The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was sick: Lazarus of (A)Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister (B)Martha. And it was the Mary who (C)anointed (D)the Lord with [a]ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “(E)Lord, behold, (F)he whom You love is sick.” But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not [b]meant for death, but is for (G)the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” (Now Jesus loved (H)Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.) So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Then after this He *said to the disciples, (I)Let’s go to Judea again.” The disciples *said to Him, “(J)Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking (K)to stone You, and yet You are going there again?” Jesus replied, (L)Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks during the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in [c]him.” 11 This He said, and after this He *said to them, “Our (M)friend Lazarus (N)has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may awaken him from sleep.” 12 The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will [d]come out of it.” 13 Now (O)Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about [e]actual sleep. 14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus died, 15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let’s go to him.” 16 (P)Therefore Thomas, who was called [f](Q)Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s also go, so that we may die with Him!”

17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb (R)four days. 18 Now (S)Bethany was near Jerusalem, about [g]fifteen stadia away; 19 and many of (T)the Jews had come to (U)Martha and Mary, (V)to console them about their brother. 20 So then (W)Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but (X)Mary [h]stayed in the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, “(Y)Lord, (Z)if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that (AA)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23 Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.” 24 Martha *said to Him, “(AB)I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, (AC)I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me (AD)will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have come to believe that You are (AE)the [i]Christ, the Son of God, and [j](AF)He who comes into the world.”

28 When she had said this, she (AG)left and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “(AH)The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard this, she *got up quickly and came to Him.

30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but (AI)was still at the place where Martha met Him. 31 (AJ)Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were (AK)consoling her, when they saw that Mary had gotten up quickly and left, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “(AL)Lord, (AM)if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and (AN)the Jews who came with her also weeping, He (AO)was deeply moved in spirit and [k](AP)was troubled, 34 and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus (AQ)wept. 36 So (AR)the Jews were saying, “See how He (AS)loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could this Man, who (AT)opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also [l]kept this man from dying?”

38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a (AU)cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time [m]there will be a stench, for he has been dead (AV)four days.” 40 Jesus *said to her, (AW)Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the (AX)stone. And Jesus (AY)raised His eyes, and said, (AZ)Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, (BA)because of the [n]people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that (BB)You sent Me.” 43 And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 Out came the man who had died, (BC)bound hand and foot with wrappings, and (BD)his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

45 (BE)Therefore many of the Jews (BF)who came to Mary, and (BG)saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went to the (BH)Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

Conspiracy to Kill Jesus

47 Therefore (BI)the chief priests and the Pharisees (BJ)convened a (BK)council meeting, and they were saying, “What are we [o]doing in regard to the fact that this Man is performing many [p](BL)signs? 48 If we let Him go on like this, all the people will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take over both our [q](BM)place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, (BN)Caiaphas, (BO)who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor are you taking into account that (BP)it is in your best interest that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish instead.” 51 Now he did not say this [r]on his own, but (BQ)as he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation; 52 and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also (BR)gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they (BS)planned together to kill Him.

54 Therefore Jesus (BT)no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called (BU)Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.

55 Now (BV)the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country prior to the Passover, (BW)in order to [s]purify themselves. 56 So they (BX)were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple area, “What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now (BY)the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might arrest Him.

Footnotes

  1. John 11:2 Or perfume
  2. John 11:4 Lit toward death
  3. John 11:10 Or it; i.e., the world
  4. John 11:12 Lit be saved
  5. John 11:13 Lit the slumber of sleep
  6. John 11:16 I.e., the Twin
  7. John 11:18 Possibly 2 miles or 3 km; a Roman stadion perhaps averaged 607 ft. or 185 m
  8. John 11:20 Lit was sitting
  9. John 11:27 I.e., Messiah
  10. John 11:27 The Coming One was a Messianic title
  11. John 11:33 Lit troubled Himself
  12. John 11:37 Lit done so that this man also would not die
  13. John 11:39 Lit he stinks
  14. John 11:42 Lit crowd
  15. John 11:47 Or doing? For this
  16. John 11:47 I.e., confirming miracles
  17. John 11:48 Possibly meaning the temple
  18. John 11:51 Lit from himself
  19. John 11:55 I.e., undergo required cleansing rituals

Lazarus Is Dead

11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Miriam and her sister Martha. This was the same Miriam who anointed the Master with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent a word to Yeshua, saying, “Master, the one you love is sick!”

