1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. 5:14
Trivia: According to Jesus in John 12:25, what must you do to gain eternal life?
11:1-161 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
A man named Lazarus was sick.
He lived in Bethany with Mary and her sister Martha.
2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
(It was Mary who anointed Jesus with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.) [1]
3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
Martha and Mary sent a message to Jesus saying,
The man you love is sick. [2]
4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
When Jesus received the message he said,
He won't die.
He is sick so that the Son of God can be glorified.
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
Jesus loved Martha, her sister Mary, and Lazarus.
6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick,
he waited two days.
7 Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judea again.
Then he said to his disciples,
Let's go to Judea again.
8His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
His disciples said,
The last time we were there, the Jews tried to stone you to death. [3] And you want to go there again?
9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
Jesus said,
Aren't there twelve hours in a day?
If you walk in the day, you won't stumble.
But if you walk at night, you will.
11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Jesus said this after he said, "Lazarus is sleeping so I can go wake him up."
12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
The disciples said,
Well, if he's sleeping, he'll be okay.
13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
But Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead, not sleeping.
14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
Then Jesus said,
Lazarus is dead.
And I'm glad, because now you'll believe. [4]
But let's go to him.
11:17-4417 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
By the time Jesus (finally) arrived,
Lazarus had been dead for four days.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
Martha said to Jesus,
Lord, if you'd been here,
my brother wouldn't have died.
But I know God will do whatever you ask him.
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
Jesus said to her,
Your brother will rise again.
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Martha said to him,
I know he'll rise in the resurrection on the last day.
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Jesus said,
I'm the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me will never die. [5]
Do you believe this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
Martha said,
Yes, Lord, I believe you're the Christ, the Son of God.
28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
Martha said to Mary in secret,
The Master is here. He wants to see you.
32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.
Mary went to Jesus, fell down at his feet, and said to him,
Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Jesus said, "Where is he?"
Mary said, "Come and see."
35 Jesus wept.
Jesus wept.
36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
The Jews said,
See how much he loved him!
He healed blind people,
couldn't he prevent this man from dying?
38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
39Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Jesus came to the grave and said,
Take away the stone.
Martha said,
He's been dead for four days. He stinks.
40Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
Jesus said,
Didn't I say to you,
"If you believe, you'll see the glory of God"?
41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
They took away the stone, and Jesus said,
Father, thanks for listening to me.
42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
I know you always hear me, but I'd like these people who are watching to believe that you've sent me. [6]
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
Then Jesus yelled,
Lazarus, come out.
44And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
After seeing these things, many Jews believed in Jesus.
46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.
But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
The chief priests and Pharisees met at a council, and said,
This man does many miracles. What should we do?
48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
If we leave him alone,
everyone will believe in him,
and the Romans will take our land away from us.
49 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,
50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;
52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
The high priest, Caiaphas, said,
It's better for one man to die for the people,
than for the nation to perish.
53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
From then on, they planned to kill Jesus.
54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.
To avoid the Jews, Jesus and his disciples went to a city called Ephraim.
55 And the Jews' passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.
56 Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast?
Since passover was coming, the Jews asked each other,
Do you think Jesus will come to the feast?
57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him.
The chief priests and the Pharisees commanded the people to tell them if anyone saw him.
See 12:3, Mt 26:6-13, Mk 16:3-7
Lararus must suffer and die (or pretend to die) so that Jesus can "be glorified" by raising him from the dead.
Jesus prays in public (contrary to his own rule in Matthew 6:5-6) just to show off in front of others, "that they may believe."
