John 11
1 Now a man named Lazarus, of Bethany, was lying ill; he belonged to the same village as Mary and her sister Martha.
[One time] there was a man whose name was Lazarus who was [very] sick. He lived in Bethany [village], where his [older] sisters Mary and Martha also lived.
2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus was ill, was the Mary who anointed the Master with perfume, and wiped his feet with her hair.
Mary was the woman who [later] poured perfume on the feet of the Lord [Jesus], and then wiped his feet with her hair.
3 The sisters, therefore, sent this message to Jesus – “Master, your friend is ill”;
So the two sisters sent [someone to tell] Jesus [about Lazarus], saying, “Lord, the one you love [very much] is very sick.”
4 and, when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness is not to end in death, but is to redound to the honour of God, in order that the Son of God may be honoured through it.’
[They hoped that Jesus would come], but when Jesus heard the message, he said, “His being sick will not end in his dying. Instead, it will result in [people realizing] how great God is, and that I, God’s son, may be honored {that people may honor me, God’s son}, because of [what I will do].”
5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.
Jesus loved Martha and her [younger] sister [Mary] and Lazarus.
6 Yet, when he heard of the illness of Lazarus, he still stayed two days in the place where he was.
But when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed [where he was] for two more days.
7 Then, after that, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’
But Jesus [wanted to see Lazarus]. So he said to us disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”
8 ‘Rabbi,’ they replied, ‘the authorities there were but just now seeking to stone you; and are you going there again?’
We said, “Teacher, just a short while ago the Jewish [leaders] [SYN] wanted to [kill you by] throwing stones at you. So ([we think that you should not] go back there again!/[are you sure that you want to] go back there again?) [RHQ]”
9 ‘Are not there twelve hours in the day?’ answered Jesus. ‘If someone walks about in the daytime, they don’t stumble, because they can see the light of the sun;
[To show us that nothing bad could happen to him until the time that God had chosen] [MET], Jesus replied, “There are [RHQ] twelve hours in the daytime, [which is enough time to do what God wants us to do]. People who walk in the daytime will not stumble [over things they cannot see], because they see things by the light from the sun.
10 but, if they walk about at night, they stumble, because they have not the light.’
It is when people walk in the nighttime that they stumble over things, because they have no light.”
11 And, when he had said this, he added, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may wake him.’
After he said that, he told us, “Our friend Lazarus has gone to sleep. But I will go there so that I can wake him up.”
12 ‘If he has fallen asleep, Master, he will get well,’ said the disciples.
So we said to him, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get well. [So you do not need to risk your life by going there].”
13 But Jesus meant that he was dead; they, however, supposed that he was speaking of natural sleep.
Jesus was speaking [figuratively] about Lazarus’ death, but we thought that he was talking about really being asleep.
14 Then he said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead;
So then he told us plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may learn to believe in me. But let us go to him.’
But for your sake I am glad that I was not there [when he died], because I want you to believe [more firmly that I] ([am the Messiah/came from God]). So now, [instead of staying here], let’s go to him.”
16 At this, Thomas, who was called “The Twin,” said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us go too, so that we may die with him.’
Then Thomas, who was {whom they} called ‘The Twin’, said to the rest of us disciples, “Let’s all go, so that we may die with Jesus [when his enemies kill him].”
17 When Jesus reached the place, he found that Lazarus had been four days in the tomb already.
When we arrived [close to Bethany], someone told Jesus that Lazarus [had died and had been buried and his body had] been in the tomb for four days.
18 Bethany being only about two miles from Jerusalem,
Bethany is less than (two miles/three kilometers) from Jerusalem.
19 a number of the people had come there to comfort Martha and Mary because of their brother’s death.
Many Jews had come [from Jerusalem] to console Martha and Mary over [the death of] their [younger] brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat quietly at home.
When Martha heard [someone say] that Jesus was coming, she went [along the road] to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.
21 ‘Master,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
When Martha [got to where Jesus was], she said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died [because you would have healed him]!
