John 11:1-16:33 Now a man named Lazarus, of Bethany, was lying ill; he belonged to the same village as Mary and her sister Martha.

Twentieth_Century⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Now a man named Lazarus, of Bethany, was lying ill; he belonged to the same village as Mary and her sister Martha. ² This Mary, whose brother Lazarus was ill, was the Mary who anointed the Master with perfume, and wiped his feet with her hair. ³ The sisters, therefore, sent this message to Jesus--'Master, your friend is ill'; ⁴ And, when Jesus heard it, he said: "This illness is not to end in death, but is to redound to the honor of God, in order that the Son of God may be honored through it." ⁵ Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus. ⁶ Yet, when he heard of the illness of Lazarus, he still stayed two days in the place where he was. ⁷ Then, after that, he said to his disciples: "Let us go to Judea again." ⁸ "Rabbi," they replied, "the Jews were but just now seeking to stone you; and are you going there again?" ⁹ "Are not there twelve hours in the day?" answered Jesus. "If a man walks about in the day-time, he does not stumble, because he can see the light of the sun; ¹⁰ But, if he walks about at night, he stumbles, because he has not the light." ¹¹ And, when he had said this, he added: "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going that I may wake him." ¹² "If he has fallen asleep, Master, he will get well," said the disciples. ¹³ But Jesus meant that he was dead; they, however, supposed that he was speaking of natural sleep. ¹⁴ Then he said to them plainly: "Lazarus is dead; ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may learn to believe in me. But let us go to him." ¹⁶ At this, Thomas, who was called 'The Twin,' said to his fellow-disciples: "Let us go too, so that we may die with him." ¹⁷ When Jesus reached the place, he found that Lazarus had been four days in the tomb already. ¹⁸ Bethany being only about two miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁹ A number of the Jews had come there to condole with Martha and Mary on their brother's death. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat quietly at home. ²¹ "Master," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² Even now, I know that God will grant you whatever you ask him." ²³ "Your brother shall rise to life," said Jesus. ²⁴ "I know that he will," replied Martha, "in the resurrection at the Last Day." ²⁵ "I am the Resurrection and the Life," said Jesus. "He that believes in me shall live, though he die; ²⁶ And he who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" ²⁷ "Yes Master," she answered; "I have learned to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, 'who was to come' into the world." ²⁸ After saying this, Martha went and called her sister Mary, and whispered: "The Teacher is here, and is asking for you." ²⁹ As soon as Mary heard that, she got up quickly, and went to meet him. ³⁰ Jesus had not then come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ So the Jews, who were in the house with Mary, condoling with her, when they saw her get up quickly and go out, followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she threw herself at his feet. "Master," she exclaimed, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died!" ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her weeping also, he groaned deeply, and was greatly distressed. ³⁴ "Where have you buried him?" he asked. "Come and see, Master," they answered. ³⁵ Jesus burst into tears. ³⁶ "How he must have loved him!" the Jews exclaimed; ³⁷ But some of them said: "Could not this man, who gave sight to the blind man, have also prevented Lazarus from dying?" ³⁸ Again groaning inwardly, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against the mouth of it. ³⁹ "Move the stone away," said Jesus. "Master," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time the smell must be offensive, for this is the fourth day since his death." ⁴⁰ "Did not I tell you," replied Jesus, "that, if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?" ⁴¹ So they moved the stone away; and Jesus, with uplifted eyes, said: "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard my prayer; ⁴² I know that thou always headrest me; but I say this for the sake of the people standing near, so that they may believe that thou has sent me as thy Messenger." ⁴³ Then, after saying this, Jesus called in a loud voice: "Lazarus! come out!" ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, wrapped hand and foot in a winding- sheet; his face, too, had been wrapped in a cloth. "Set him free," said Jesus, "and let him go." ⁴⁵ In consequence of this, many of the Jews, who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, learned to believe in him. ⁴⁶ Some of them, however, went to the Pharisees, and told them what he had done. ⁴⁷ Upon this the Chief Priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the High Council, and said: "What are we to do, now that this man is giving so many signs? ⁴⁸ If we let him alone as we are doing, every one will believe in him; and the Romans will come and will take from us both our City and our Nationality." ⁴⁹ One of them, however, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said to them: ⁵⁰ "You are utterly mistaken. You do not consider