John 12:1-19

Evangelical Heritage Version

Mary Anoints Jesus

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, who had died, the one Jesus raised from the dead. ² They gave a dinner for him there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him.

³ Then Mary took about twelve ounces^[a] of very expensive perfume (pure nard) and anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray him, said, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii^[b] and given to the poor?” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. He held the money box and used to steal what was put into it.

⁷ Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She intended to keep this for the day of my burial. ⁸ Indeed, the poor you always have with you, but you are not always going to have me.”

⁹ A large crowd of the Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus too, ¹¹ because it was on account of him that many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.

The King Comes to Jerusalem

¹² The next day, the large crowd that had come for the Festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³ Taking palm branches, they went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel!”^[c]

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

¹⁶ At first, his disciples did not understand these things. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they did these things for him.

¹⁷ The crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead kept telling what they had seen. ¹⁸ This is another reason a crowd met him: They heard he had done this miraculous sign.

¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You are accomplishing nothing. Look! The world has gone after him.”