John 11:1–17

The Death of Lazarus

11Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany,^s the village of Mary and her sister Martha.^{t 2}(This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)^{u 3}So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love^v is sick.”

⁴When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory^w so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” ⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, ⁷and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”^x

⁸“But Rabbi,”^y they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you,^z and yet you are going back?”

⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light.^{a 10}It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

¹¹After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend^b Lazarus has fallen asleep;^c but I am going there to wake him up.”

¹²His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” ¹³Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.^d

¹⁴So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

¹⁶Then Thomas^e (also known as Didymus^a) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

¹⁷On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.^f