Johannes 11,33 | New International Reader’s Version

Lazarus dies

1 A man named Lazarus was ill. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2 Mary would later pour perfume on the Lord. She would also wipe Jesus’ feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was ill in bed. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus. ‘Lord’, they told him, ‘the one you love is ill.’ 4 When Jesus heard this, he said, ‘This illness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory. God’s Son will receive glory because of it.’ 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So after he heard Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7 And then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’ 8 ‘But Rabbi’, they said, ‘a short time ago the Jews there tried to kill you with stones. Are you still going back?’ 9 Jesus answered, ‘Aren’t there 12 hours of daylight? Anyone who walks during the day won’t trip and fall. They can see because of this world’s light. 10 But when they walk at night, they’ll trip and fall. They have no light.’ 11 After he said this, Jesus went on speaking to them. ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,’ he said. ‘But I am going there to wake him up.’ 12 His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he’s sleeping, he will get better.’ 13 Jesus had been speaking about the death of Lazarus. But his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. 15 For your benefit, I am glad I was not there. Now you will believe. But let us go to him.’ 16 Then Thomas, who was also called Didymus, spoke to the rest of the disciples. ‘Let us go also,’ he said. ‘Then we can die with Jesus.’

Jesus comforts the sisters of Lazarus

17 When Jesus arrived, he found out that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was less than 2 miles from Jerusalem. 19 Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary. They had come to comfort them because their brother was dead. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. 21 ‘Lord’, Martha said to Jesus, ‘I wish you had been here! Then my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask for.’ 23 Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ 24 Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again. This will happen when people are raised from the dead on the last day.’ 25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even if they die. 26 And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ 27 ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied. ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God. I believe that you are the one who is supposed to come into the world.’ 28 After she said this, she went back home. She called her sister Mary to one side to talk to her. ‘The Teacher is here,’ Martha said. ‘He is asking for you.’ 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Jesus had not yet entered the village. He was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 Some Jews had been comforting Mary in the house. They noticed how quickly she got up and went out. So they followed her. They thought she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32 Mary reached the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she fell at his feet. She said, ‘Lord, I wish you had been here! Then my brother would not have died.’ 33 Jesus saw her crying. He saw that the Jews who had come along with her were crying also. His spirit became very sad, and he was troubled. 34 ‘Where have you put him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ 37 But some of them said, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man. Couldn’t he have kept this man from dying?’

Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead

38 Once more Jesus felt very sad. He came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone in front of the entrance. 39 ‘Take away the stone,’ he said. ‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad smell. Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days.’ 40 Then Jesus said, ‘Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?’ 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up. He said, ‘Father, I thank you for hearing me. 42 I know that you always hear me. But I said this for the benefit of the people standing here. I said it so they will believe that you sent me.’ 43 Then Jesus called in a loud voice. He said, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 44 The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen. A cloth was around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the clothes he was buried in and let him go.’

The plan to kill Jesus

45 Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did. So they believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. ‘What can we do?’ they asked. ‘This man is performing many signs. 48 If we let him keep on doing this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come. They will take away our temple and our nation.’ 49 One of the Jewish leaders spoke up. His name was Caiaphas. He was high priest at that time. He said, ‘You don’t know anything at all! 50 You don’t realise what is good for you. It is better if one man dies for the people than if the whole nation is destroyed.’ 51 He did not say this on his own because he was high priest at that time. He prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation. 52 He also prophesied that Jesus would die for God’s children scattered everywhere. He would die to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on, the Jewish rulers planned to kill Jesus. 54 Jesus no longer moved around openly among the people of Judea. Instead, he went away to an area near the desert. He went to a village called Ephraim. There he stayed with his disciples. 55 It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. Many people went up from the country to Jerusalem. They went there for the special washing that would make them pure before the Passover Feast. 56 They kept looking for Jesus as they stood in the temple courtyard. They asked one another, ‘What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the feast at all?’ 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders. They had commanded anyone who found out where Jesus was staying to report it. Then they could arrest him.

English Standard Version

The Death of Lazarus

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 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, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus* was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus 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 So Thomas, called the Twin,* said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, 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 four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles* off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.* Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “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 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, “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 was deeply moved* in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and 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 he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, 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 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and 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 gathered the council and said, “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 the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that 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 being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. 54 Jesus therefore 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 the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for* 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.

Johannes 11,33 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version