When Yeshua heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. It is for God’s glory, so that Ben-Elohim may be glorified through it.” Now Yeshua loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. However, when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two more days.

Then after this, He said to His disciples, “Let’s go up to Judea again.”

“Rabbi,” the disciples say to Him, “just now the Judean leaders were trying to stone You! And You’re going back there again?”

Yeshua answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours in the day? If a man walks in the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of the world. 10 But if a man should walk around at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

11 After He said this, He tells them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m going there to wake him up.”

12 So the disciples said to Him, “Master, if he has fallen asleep, he will get better.” 13 Now Yeshua had spoken about his death, but they thought He was talking about ordinary sleep.

14 Then Yeshua told them clearly, “Lazarus is dead! 15 I’m glad for your sake I wasn’t there, so that you may believe. Anyway, let’s go to him!”

16 Then Thomas called the Twin[a] said to the other disciples, “Let’s go too, so that we may die with Him!”

Comforting the Mourners

17 So when Yeshua arrived, He discovered that Lazarus had been in the tomb already for four days. 18 Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the Judeans had come to Martha and Miriam to console them about their brother.

20 When Martha heard that Yeshua was coming, she went out to meet Him; but Miriam sat in the house. 21 Martha said to Yeshua, “Master, if You had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died! 22 But I know, even now, that whatever You may ask of God, He will give You.”

23 Yeshua said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha said to Him, “I know, he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

25 Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life! Whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

27 She says to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, Ben-Elohim who has come into the world.” 28 After she said this, she left and secretly told her sister Miriam, “The Teacher is here, and He’s calling for you.” 29 As soon as Miriam heard, she quickly got up and was coming to Him. 30 Now Yeshua had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met Him. 31 The Judeans, who were with Miriam in the house and comforting her, seeing how quickly she got up and went out, followed her. They thought she was going to the tomb to weep there.

32 So when Miriam came to where Yeshua was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died!”

33 When Yeshua saw her weeping, and the Judeans who came with her weeping, He was deeply troubled in spirit and Himself agitated. 34 “Where have you laid him?” He asked.

“Come and see, Master,” they tell Him.

35 Yeshua wept. 36 So the Judeans said, “See how He loved him!”

37 But some of them said, “Couldn’t this One, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have also kept this man from dying?”

Yeshua’s Word Raises the Dead

38 So Yeshua, again deeply troubled within Himself, comes to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Yeshua says, “Roll away the stone!”

Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to Him, “Master, by this time he stinks! He’s been dead for four days!”

40 Yeshua says to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

41 So they rolled away the stone. Yeshua lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me; but because of this crowd standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”

43 And when He had said this, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 He who had been dead came out, wrapped in burial clothes binding his hands and feet, with a cloth over his face. And Yeshua tells them, “Cut him loose, and let him go!”

Better that One Man Die

45 Therefore many of the Judeans, who had come to Miriam and had seen what Yeshua had done, put their trust in Him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Yeshua had done.

47 So the ruling kohanim and Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we doing?” they asked. “This Man is performing 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 holy place and our nation.”

49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was kohen gadol that year, said to them, “You know nothing! 50 You don’t take into account that it is better for you that one man die for the people rather than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

51 Now he did not say this by himself; but as the kohen gadol that year, he prophesied that Yeshua would die for the nation. [c] 52 And not for the nation only, but also so that He might gather together into one the scattered children of God.[d]

53 So from that day on, they plotted to kill Him. 54 Therefore Yeshua no longer walked openly among the Judeans, but went from there to the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim. He stayed there with His disciples.

55 Now the Jewish Passover was near; and many people went up out of the regions to Jerusalem before Passover, to purify themselves. 56 So they were searching for Yeshua, saying to one another as they stood in the Temple, “What do you think? Won’t He come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the ruling kohanim and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it so that they might arrest Him.

Footnotes

  1. John 11:16 Grk. Didymus.
  2. John 11:18 Lit. 15 stadia; 1 stadion is about 607 feet or 187 meters.
  3. John 11:52 cf. Is. 53:8.
  4. John 11:52 cf. Is. 11:10-11; 56:6-7; Jer. 3:17; Mic. 2:12-13.