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30 He was still outside the village where Martha had gone to meet him. 31 Many people had come to comfort Mary, and when they saw her quickly leave the house, they thought she was going out to the tomb to cry. So they followed her.

32 Mary went to where Jesus was. Then as soon as she saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw that Mary and the people with her were crying, he was terribly upset 34 and asked, “Where have you put his body?”

They replied, “Lord, come and you will see.”

35 Jesus started crying, 36 and the people said, “See how much he loved Lazarus.”

37 Some of them said, “He gives sight to the blind. Why couldn't he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

38 Jesus was still terribly upset. So he went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone rolled against the entrance. 39 Then he told the people to roll the stone away. But Martha said, “Lord, you know that Lazarus has been dead four days, and there will be a bad smell.”

40 Jesus replied, “Didn't I tell you that if you had faith, you would see the glory of God?”

41 After the stone had been rolled aside, Jesus looked up toward heaven and prayed, “Father, I thank you for answering my prayer. 42 I know that you always answer my prayers. But I said this, so the people here would believe you sent me.”

43 When Jesus had finished praying, he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The man who had been dead came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of burial cloth, and a cloth covered his face.

Jesus then told the people, “Untie him and let him go.”

The Plot To Kill Jesus

(Matthew 26.1-5; Mark 14.1,2; Luke 22.1,2)

45 Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw the things Jesus did, and they put their faith in him. 46 Others went to the Pharisees and told what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said, “What should we do? This man is working a lot of miracles.[a] 48 If we don't stop him now, everyone will put their faith in him. Then the Romans will come and destroy our temple and our nation.”[b]

49 One of the council members was Caiaphas, who was also high priest that year. He spoke up and said, “You people don't have any sense at all! 50 Don't you know it is better for one person to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed?” 51 Caiaphas did not say this on his own. As high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation. 52 Yet Jesus would not die just for the Jewish nation. He would die to bring together all of God's scattered people. 53 From that day on, the council started making plans to put Jesus to death.

54 Because of this plot against him, Jesus stopped going around in public. He went to the town of Ephraim, which was near the desert, and he stayed there with his disciples.

55 It was almost time for Passover. Many of the Jewish people who lived out in the country had come to Jerusalem to get themselves ready[c] for the festival. 56 They looked around for Jesus. Then when they were in the temple, they asked each other, “You don't think he will come here for Passover, do you?”

57 The chief priests and the Pharisees told the people to let them know if any of them saw Jesus. This is how they hoped to arrest him.

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Footnotes

  1. 11.47 miracles: See the note at 2.11.
  2. 11.48 destroy our temple and our nation: The Jewish leaders were afraid that Jesus would lead his followers to rebel against Rome and that the Roman army would then destroy their nation.
  3. 11.55 get themselves ready: The Jewish people had to do certain things to prepare themselves to worship God.

30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.(A) 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her,(B) noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”(C)

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved(D) in spirit and troubled.(E) 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35 Jesus wept.(F)

36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”(G)

37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man(H) have kept this man from dying?”(I)

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved,(J) came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.(K) 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”(L)

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe,(M) you will see the glory of God?”(N)

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up(O) and said, “Father,(P) I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here,(Q) that they may believe that you sent me.”(R)

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”(S) 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen,(T) and a cloth around his face.(U)

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary,(V) and had seen what Jesus did,(W) believed in him.(X) 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees(Y) called a meeting(Z) of the Sanhedrin.(AA)

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs.(AB) 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas,(AC) who was high priest that year,(AD) spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”(AE)

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.(AF) 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.(AG)

54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea.(AH) Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,(AI) many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing(AJ) before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus,(AK) and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

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