40 JESUS WITHDREW AGAIN across the Jordan, to the place where John had been baptizing earlier. 41 There he stayed, while crowds came to him. They said, 'John gave us no miraculous sign, but all that he said about this man was true.' 42 Many came to believe in him there.
1 There was a man named Lazarus who had fallen ill. His home was at Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus had fallen ill, was the woman who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 The sisters sent a message to him: 'Sir, you should know that your friend lies ill.' 4 When Jesus heard this he said, 'This sickness will not end in death; it has come for the glory of God, to bring glory to the Son of God.' 5 And therefore, though he loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after hearing of his illness Jesus waited for two days in the place where he was.
7 After this, he said to his disciples, 'Let us go back to Judaea.' 8 'Rabbi,' his disciples said, 'it is not long since the Jews there were wanting to stone you. Are you going there again?' 9 Jesus replied, 'Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone can walk in daytime without stumbling, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if he walks after nightfall he stumbles, because the light fails him.'
11 After saying this he added, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I shall go and wake him.' 12 The disciples said, 'Master, if he has fallen asleep he will recover.' 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking of his death, but they thought that he meant natural sleep, 14 Then Jesus spoke out plainly: 'Lazarus is dead. 15 I am is glad not to have been there; it will be for your good and for the good of your faith. But let us go to him.' 16 Thomas, called 'the Twin', said to his fellow-disciples, 'Let us also go, that we may die with him.'
17 ON HIS ARRIVAL Jesus found that Lazarus had already been four days in the tomb. 18 Bethany was just is under two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come from the city to Martha and Mary to condole with them on their brother's death. 20 As soon as she heard that Jesus was on his way, Martha went to meet him, while Mary stayed at home.
21 Martha said to Jesus, 'If you had been here, sir, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will grant you.' 23 Jesus said, 'Your brother will rise again.' 24 'I know that he will rise again', said Martha, 'at the resurrection on the last day.' 25 Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and I am life. If a man has faith in me, even though he die, he shall come to life; 26 and no one who is alive and has faith shall ever die. Do you believe this?' 27 'Lord, I do,' she answered; 'I now believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who was to come into the world.'
28 With these words she went to call her sister Mary, and taking her aside, she said, 'The Master is here; he is asking for you.' 29 When Mary heard this she rose up quickly and went to him. 30 Jesus had not yet reached the village, but was still at the place where Martha left him. 31 The Jews who were in the house condoling with Mary, when they saw her start up and leave the house, went after her, for they supposed that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32 So Mary came to the place where Jesus was. As soon as she caught sight of him she fell at his feet and said, 'O sir, if you had only been here my brother would not have died. 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews her companions weeping, he sighed heavily and was deeply moved. 34 'Where have you laid him?' he asked. They replied, 'Come and see, sir.' 35 Jesus wept. 36 The Jews said, 'How dearly he must have loved him!' 37 But some of them said, 'Could not this man, who opened the blind man's eyes, have done something to keep Lazarus from dying?'
38 Jesus again sighed deeply; then he went over to the tomb. It was a cave, with a stone placed against it. 39 Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, 'Sir, by now there will be a stench; he has been there four days.' 40 Jesus said, 'Did I not tell you that if you have faith you will see the glory of God?' 41 So they removed the stone.
Then Jesus looked upwards and said, 'Father, I thank thee: thou hast heard me. 42 I knew already that thou always hearest me, but I spoke for the sake of the people standing round, that they might believe that thou didst send me.'
43 Then he raised his voice in a great cry: 'Lazarus, come forth.' 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet swathed in linen bands, his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said, 'Loose him; let him go.'
45 NOW MANY of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46 But some of them went off to the Pharisees and reported what he had done.
47 Thereupon the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a meeting of the Council. 'What action are we taking?' they said. 'This man is performing many signs. 48 If we leave him alone like this the whole populace will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and sweep away our temple and our nation.' 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, 'You know nothing whatever; 50 you do not use your judgement; it is more to your interest that one man should die for the people, than that the whole nation should be destroyed.' 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but as the High Priest in office that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation - 52 die not for the nation alone but to gather together the scattered children of God. 53 So from that day on they plotted his death.
