55 Now ethe Passover of the Jews was at hand, and fmany went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover gto purify themselves. 56 hThey were looking for1 Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany
1 Six days before ithe Passover, jJesus therefore came to Bethany, kwhere Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. lMartha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
3 bAnd while he was at cBethany in the house of Simon the leper,1 as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.
3 mMary therefore took a pound1 of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii1 and ngiven to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and nhaving charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it2 for the day of my burial.
6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For fyou always have the poor with you, and whenever gyou want, you can do good for them. But hyou will not always have me. 8 iShe has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand jfor burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever kthe gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told lin memory of her.”
The Plot to Kill Lazarus
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus1 was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, owhom he had raised from the dead. 10 pSo the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because qon account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
