John 12:1–19

THE ANOINTING AT BETHANY

12Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany^o where Lazarus^A was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead.^{p 2}So^q they gave a dinner for him there; Martha^r was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. ³Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair.^s So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot^t (who was about to betray him), said, ⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii^Bu and given to the poor?” ⁶He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief.^v He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.

⁷Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial.^{w 8}For you always have the poor with you,^x but you do not always have me.”

THE DECISION TO KILL LAZARUS

⁹Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.^{y 10}But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, ¹¹because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them^C and believing in Jesus.

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

¹²The^z next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³they took palm branches^aa and went out to meet him. They kept shouting:

“Hosanna!^ab

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord^Dac —the King of Israel!”^ad

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey^ae and sat on it, just as it is written:

¹⁵Do not be afraid,^af

Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming,

sitting on a donkey’s colt.^Eag

¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him^ah and that they had done these things to him.

¹⁷Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb^ai and raised him from the dead, continued to testify.^{F 18}This is also why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”^aj