that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, rather than the whole nation should be destroyed." ⁵¹ Now he did not say this of his own accord; but, as High Priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation-- ⁵² And not for the nation only, but also that he might unite in one body the Children of God now scattered far and wide. ⁵³ So from that day they plotted to put Jesus to death. ⁵⁴ In consequence of this, Jesus did not go about publicly among the Jews any more, but left that neighborhood, and went into the country bordering on the Wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. ⁵⁵ But the Jewish Festival of the Passover was near; and many people had gone up from the country to Jerusalem, for their 'purification,' before the Festival began. ⁵⁶ So they looked for Jesus there, and said to one another, as they stood in the Temple Courts: "What do you think? Do you think he will come to the Festival?" ⁵⁷ The Chief Priests and the Pharisees had already issued orders that, if any one learned where Jesus was, he should give information, so that they might arrest him. ¹² ¹ Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead, was living. ² There a supper was given in honor at which Martha waited, while Lazarus was one of those present at the table. ³ So Mary took a pound of choice spikenard perfume of great value, and anointed the feet of Jesus with it, and then wiped them with her hair. The whole house was filled with the scent of the perfume. ⁴ One of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was about to betray Jesus, asked: ⁵ "Why was not this perfume sold for thirty pounds, and the money given to poor people?" ⁶ He said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and, being in charge of the purse, used to take what was put in it. ⁷ "Let her alone," said Jesus, "that she may keep it till the day when my body is being prepared for burial. ⁸ The poor you always have with you, but you will not always have me." ⁹ Now great numbers of the Jews found out that Jesus was at Bethany; and they came there, not solely on his account, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ The Chief Priests, however, plotted to put Lazarus, as well as Jesus, to death, ¹¹ Because it was owing to him that many of the Jews had left them, and were becoming believers in Jesus. ¹² On the following day great numbers of people who had come to the Festival, hearing that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, took palm-branches, ¹³ And went out to meet him, shouting as they went: "'God save Him! Blessed is He who Comes in the name of the Lord'--The King of Israel!" ¹⁴ Having found a young ass, Jesus seated himself on it, in accordance with the passage of Scripture-- ¹⁵ 'Fear not, Daughter of Zion; Behold, thy King is coming to thee, Sitting on the foal of an ass.' ¹⁶ His disciples did not understand all this at first; but, when Jesus had been exalted, then they remembered that these things had been said of him in Scripture, and that they had done these things for him. ¹⁷ Meanwhile the people who were with him, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, were telling what they had seen. ¹⁸ This, indeed, was why the crowd met him--because people had heard that he had given this sign of his mission. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another: "You see that you are gaining nothing! Why, all the world has run after him!" ²⁰ Among those who were going up to worship at the Festival were some Greeks, ²¹ Who went to Philip of Bethsaida in Galilee, and said: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." ²² Philip went and told Andrew, and then together they went and told Jesus. ²³ This was his reply-- "The time has come for the Son of Man to be exalted. ²⁴ In truth I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains solitary; but, if it dies, it becomes fruitful. ²⁵ He who loves his life loses it; while he who hates his life in the present world shall preserve it for Immortal Life. ²⁶ If a man is ready to serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there my servant shall be also. If a man is ready to serve me, my Father will honor him. ²⁷ Now I am distressed at heart and what can I say? Father, bring me safe through this hour--yet it was for this very reason that I came to this hour-- ²⁸ Father, honor thine own name." At this there came a voice from Heaven, which said: "I have already honored it, and I will honor it again." ²⁹ The crowd of bystanders, who heard the sound, said that it was thundering. Others said: "An angel has been speaking to him." ³⁰ "It was not for my sake that the voice came," said Jesus, "but for yours. ³¹ Now this world is on its trial. Now the Spirit that is ruling this world shall be driven out; ³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, shall draw all men to myself." ³³ By these words he indicated what death he was destined to die. ³⁴ "We," replied the people, "have learned from the Law that the 'Christ is to remain for ever'; how is it, then, that you say that the Son of Man must be 'lifted up' Who is this 'Son of Man'?" ³⁵ "Only a little while longer," answered Jesus, "will you have the Light among you. Travel on while you have the Light, so that darkness may not overtake you; he who travels in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you still have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may