town called Ephraim. And He stayed there with the disciples.

⁵⁵ The Jewish Passover^(aw) was near, and many went up to Jerusalem^(ax) from the country to purify^[g] themselves before the Passover. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple complex:^(ay) "What do you think? He won't come to the festival,^(az) will He?" ⁵⁷ The chief priests^(ba) and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it so they could arrest Him.