John 11

English TL (The Living Bible) (1971)

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1Do you remember Mary, who poured the costly perfume on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair?

2Well, her brother Lazarus, who lived in Bethany with Mary and her sister Martha, was sick.

3So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Sir, your good friend is very, very sick.“

4But when Jesus heard about it he said, “The purpose of his illness is not death, but for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive glory from this situation.“

5Although Jesus was very fond of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus,

6he stayed where he was for the next two days and made no move to go to them.

7Finally, after the two days, he said to his disciples, “Let's go to Judea.“

8But his disciples objected. “Master,“ they said, “only a few days ago the Jewish leaders in Judea were trying to kill you. Are you going there again?“

9Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day, and during every hour of it a man can walk safely and not stumble.

10Only at night is there danger of a wrong step, because of the dark.“

11Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has gone to sleep, but now I will go and waken him!“

12The disciples, thinking Jesus meant Lazarus was having a good night's rest,

13said, “That means he is getting better!“ But Jesus meant Lazarus had died.

14Then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

15And for your sake, I am glad I wasn't there, for this will give you another opportunity to believe in me. Come, let's go to him.“

16Thomas, nicknamed “The Twin,“ said to his fellow disciples, “Let's go too—and die with him.“

17When they arrived at Bethany, they were told that Lazarus had already been in his tomb for four days.

18Bethany was only a couple of miles down the road from Jerusalem,

19and many of the Jewish leaders had come to pay their respects and to console Martha and Mary on their loss.

20When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed at home.

21Martha said to Jesus, “Sir, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.

22And even now it's not too late, for I know that God will bring my brother back to life again, if you will only ask him to.“

23Jesus told her, “Your brother will come back to life again.“

24“Yes,“ Martha said, “when everyone else does, on Resurrection Day.“

25Jesus told her, “I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again.

26He is given eternal life for believing in me and shall never perish. Do you believe this, Martha?“

27“Yes, Master,“ she told him. “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one we have so long awaited.“

28Then she left him and returned to Mary and, calling her aside from the mourners, told her, “He is here and wants to see you.“

29So Mary went to him at once.

30Now Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him.

31When the Jewish leaders who were at the house trying to console Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus' tomb to weep; so they followed her.

32When Mary arrived where Jesus was, she fell down at his feet, saying, “Sir, if you had been here, my brother would still be alive.“

33When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jewish leaders wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and deeply troubled.

34“Where is he buried?“ he asked them. They told him, “Come and see.“

35Tears came to Jesus' eyes.

36“They were close friends,“ the Jewish leaders said. “See how much he loved him.“

37But some said, “This fellow healed a blind man—why couldn't he keep Lazarus from dying?“

38And again Jesus was moved with deep anger. Then they came to the tomb. It was a cave with a heavy stone rolled across its door.

39“Roll the stone aside,“ Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man's sister, said, “By now the smell will be terrible, for he has been dead four days.“

40“But didn't I tell you that you will see a wonderful miracle from God if you believe?“ Jesus asked her.

41So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.

42(You always hear me, of course, but I said it because of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.)“

43Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!“

44And Lazarus came—bound up in the gravecloth, his face muffled in a head swath. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!“

45And so at last many of the Jewish leaders who were with Mary and saw it happen, finally believed on him.

46But some went away to the Pharisees and reported it to them.

47Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council to discuss the situation. “What are we going to do?“ they asked each other. “For this man certainly does miracles.

48If we let him alone the whole nation will follow him—and then the Roman army will come and kill us and take over the Jewish government.“

49And one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “You stupid idiots—

50let this one man die for the people—why should the whole nation perish?“

51This prophecy that Jesus should die for the entire nation came from Caiaphas in his position as High Priest—he didn't think of it by himself, but was inspired to say it.

52It was a prediction that Jesus' death would not be for Israel only, but for all the children of God scattered around the world.

53So from that time on the Jewish leaders began plotting Jesus' death.

54Jesus now stopped his public ministry and left Jerusalem; he went to the edge of the desert, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.

55The Passover, a Jewish holy day, was near, and many country people arrived in Jerusalem several days early so that they could go through the cleansing ceremony before the Passover began.

56They wanted to see Jesus, and as they gossiped in the Temple, they asked each other, “What do you think? Will he come for the Passover?“

57Meanwhile the chief priests and Pharisees had publicly announced that anyone seeing Jesus must report him immediately so that they could arrest him.

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