John 11-16

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.^{(A) 2} Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.^{(B) 3} So the sisters sent a message to Jesus,^[a] “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”^{(C) 5} Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶ after having heard that Lazarus^[b] 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.”^{(D) 8} The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”^{(E) 9} Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰ But those who walk at night stumble because the light is not in them.” ¹¹ After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.”^{[c] 13} Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ Thomas, who was called the Twin,^[d] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus^[e] had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.^{(F) 20} When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”^{(G) 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.”^{(H) 25} Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.^[f] Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,^{(I) 26} and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,^[g] the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”^(J)

Jesus Weeps

²⁸ When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”^{(K) 33} When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴ He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus began to weep.^{(L) 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 have kept this man from dying?”^(M)

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

³⁸ Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.^{(N) 39} Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”^{(O) 40} Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”^{(P) 41} So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me.^{(Q) 42} I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”^{(R) 43} When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”^(S)

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him.^{(T) 46} But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.^{(U) 48} If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place^[h] and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all!^{(V) 50} You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.”^{(W) 51} He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. ⁵³ So from that day on they planned to put him to death.^(X)

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

⁵⁵ Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.^{(Z) 56} They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” ⁵⁷ Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus^[i] was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Mary Anoints Jesus

12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.^{(AA) 2} There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him.^{(AB) 3} Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them^[j] with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.^{(AC) 4} But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it^[k] so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.^{(AD) 8} You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”^(AE)

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹ When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.^(AF)

Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.^{(AI) 17} So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.^{[l] 18} It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. ¹⁹ The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”^(AJ)

Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.^{(AK) 21} They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.^{(AL) 24} Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.^{(AM) 26} Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.^(AN)

Jesus Speaks about His Death

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.^{(AO) 28} Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”^{(AP) 29} The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.^{(AQ) 32} And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people^[m] to myself.”^{(AR) 33} He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. ³⁴ The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah^[n] remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”^{(AS) 35} Jesus said to them, “The light is in you^[o] for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.^{(AT) 37} Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

³⁹ And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because^[p] he saw his glory and spoke about him.^{(AW) 42} Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue,^{(AX) 43} for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

Summary of Jesus’s Teaching

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.^{(AY) 45} And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.^{(AZ) 46} I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.^{(BA) 47} I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world.^{(BB) 48} The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge,^{(BC) 49} for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

13 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.^{(BD) 2} The devil had already decided^[q] that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper^{(BE) 3} Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God,^{(BF) 4} got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.^{(BG) 5} Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸ Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”^{(BH) 9} Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,^[r] but is entirely clean. And you^[s] are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”^(BI)

¹² After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am.^{(BJ) 14} So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.^{(BK) 15} For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.^{(BL) 16} Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers^[t] greater than the one who sent them.^{(BM) 17} If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. ¹⁸ I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread^[u] has lifted his heel against me.’^{(BN) 19} I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe that I am he.^{[v](BO) 20} Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”^(BP)

Jesus Foretells His Betrayal

²¹ After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.”^{(BQ) 22} The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. ²³ One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining close to his heart;^{[w](BR) 24} Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. ²⁵ So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”^{(BS) 26} Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”^[x] So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.^{[y](BT) 27} After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.”^{(BU) 28} Now no one knew why he said this to him. ²⁹ Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or that he should give something to the poor. ³⁰ So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

The New Commandment

³¹ When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.^{(BV) 32} If God has been glorified in him,^[z] God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³ Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’^{(BW) 34} I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.^{(BX) 35} By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”^(BY)

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

³⁶ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”^{(BZ) 37} Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”^{(CA) 38} Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.

Jesus the Way to the Father

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe^[aa] in God; believe also in me.^{(CB) 2} In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?^{[ab] 3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.^{(CC) 4} And you know the way to the place where I am going.”^{[ac] 5} Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.^{(CD) 7} If you know me, you will know^[ad] my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?^{(CE) 10} Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.^{(CF) 11} Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if you do not, then believe^[ae] because of the works themselves.^{(CG) 12} Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If in my name you ask me^[af] for anything, I will do it.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep^[ag] my commandments.^{(CH) 16} And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,^[ah] to be with you forever.^{(CI) 17} This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be^[ai] in^[aj] you.^(CJ)

¹⁸ “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.^{(CK) 21} They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”^{(CL) 22} Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.^{(CM) 24} Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.^(CN)

²⁵ “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate,^[ak] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.^{(CO) 27} Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.^{(CP) 28} You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.^{(CQ) 29} And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me,^{(CR) 31} but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.^(CS)

Jesus the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes^[al] to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed^[am] by the word that I have spoken to you.^{(CT) 4} Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.^{(CU) 5} I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.^{(CV) 8} My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become^[an] my disciples.^{(CW) 9} As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.^{(CX) 11} I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.^(CY)

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.^{(CZ) 13} No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.^{(DA) 14} You are my friends if you do what I command you.^{(DB) 15} I do not call you servants^[ao] any longer, because the servant^[ap] does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.^{(DC) 17} I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

The World’s Hatred

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you.^{(DD) 19} If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Slaves are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.^{(DE) 21} But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.^{(DF) 22} If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.^{(DG) 23} Whoever hates me hates my Father also.^{(DH) 24} If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.^{(DI) 25} It was to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’^(DJ)

²⁶ “When the Advocate^[aq] comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.^{(DK) 27} You also are to testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.^(DL)

16 “I have said these things to you to keep you from falling away.^{[ar](DM) 2} They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God.^{(DN) 3} And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me.^{(DO) 4} But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.

The Work of the Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’^{(DP) 6} But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate^[as] will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about^[at] sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.^(DQ)

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.^{(DR) 13} When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.^{(DS) 14} He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.^(DT)

Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

¹⁶ “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”^{(DU) 17} Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me,’ and ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? ²⁰ Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. ²¹ When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.^{(DV) 22} So you have pain now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.^{(DW) 23} On that day you will ask nothing of me.^[au] Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.^{[av] 24} Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.^(DX)

Peace for the Disciples

²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but will tell you plainly of the Father. ²⁶ On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf, ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.^{[aw](DY) 28} I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”^(DZ)

²⁹ His disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! ³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.”^{(EA) 31} Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.^{(EB) 33} I have said this to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution, but take courage: I have conquered the world!”^(EC)