John 11
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Lazarus Dies at Bethany
11 Now a man was ill – Lazarus from Bethany,(A) the village of Mary and her sister Martha.(B) 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair,(C) and it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to him: ‘Lord, the one you love is ill.’
4 When Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God,(D) so that the Son of God(E) may be glorified through it.’ 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. 7 Then after that, he said to the disciples, ‘Let’s go to Judea(F) again.’
8 ‘Rabbi,’(G) the disciples told him, ‘just now the Jews tried to stone you,(H) and you’re going there again? ’
9 ‘Aren’t there twelve hours in a day? ’ Jesus answered. ‘If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.(I) 10 But if anyone walks during the night,(J) he does stumble, because the light is not in him.’
11 He said this, and then he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,(K) but I’m on my way to wake him up.’
12 Then the disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.’
13 Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. 14 So Jesus then told them plainly, ‘Lazarus has died. 15 I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.’
16 Then Thomas(L) (called ‘Twin’[a]) said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let’s go too so that we may die with him.’
The Resurrection and the Life
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb(M) for four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem(N) (less than three kilometres[b] away). 19 Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.
20 As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.’
23 ‘Your brother will rise(O) again,’ Jesus told her.
24 Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’(P)
25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am(Q) the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me,(R) even if he dies, will live.(S) 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.(T) Do you believe this? ’
27 ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him, ‘I believe you are the Messiah,(U) the Son(V) of God, who comes into the world.’(W)
Jesus Shares the Sorrow of Death
28 Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’
29 As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.(X) 30 Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb(Y) to cry there.
32 As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet(Z) and told him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died! ’
33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved[c] in his spirit(AA) and troubled. 34 ‘Where have you put him? ’ he asked.
‘Lord,’ they told him, ‘come and see.’
35 Jesus wept.(AB)
36 So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved(AC) him! ’ 37 But some of them said, ‘Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyes(AD) also have kept this man from dying? ’
The Seventh Sign: Raising Lazarus from the Dead
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.(AE) 39 ‘Remove the stone,’ Jesus said.
Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, ‘Lord, there is already a stench because he has been dead for four days.’
40 Jesus said to her, ‘Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory(AF) of God? ’(AG)
41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank(AH) you that you heard me.(AI) 42 I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so that they may believe you sent(AJ) me.’ 43 After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out! ’ 44 The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unwrap him and let him go.’
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him.(AK) 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees(AL) and told them what Jesus had done.
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin(AM) and were saying, ‘What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans(AN) will come and take away both our place and our nation.’
49 One of them, Caiaphas,(AO) who was high priest(AP) that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! 50 You’re not considering that it is to your[d] advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.’(AQ) 51 He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die(AR) for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children(AS) of God. 53 So from that day on they plotted to kill him.(AT)
54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly(AU) among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness,(AV) to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with the disciples.
55 Now the Jewish Passover(AW) was near, and many went up to Jerusalem(AX) from the country to purify themselves before the Passover. 56 They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple,(AY) ‘What do you think? He won’t come to the festival,(AZ) will he? ’ 57 The chief priests(BA) and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him.
John 11
EasyEnglish Bible
Lazarus dies
11 There was a certain man, who was called Lazarus. He lived at Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived too. He became ill. 2 It was this Mary who had poured oil with a nice smell over the feet of the Lord Jesus. Then she had cleaned his feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus to say, ‘Lord, the friend that you love is ill.’
4 Jesus heard the message. Then he said, ‘This illness will not finish with Lazarus's death. No, its purpose is to show how great God is. Because of this, people will see how great God's Son is.’ 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and their brother Lazarus, too. 6 He heard the news that Lazarus was ill. But then he stayed in the place where he was for two more days.
7 After that, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘We should return to Judea.’ 8 The disciples said, ‘Teacher, only a short time ago, the Jews there tried to kill you with stones. You should not return there!’ 9 Jesus answered, ‘You know that there are 12 hours in the day. Anyone who walks during the day will not fall down. He will not fall down because he sees this world's light. 10 But anyone who walks during the night will fall down. He will fall down because he has no light.’