54 Accordingly Jesus no longer went about publicly in Judaea, but left that region for the country bordering on the desert, and came to a town called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
55 THE JEWISH PASSOVER was now at hand, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the festival. 56 They looked out for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple they asked one another, 'What do you think? Perhaps he is not coming to the festival.' 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where he was should give information, so that they might arrest him.
1 SIX DAYS BEFORE the Passover festival Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There a supper was given in his honour, at which Martha served, and Lazarus sat among the guests with Jesus. 3 Then Mary brought a pound of very costly perfume, oil of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair, till the house was filled with the fragrance. 4 At this, Judas Iscariot, a disciple of his - the one who was to betray him - said, 5 'Why was this perfume not sold for thirty pounds and given to the poor?' 6 He said this, not out of any care for the poor, but because he was a thief; he used to pilfer the money put into the common purse, which was in his charge. 7 'Leave her alone', said Jesus. 'Let her keep it till the day when a she prepares for my burial, 8 for you have the poor among you always, but you will not always have me.'
9 A great number of the Jews heard that he was there, and came not only to see Jesus but also Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. 10 The chief priests then resolved to do away with Lazarus as well, 11 since on his account many Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
12 THE NEXT DAY the great body of pilgrims who had come to the festival, hearing that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, 13 took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the king of Israel!' 14 Jesus found a donkey and mounted it, in accordance with the text of Scripture: 15 'Fear no more, daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, mounted on an ass's colt.'
16 At the time his disciples did not understand this, but after Jesus had been glorified they remembered that this had been written about him, and that this had happened to him. 17 The people who were present when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead told what they had seen and heard. 18 That is why the crowd went to meet him; they had is heard of this sign that he had performed. 19 The Pharisees said to one another, 'You see you are doing no good at all; why, all the world has gone after him.'
20 AMONG THOSE who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, 'Sir, we should like to see Jesus.' 22 So Philip went and told Andrew, and the two of them went to tell Jesus. 23 Then Jesus replied: 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 In truth, in very truth I tell you, a grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls into the ground and dies; but if it dies, it bears a rich harvest. 25 The man who loves himself is lost, but he who hates himself in this world will be kept safe for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; where I am, my servant will be. Whoever serves me will be honoured by my Father.
27 'Now my soul is in turmoil, and what am I to say? Father, save me from this hour. No, it was for this that I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name.' A voice sounded from heaven: 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' 29 The crowd standing by said it was thunder, while others said, 'An angel has spoken to him.' 30 Jesus replied, 'This voice spoke for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the hour of judgement for this world; now shall the Prince of this world be driven out. 32 And I shall draw all men to myself, when I am lifted up from the earth.' 33 This he said to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
34 The people answered, 'Our Law teaches us that the Messiah continues for ever. What do you mean by saying that the Son of Man must be lifted up? What Son of Man is this ?' 35 Jesus answered them; The light is among you still, but not for long. Go on your way while you have the light, so that darkness may not overtake you. He who journeys in the dark does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, trust to the light, that you may become men of light.' After these words Jesus went away from them into hiding.
37 IN SPITE OF the many signs which Jesus had performed in their presence they would not believe in him, 38 for the prophet Isaiah's utterance had to be fulfilled: 'Lord, who has believed what we reported, and to whom has the Lord's power been revealed?' 39 So it was that they could not believe, for there is another saying of Isaiah's: 40 'He has blinded their eyes and dulled their minds, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their minds, and turn to me to heal them.' 41 Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him.
42 For all that, even among those in authority a number believed in him, but would not acknowledge him on account of the Pharisees, for fear of being banned from the synagogue. 43 For they valued their reputation with men rather than the honour which comes from God.
44 SO JESUS CRIED ALOUD: 'When a man believes in me, he believes in him who sent me rather than in me; 45 seeing me, he sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that no one who has faith in me should remain in darkness. 47 But if anyone hears my words and pays no regard to them, I am not his judge; I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the man who rejects me and does not accept my words; the word that I spoke will be his judge on the last day. 49 I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself commanded me what to say and how to speak. 50 I know that his commands are eternal life. What the Father has said to me, therefore - that is what I speak.'