The Anointing at Bethany

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon,^(A) a man who had a serious skin disease, ⁷ a woman approached Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive fragrant oil. She poured it on His head as He was reclining at the table. ⁸ When the disciples^(B) saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.”

¹⁰ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for Me. ¹¹ You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.^{(C) 12} By pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she has prepared Me for burial. ¹³ I assure you: Wherever this gospel^(D) is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”