11 After Jesus said that, he said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus is sleeping. But I will go there to wake him up.’ 12 So the disciples said to him, ‘If he is sleeping, Lord, he will get well again.’ 13 The disciples thought that Jesus was talking about sleep as rest. But Jesus meant that Lazarus had died. 14 So then, Jesus told them clearly, ‘Lazarus is dead. 15 But I am happy that I was not there with him. I am happy about that because it will help you. Now you will believe in me. We must go to him now.’ 16 Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to the other disciples, ‘We should go with our Teacher, so that we can die with him!’[a]
Jesus is able to give life to dead people
17 Jesus arrived at Bethany. He discovered that Lazarus had already been in the grave for four days. 18 Bethany was about 3 kilometres from Jerusalem. 19 Many Jews had come there to visit Martha and Mary. They wanted to help Martha and Mary because their brother had died.
20 Martha heard the news that Jesus was coming. So she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house with the visitors. 21 Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now, I know that God will answer you. He will do whatever you ask him.’ 23 Jesus told her, ‘Your brother will rise and become alive again.’ 24 Martha replied, ‘I know that he will rise on the last day, to become alive again.’ 25 Jesus said to her, ‘I have authority over death. I raise dead people, and I give people true life. Anyone who believes in me will live. Even if that person dies, he will continue to live. 26 People who believe in me while they are alive will never die. Do you believe that?’ 27 Martha answered, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah. You are God's Son, the one that God promised to send into the world.’
28 After this, Martha went back to the house. She took Mary to speak to her on her own. Martha said to her, ‘The Teacher is here, and he is asking to meet you.’ 29 When Mary heard this, she got up immediately. She went out to meet Jesus. 30 Jesus had not arrived in the village yet. He was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 There were still Jews in the house who were with Mary to help her. They saw her get up quickly and go out. So they followed her. They thought that she was going to the place where they had put Lazarus's dead body. They thought that she wanted to go there to weep.
32 Mary arrived at the place where Jesus was. When she saw Jesus, she bent down low at his feet. She said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ 33 Jesus saw that Mary was weeping. He saw that the Jews who had come with her were weeping too. When Jesus saw them, he felt very sad in his spirit. He was upset about Lazarus's death. 34 He asked them, ‘Where have you put his dead body?’ They answered, ‘Come and see, Lord.’ 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said to each other, ‘See how much he loved Lazarus!’ 37 But some of them said, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man. So surely he would have been able to stop the death of Lazarus.’
Jesus makes Lazarus alive again
38 Jesus arrived at the grave where they had put Lazarus's dead body. It was a cave. A large stone covered the front of the hole. Again, Jesus felt very upset. 39 He said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha, the dead man's sister, said to Jesus, ‘But Lord, by now his dead body will have a bad smell. He has been dead for four days!’ 40 Jesus said to her, ‘I told you already that you must believe in me. Then you will see how great and how powerful God is.’ 41 So they moved the stone away. Jesus looked up towards the sky. He said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. 42 I know that you listen to me always. But I said this to help all the people who are standing here. I want them to believe that you sent me.’ 43 When Jesus had said this, he shouted with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 44 The dead man came out. There were pieces of cloth round his hands and round his feet. Another piece of cloth was round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Undo the cloths and let him go.’
The Pharisees decide how to kill Jesus
45 The Jews who had come to visit Mary saw this. They saw what Jesus did. So many of them believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. 47 Then the Pharisees and the leaders of the priests had a meeting with the group of Jewish leaders. They asked each other, ‘What will we do? This man is doing so many miracles. 48 If we let him do more things like this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman rulers will come and punish us.[b] Their soldiers will destroy our temple and even destroy our whole country of Israel.’
49 One of the group was the leader of the priests that year. He was called Caiaphas. He said, ‘You do not understand the problem. 50 It is better that one man should die on behalf of our people. That is better than if all Israel's people should die.’ 51 Caiaphas did not say this because he had thought it by himself. No, he was speaking as a prophet, because he was the leader of the priests that year. That is why he said that Jesus would die on behalf of Israel's people. 52 And Jesus would die not only for Israel's people. He would also die for all God's people who lived in many different places. He would bring them all together. They would become like one big family.
53 From that day, the Jewish leaders decided together how they could kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus stopped travelling about in Judea where everyone could see him. Instead, he went away from there to a town called Ephraim that was near to the wilderness. He stayed there with his disciples.
55 It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Festival to begin. Many people were going from their country places to Jerusalem. They were going there to make themselves clean in front of God before they went to the festival. 56 They were continuing to look for Jesus. While they stood in the yard of the temple, they spoke to each other about him. They asked each other, ‘Do you think that he will come to the festival or not?’ 57 The leaders of the priests and the Pharisees had spoken to the people about Jesus. They had told them, ‘If anyone knows where Jesus is, you must tell us.’ So then they could take hold of him to put him in a prison.
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