be 'Sons of Light.'" After he had said this, Jesus went away, and hid himself from them. ³⁷ But, though Jesus had given so many signs of his mission before their eyes, they still did not believe in him, ³⁸ In fulfillment of the words of the Prophet Isaiah, where he says--'Lord, who has believed our teaching? And to whom has the might of the Lord been revealed?' ³⁹ The reason why they were unable to believe is given by Isaiah elsewhere, in these words-- ⁴⁰ 'He has blinded their eyes, and blunted their mind, so that they should not see with their eyes, and perceive with their mind, and turn--And I should heal them.' ⁴¹ Isaiah said this, because he saw Christ's glory; and it was of him that he spoke. ⁴² Yet for all this, even among the leading men there were many who came to believe in Jesus; but, on account of the Pharisees, they did not acknowledge it, for fear that they should be expelled from their Synagogues; ⁴³ For they valued honor from men more than honor from God. ⁴⁴ But Jesus had proclaimed: "He who believes in me believes, not in me, but in him who sent me; ⁴⁵ And he who sees me sees him who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as a Light into the world, that no one who believes in me should remain in the darkness. ⁴⁷ When any one hears my teaching and pays no heed to it, I am not his judge; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ He who rejects me, and disregards my teaching, has a judge already--the very Message which I have delivered will itself be his judge at the Last Day. ⁴⁹ For I have not delivered it on my own authority; but the Father, who sent me, has himself given me his command as to what I should say, and what message I should deliver. ⁵⁰ And I know that Immortal Life lies in keeping his command. Therefore, whatever I say, I say only what the Father has taught me." ¹³ ¹ Before the Passover Festival began, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave the world and go to the Father. He had loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them to the last. ² The Devil had already put the thought of betraying Jesus into the mind of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon; ³ And at supper, Jesus--although knowing that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God, and was to return to God-- ⁴ Rose from his place, and, taking off his upper garments, tied a towel round his waist. ⁵ He then poured some water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel which was tied round him. ⁶ When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said: "You, Master! Are you going to wash my feet?" ⁷ "You do not understand now what I am doing," replied Jesus, "but you will learn by and by." ⁸ "You shall never wash my feet!" exclaimed Peter. "Unless I wash you," answered Jesus, "you have nothing in common with me." ⁹ "Then, Master, not my feet only," exclaimed Simon Peter, "but also my hands and my head." ¹⁰ "He who has bathed," replied Jesus, "has no need to wash, unless it be his feet, but is altogether clean; and you," he said to the disciples, "are clean, yet not all of you." ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said 'You are not all clean.' ¹² When he had washed their feet, and had put on his upper garments and taken his place, he spoke to them again. "Do you understand what I have been doing to you?" he asked. ¹³ "You yourselves call me 'the Teacher' and 'the Master', and you are right, for I am both. ¹⁴ If I, then--'the Master' and 'the Teacher'--have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet; ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, so that you may do just as I have done to you. ¹⁶ In truth I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor yet a messenger than the man who sends him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, happy are you if you do them. ¹⁸ I am not speaking about all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but this is in fulfillment of the words of Scripture--'He that is eating my bread has lifted his heel against me.' ¹⁹ For the future I shall tell you of things before they take place, so that, when they take place, you may believe that I am what I am. ²⁰ In truth I tell you, he who receives any one that I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me." ²¹ After saying this, Jesus was much troubled, and said solemnly: "In truth I tell you that it is one of you who will betray me." ²² The disciples looked at one another, wondering whom he meant. ²³ Next to Jesus, in the place on his right hand, was one of his disciples, whom he loved. ²⁴ So Simon Peter made signs to that disciple, and whispered: "Tell me who it is that he means." ²⁵ Being in this position, that disciple leant back on Jesus' shoulder, and asked him: "Who is it, Master?" ²⁶ "It is the one," answered Jesus, "to whom I shall give a piece of bread after dipping it in the dish." And, when Jesus had dipped the bread, he took it and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot; ²⁷ And it was then, after he had received it, that Satan took possession of him. So Jesus said to him: "Do at once what you are going to do." ²⁸ But no one at table understood why he said this to Judas. ²⁹ Some thought that, as Judas kept the purse, Jesus meant that he was to buy some things needed for the Festival, or to give something to the poor. ³⁰ After taking the piece of bread, Judas went out immediately; and it was night. ³¹ When Judas had gone out, Jesus said: "Now the Son of Man has been exalted, and God has been exalted through him; ³² And God will exalt him with himself--yes, he will exalt him forthwith. ³³ My children, I am to be with you but a little while longer. You will look for me; and what I said to the Jews--'You cannot come where I am going'--I now say to you. ³⁴ I give you a new commandment--Love one another; love one another as I have loved you. ³⁵ It is by this that every one will recognize you as my disciples--by your loving one another." ³⁶ "Where are you going, Master?" asked Peter. "I am going where you cannot now follow me," answered Jesus, "but you shall follow me later." ³⁷ "Why cannot I follow you now, Master?" asked Peter. "I will lay down my life for you." ³⁸ "Will you lay down your life for me?" replied Jesus. "In truth I tell you, the cock will not crow till you have disowned me three times. ¹⁴ ¹ Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father's Home there are many dwellings. If it had not been so, I should have told you, for I am going to prepare a place for you. ³ And, since I go and prepare a place for you, I shall return and take you to be with me, so that you may be where I am; ⁴ And you know the way to the place where I am going." ⁵ "We do not know where you are going, Master," said Thomas; "so how can we know the way?" ⁶ Jesus answered: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one ever comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had recognized me, you would have known my Father also; for the future you will recognize him, indeed you have already seen him." ⁸ "Master, show us the Father," said Philip, "and we shall be satisfied." ⁹ "Have I been all this time among you," said Jesus, "and yet you, Philip, have not recognized me? He who has seen me has seen the Father, how can you say, then, 'Show us the Father'? ¹⁰ Do not you believe that I am in union with the Father, and the Father with me? In giving you my teaching I am not speaking on my own authority; but the Father himself, always in union with me, does his own work. ¹¹ Believe me," he said to them all, "when I say that I am in union with the Father and the Father with me, or else believe me on account of the work itself. ¹² In truth I tell you, he who believes in me will himself do the work that I am doing; and he will do greater work still, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask, in my Name, I will do, that the Father may be honored in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask anything, in my Name, I will do it. ¹⁵ If you love me, you will lay my commands to heart, ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you always--the Spirit of Truth. ¹⁷ The world cannot receive this Spirit, because it does not see him or recognize him, but you recognize him, because he is always with you, and is within you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you bereaved; I will come to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will see me no more, but you will still see me; because I am living, you will be living also. ²⁰ At that time you will recognize that I am in union with the Father, and you with me, and I with you. ²¹ It is he who has my commands and lays them to heart that loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him." ²² "What has happened, Master," said Judas (not Judas Iscariot), "that you are going to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?" ²³ "Whoever loves me," Jesus answered, " will lay my Message to heart; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. ²⁴ He who does not love me will not lay my Message to heart; and the Message to which you are listening is not my own, but that of the Father who sent me. ²⁵ I have told you all this while still with you, ²⁶ But the Helper--the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my Name--he will teach you all things, and will recall to your minds all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace be with you! My own peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, or dismayed. ²⁸ You heard me say that I was going away and would return to you. Had you loved me, you would have been glad that I was going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ And this I have told you now before it happens, that, when it does happen, you may still believe in me. ³⁰ I shall not talk with you much more, for the Spirit that is ruling the world is coming. He has nothing in common with me; ³¹ But he is coming that the world may see that I love the Father, and that I do as the Father commanded me. Come, let us be going. ¹⁵ ¹ I am the True Vine, and my Father is the Vine-grower. ² Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the Message that I have given you. ⁴ Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me. ⁵ I am the Vine, you are the branches. He that remains united to me, while I remain united to him--he bears fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me. ⁶ If any one does not remain united to me, he is thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt. ⁷ If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. ⁸ It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honored. