John 12:1–19

Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany

12Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²So they made him a dinner there, and Martha was serving, but Lazarus was one of the ones reclining at table with him. ³Then Mary took a pound^a of ointment of very valuable genuine nard and^* anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) said, ⁵“Why^b was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” ⁶(Now he said this not because he was concerned^c about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, he used to steal what was put into it.)^{* 7}So Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my preparation for burial. ⁸For you have the poor with you always, but you do not always have me.”

The Decision to Kill Lazarus

⁹Now a large crowd^d of Jews found out that he was there, and they came, not only because of Jesus, but so that they could see Lazarus also, whom he raised from the dead. ¹⁰So the chief priests decided that they would kill Lazarus also, ¹¹because on account of him many of the Jews were going and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹²On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they^* heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³took the branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, and began crying out,

“Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,^e

even the king of Israel!”

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

¹⁵“Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion!

Behold, your king is coming,

seated on the foal of a donkey!”^f

¹⁶(His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and they did these things to him.) ¹⁷So the crowd who was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were continuing to testify. ¹⁸Because of this also the crowd went to meet him, for they had heard that he had performed this sign. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing! Behold, the world has gone after him.”