Book of Common Prayer
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I celebrate my particular ministry, 14 so that, if possible, I can make my “flesh” jealous, and save some of them. 15 If their casting away, you see, means reconciliation for the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
The two olive trees
16 Take another illustration: if the first fruits are holy, so is the whole lump.
And another: if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you—a wild olive tree!—were grafted in among them, and came to share in the root of the olive with its rich sap, 18 don’t boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember this: it isn’t you that supports the root, but the root that supports you.
19 I know what you’ll say next: “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 That’s all very well. They were broken off because of unbelief—but you stand firm by faith. Don’t get big ideas about it; instead, be afraid. 21 After all, if God didn’t spare the natural branches, there’s a strong possibility he won’t spare you.
22 Note carefully, then, that God is both kind and severe. He is severe to those who have fallen, but he is kind to you, provided you continue in his kindness—otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And they, too, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted back in. God is able, you see, to graft them back in. 24 For if you were cut out of what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will they, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
The death of Lazarus
11 There was a man in Bethany named Lazarus, and he became ill. Bethany was the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This was the Mary who anointed the Lord with myrrh, and wiped his feet with her hair. Lazarus, who was ill, was her brother.)
3 So the sisters sent messengers to Jesus.
“Master,” they said, “the man you love is ill.”
4 When Jesus got the message, he said, “This illness won’t lead to death. It’s all about the glory of God! The son of God will be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed where he was for two days.
7 Then, after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go back to Judaea.”
8 “Teacher,” replied the disciples, “the Judaeans were trying to stone you just now! Surely you don’t want to go back there!”
9 “There are twelve hours in the day, aren’t there?” replied Jesus. “If you walk in the day, you won’t trip up, because you’ll see the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, they will trip up, because there is no light in them.”
11 When he had said this, Jesus added: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I’m going to wake him up.”
12 “Master,” replied the disciples, “if he’s asleep, he’ll be all right.”
13 (They thought he was referring to ordinary sleep; but Jesus had in fact been speaking of his death.)
14 Then Jesus spoke to them plainly.
“Lazarus,” he said, “is dead. 15 Actually, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for your sakes; it will help your faith. But let’s go to him.”
16 Thomas, whose name was the Twin, addressed the other disciples.
“Let’s go too,” he said. “We may as well die with him.”
The resurrection and the life
17 So when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 Many of the Judaeans had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, she went to meet him. Mary, meanwhile, stayed sitting at home.
21 “Master!” said Martha to Jesus. “If only you’d been here! Then my brother wouldn’t have died! 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask him.”
23 “Your brother will rise again,” replied Jesus.
24 “I know he’ll rise again,” said Martha, “in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 “I am the resurrection and the life,” replied Jesus. “Anyone who believes in me will live, even if they die. 26 And anyone who lives and believes in me will never, ever die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Master,” she said. “This is what I’ve come to believe: that you are the Messiah, the son of God, the one who was to come into the world.”
Mary and her ointment
12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany. Lazarus was there, the man he had raised from the dead. 2 So they made a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was among the company at table with him.
3 Then Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the smell of the perfume.
4 At this, Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him), spoke up.
5 “Why wasn’t this ointment sold?” he asked. “It would have fetched a year’s wages! You could have given it to the poor!”
6 (He didn’t say this because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. He kept the common purse, and used to help himself to what was in it.)
7 “Let her alone,” replied Jesus. “She’s been keeping it for the day of my burial! 8 You always have the poor with you, but you won’t always have me.”
Jesus enters Jerusalem
9 When the great crowd of Judaeans discovered that Jesus was there, they came to Bethany not just because of Jesus, but to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus as well,
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.