The Death of Lazarus
1 There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived.

Jesus in Bethany
17 Jesus arrived in Bethany and found that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days.
18 Bethany was about two milesb from Jerusalem.
19 Many Jews had come to see Martha and Mary. They came to comfort them about their brother Lazarus.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to greet him. But Mary stayed home.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.”
23 Jesus said, “Your brother will rise and be alive again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know that he will rise to live again at the time of the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection. I am life. Everyone who believes in me will have life, even if they die.
26 And everyone who lives and believes in me will never really die. Martha, do you believe this?”
27 Martha answered, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God. You are the one who was coming to the world.”
Jesus Cries
28 After Martha said these things, she went back to her sister Mary. She talked to Mary alone and said, “The Teacher is here. He is asking for you.”
29 When Mary heard this, she stood up and went quickly to Jesus.
30 He had not yet come into the village. He was still at the place where Martha met him.
31 The Jews who were in the house comforting Mary saw her get up and leave quickly. They thought she was going to the tomb to cry there. So they followed her.
32 Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she bowed at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw Mary crying and the people with her crying too, he was very upset and deeply troubled.
34 He asked, “Where did you put him?”
They said, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus cried.
36 And the Jews said, “Look! He loved Lazarus very much!”
37 But some of them said, “Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man. Why didn’t he help Lazarus and stop him from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From Death
38 Again feeling very upset, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a large stone covering the entrance.
39 He said, “Move the stone away.”
Martha said, “But, Lord, it has been four days since Lazarus died. There will be a bad smell.” Martha was the sister of the dead man.
40 Then Jesus said to her, “Remember what I told you? I said that if you believed, you would see God’s divine greatness.”
41 So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me.
42 I know that you always hear me. But I said these things because of the people here around me. I want them to believe that you sent me.”
43 After Jesus said this he called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
44 The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth. He had a handkerchief covering his face.
Jesus said to the people, “Take off the cloth and let him go.”

The Jewish Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus
(Mt. 26:1–5; Mk. 14:1–2; Lk. 22:1–2)
45 There were many Jews who came to visit Mary. When they saw what Jesus did, many of them believed in him.
46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus did. 47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the high council. They said, “What should we do? This man is doing many miraculous signs.
48 If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away our Temple and our nation.”
49 One of the men there was Caiaphas. He was the high priest that year. He said, “You people know nothing!
50 It is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed. But you don’t realize this.”
51 Caiaphas did not think of this himself. As that year’s high priest, he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for the Jewish people.
52 Yes, he would die for the Jewish people. But he would also die for God’s other children scattered all over the world. He would die to bring them all together and make them one people.