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father's commands to heart and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete. ¹² This is my command--Love one another, as I have loved you. ¹³ No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ And you are my friends, if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ I no longer call you 'servants,' because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have given you the name of 'friends,' because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father. ¹⁶ It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name. ¹⁷ I am giving you these commands that you may love one another. ¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world--that is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I said to you--'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my Message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also. ²¹ But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my Name, for they do not know him who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ And so is fulfilled what is said in their Law--'They hated me without cause.' ²⁶ But, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father--he will bear testimony to me; ²⁷ Yes, and you also are to bear testimony, because you have been with me from the first. ¹⁶ ¹ I have spoken to you in this way so that you may not falter. ² They will expel you from their Synagogues; indeed the time is coming when any one who kills you will think that he is making an offering to God. ³ They will do this, because they have not learned to know the Father, or even me. ⁴ But I have spoken to you of these things that, when the time for them comes, you may remember that I told you about them myself. ⁵ I did not tell you all this at first, because I was with you. But now I am to return to him who sent me; and yet not one of you asks me--'Where are you going?' ⁶ Although your hearts are full of sorrow at all that I have been saying to you. ⁷ Yet I am only telling you the truth; it is for your good that I should go away. For otherwise the Helper will never come to you, but, if I leave you, I will send him to you. ⁸ And he, when he comes, will bring conviction to the world as to Sin, and as to Righteousness, and as to Judgment; ⁹ As to Sin, for men do not believe in me; ¹⁰ As to Righteousness, for I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ As to Judgment, for the Spirit that is ruling this world has been condemned. ¹² I have still much to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. ¹³ Yet when he--The Spirit of Truth--comes, he will guide you into all Truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of all that he hears; and he will tell you of the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will honor me; because he will take of what is mine, and will tell it to you. ¹⁵ Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said that he takes of what is mine, and will tell it to you. ¹⁶ In a little while you will no longer see me; and then in a little while you will see me indeed." ¹⁷ At this some of his disciples said to one another: "What does he mean by saying to us 'In a little while you will not see me, and then in a little while you will see me indeed'; and by saying 'Because I am going to the Father'? ¹⁸ What does he mean by 'In a little while'?" they said; "we do not know what he is speaking about." ¹⁹ Jesus saw that they were wanting to ask him a question, and said: "Are you trying to find out from one another what I meant by saying 'In a little while you will not see me; and then in a little while you will see me indeed'? ²⁰ In truth I tell you that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will suffer pain, but your pain shall turn to joy. ²¹ A woman in labor is in pain because her time has come; but no sooner is the child born, than she forgets her trouble in her joy that a man has been born into the world. ²² You, in the same way, are sorry now; but I shall see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will rob you of your joy. ²³ And at that time you will not ask me anything; in truth I tell you, if you ask the Father for anything, he will grant it to you in my Name. ²⁴ So far you have not asked for anything, in my Name; ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. ²⁵ I have spoken to you of all this in figures; a time is coming, however, when I shall not speak any longer to you in figures, but shall tell you about the Father plainly. ²⁶ You will ask, at that time, in my Name; and I do not say that I will intercede with the Father for you; ²⁷ For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from the Father. ²⁸ I came out from the Father, and have come into the world; and now I am to leave the world, and go to the Father." ²⁹ "At last," exclaimed the disciples, "you are using plain words and not speaking in figures at all. ³⁰ Now we are sure that you know everything, and need not wait for any one to question you. This makes us believe that you did come from God." ³¹ "Do you believe that already?" Jesus answered. ³² "Listen! a time is coming--indeed it has already come--when you are to be scattered, each going his own way, and to leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. ³³ I have spoken to you in this way, so that in me you may find peace. In the world you will find trouble; yet, take courage! I have conquered the world."