John 11

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

2Mary was the woman who had poured perfume on the Lord’s feet and dried his feet with her hair. But now her brother Lazarus was sick.

3The sisters,Mary and Martha, sent someone to tell Jesus that Lazarus was sick. Jesus loved Lazarus very much.

4When they told Jesus that Lazarus was sick, He said: ‘Lazarus will not die from this sickness. God will use this sickness to show that He is God. Then people will see that I, the Son of God, am also God. John 11: 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

6When Jesus had heard therefore that Lazuras was sick, Jesus stayed two days still in the same place where he was

7Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘We must go back to Judaea now.

8Jesus disciples said: ‘teacher, the Jews in Judea want to kill You with stones. Why do You want to go back there now?

9Jesus said: There are 12 hours in a day. If you walk in the day you will not fall because you see the light of the sun, the light of this world.

10But if you walk in the night, then you will fall because there is no light.

11Then Jesus said, Our friend Lazarus is now sleeping, but I am going there to wake him.

12The disciples said to Him: ‘Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get better.’

13They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was literally sleeping, but he really meant that Lazarus was dead.

14So then Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

15I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him

16Then Thomas, the one called Didymus (Twin) said to the other followers, we will go too. We will die there with Jesus

17Jesus arrived in Bethany and found that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days.

18Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem.

19Many Jews had come to see Martha and Mary. They came to comfort them about their brother Lazarus.

20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to greet him. But Mary stayed home

21Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would have not died.

22But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.

23Jesus said, Your brother will rise and be alive again.

24Martha answered, “I know that he will rise to live again at the time of the resurrection on the last day.

25Jesus said to Martha, I am the resurrection. I am life. Everyone who believes in me will have life, even if they die.

26And everyone who lives and believes in me will never really die. Martha, do you believe this?

27Martha said to Jesus: Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God. I believe you are the One that God has sent to the world

28After 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.”

29When Mary heard this, she stood up and went quickly to Jesus.

30He had not yet come into the village. He was still at the place where Martha met him

31The 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.

32Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When Mary saw Jesus, Mary bowed at Jesus feet and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

33When Jesus saw Mary crying and the people with her crying too, he was very upset and troubled.

34He asked, Where did you put him? They said, Lord, come and see.

35Jesus cried.

36And the Jews said, Look! Jesus loved Lazarus very much!

37But some of them said, Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man. Why didn’t he help Lazarus and stop him from dying?

38When Jesus came to the tomb, He became very sad again. The tomb was a cave and there was a stone in front of the door.

39He said, Move the stone away. Martha, sister of Lazarus said, But, Lord, it has been four days since Lazarus died. There will be a bad smell.

40Then Jesus said to Martha, Remember what I told you? I said that if you believe, and then you will see how God will shows that He is God.

41So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you heard me.

42I 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.

43After Jesus said this he called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out!

44The 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.

45A lot of Jews who had come to Mary saw how Jesus made Lazarus live again and they believed in Jesus.

46But some of the Jews went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

47The chief priests and Pharisees came together and talked. They said: What can we do? Jesus is doing more and more miracles.

48If we don’t do something to stop Jesus, all the people will believe in Him. Then the Romans will destroy our temple and our nation.

49Caiaphas was the high-priest that year. He said: You people know nothing

50You must know: It is better for one Man to die for all the people than for all the people of the nation to be destroyed

51Caiaphas did not think of this himself. As that year’s high priest, he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for the Jewish people.

52But Jesus did not die only so that the Jewish people could live. Jesus died for all the children of God, to bring together God’s children in many lands of the world.

53From that day the Jewish leaders made plans to kill Jesus.

54So Jesus stopped traveling around openly among the Jews. He went away to a town called Ephraim in an area near the desert. He stayed there with his followers.

55It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival. Many people from the country went to Jerusalem before the Passover. They went to do the special things to make themselves pure for the festival

56The people started to look for Jesus. In the temple they asked each other: What do you think? Will Jesus come to the Passover or will Jesus not?

57The chief priests and Pharisees told all the people: If you know where Jesus is, tell us. We want to arrest Him.