The Death of Lazarus
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Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of 1Mary and her sister Martha.
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2It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.
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So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, 3he whom you love is ill."
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But when Jesus heard it he said, 4"This illness does not lead to death. It is for 5the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
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Now 6Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
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Then after this he said to the disciples, 8"Let us go to Judea again."
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The disciples said to him, 9"Rabbi, 10the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?"
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Jesus answered, 11"Are there not twelve hours in the day? 12If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
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After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus 15has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him."
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The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover."
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Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.
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Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died,
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and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
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16So Thomas, called the Twin,b said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, 17that we may die with him."
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
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Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb 18four days.
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Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two milesc off,
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and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary 19to console them concerning their brother.
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20So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
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But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, 23God will give you."
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Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
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Jesus said to her, 26"I am the resurrection and 27the life.d Whoever believes in me, 28though he die, 29yet shall he live,
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and everyone who lives and believes in me 30shall never die. Do you believe this?"
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She said to him, "Yes, Lord; 31I believe that 32you are the Christ, the Son of God, 33who is coming into the world."
Jesus Weeps
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When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, 34"The Teacher is here and is calling for you."
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And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.
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Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.
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When the Jews 35who 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.
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Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, 36"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
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When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he 37was deeply moved in his spirit and 38greatly troubled.
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And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."
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39Jesus wept.
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So the Jews said, "See 40how he loved him!"
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But some of them said, "Could not he 41who opened the eyes of the blind man 42also have kept this man from dying?"
Jesus Raises Lazarus
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Then Jesus, 43deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was 44a cave, and 45a stone lay against it.
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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 46he has been dead four days."
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So they took away the stone. And Jesus 49lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
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50I knew that you always hear me, but I said this 51on account of the people standing around, 52that they may believe that you sent me."
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When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out."
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53The man who had died came out, 54his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and 55his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
The Plot to Kill Jesus
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56Many of the Jews therefore, 57who had come with Mary and 58had seen what he did, believed in him,
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but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
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So the chief priests and the Pharisees 59gathered 60the Council and said, 61"What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.
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If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and 62the Romans will come and take away both our 63place and our nation."
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But one of them, 64Caiaphas, 65who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all.
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Nor do you understand that 66it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish."
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He did not say this of his own accord, but 67being high priest that year 68he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
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and 69not for the nation only, but also 70to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
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So from that day on they 71made plans to put him to death.
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Jesus therefore 72no 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.
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Now 73the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and 74many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover 75to purify themselves.
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76They were looking fore 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?"
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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.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)