The Anointing at Bethany

While(A) he was in Bethany(B) at the house of Simon the leper,[a](C) as he was reclining at the table,(D) a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head.(E) But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii[b](F) and given to the poor.”(G) And they began to scold her.

Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing(H) for me. You always have the poor(I) with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me.(J) She has done what she could; she has anointed my body(K) in advance for burial.(L) Truly I tell you,(M) wherever the gospel(N) is proclaimed in the whole world,(O) what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

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Footnotes

  1. 14:3 Gk lepros; a term for various skin diseases; see Lv 13–14
  2. 14:5 A denarius = one day’s wage

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