11A man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. ²Mary would later pour perfume on the Lord. She would also wipe his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was sick in bed. ³So the sisters sent a message to Jesus. “Lord,” they told him, “the one you love is sick.”

⁴When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory. God’s Son will receive glory because of it.”

⁵Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶But after he heard Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days.

⁷Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

⁸“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short time ago the Jews tried to kill you with stones. Are you still going back there?”

⁹Jesus answered, “Aren’t there 12 hours of daylight? A person who walks during the day won’t trip and fall. He can see because of this world’s light. ¹⁰But when he walks at night, he’ll trip and fall. He has no light.”

¹¹After he said this, Jesus went on speaking to them. “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,” he said. “But I am going there to wake him up.”

¹²His disciples replied, “Lord, if he’s sleeping, he will get better.”

¹³Jesus had been speaking about the death of Lazarus. But his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

¹⁴So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵For your benefit, I am glad I was not there. Now you will believe. But let us go to him.”

¹⁶Then Thomas, who was called Didymus, spoke to the rest of the disciples. “Let us go also,” he said. “Then we can die with Jesus.”

Jesus Comforts the Sisters

¹⁷When Jesus arrived, he found out that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

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