22 Even now, I know that God will grant you whatever you ask him.’
But I know that even now God will do for you whatever you ask [concerning my brother].”
23 ‘Your brother will rise to life,’ said Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will become alive again!”
24 ‘I know that he will,’ replied Martha, ‘in the resurrection at the Last day.’
Martha said to him, “I know that he will become alive again when all people become alive again on the [Judgment] day.”
25 ‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ said Jesus. ‘He who believes in me will live, though he die;
Jesus said to her, “I am the one who [enables people to] become alive again and who [causes people to] live [eternally]. Those who believe in me, even if they die, will live [again].
Furthermore, all those who believe in me while they are alive, [their souls] will not die [forever]. Do you believe that?” (aiōn g165)
27 ‘Yes Master,’ she answered. ‘I have learned to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.’
She said to him, “Yes, Lord! I believe that you are the Messiah, (the Son of God/the man who is also God). You are the one [God promised to send] into the world!”
28 After saying this, Martha went and called her sister Mary, and whispered, ‘The teacher is here, and is asking for you.’
After she said that, she returned [to the house] and took her [younger] sister, Mary, aside and said to her, “The Teacher is close [to our village], and he wants to talk to you.”
29 As soon as Mary heard that, she got up quickly, and went to meet him.
When Mary heard that, she got up quickly and went to him.
30 Jesus had not then come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
Jesus had not yet entered the village; he was still at the place where Martha met him.
31 So the people, who were in the house with Mary, comforting her, when they saw her get up quickly and go out, followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
The Jews who were in the house with Mary, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go outside. So they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb [where they had buried Lazarus], in order to cry there.
32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she threw herself at his feet. ‘Master,’ she exclaimed, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died!’
When Mary got to where Jesus was and saw him, she prostrated herself at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my [younger] brother would not have died!”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping also, he groaned deeply, and was greatly distressed.
When Jesus saw her crying, and saw that the Jews who had come with her were also crying, he was very angry [that Satan had caused Lazarus to die] (OR, very troubled) and disturbed in his spirit.
34 ‘Where have you buried him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Master,’ they answered.
He said, “Where have you buried (him/his body)?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus burst into tears.
Jesus began to cry.
36 ‘How he must have loved him!’ the people exclaimed;
Then [some of] the Jews said, “Look how much he loved Lazarus!”
37 but some of them said, ‘Could not this man, who gave sight to the blind man, have also prevented Lazarus from dying?’
But some others said, “He enabled a blind man to see. So (he should have been able to [heal this man so that] he did not die!/why did he not [heal this man so that] he did not die?) [RHQ]”
38 Again groaning inwardly, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against the mouth of it.
Within himself Jesus was again very angry [about Lazarus dying] (OR, very troubled). He came to the tomb. It was a cave. The entrance had been covered with a large stone.
39 ‘Move the stone away,’ said Jesus. ‘Master,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time the smell must be offensive, for this is the fourth day since his death.’
Jesus said, “Take away the stone!” Martha, [who, as I mentioned before, was an older] sister of the man who had died, said, “Lord, his [body] has been [in the tomb] for four days, so now there will be a bad smell!”
40 ‘Didn’t I tell you,’ replied Jesus, ‘that, if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?’
Jesus said to her, “I told [RHQ] you that if you believed [in] ([me/what I can do]), you would see how great God is! Have [you forgotten that]?”
41 So they moved the stone away; and Jesus, with uplifted eyes, said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard my prayer.
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up [toward heaven] and said, “My Father, I thank you that you heard me [when I prayed about this earlier].
42 I know that you always hear me; but I say this for the sake of the people standing near, so that they may believe that you have sent me as your messenger.’
I know that you always hear me [when I pray]. But instead [of just praying silently], I said that for the sake of the people who are standing here. I want them to believe that you sent me.”
43 Then, after saying this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus! Come out!’
After he said that, he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”
44 The dead man came out, wrapped hand and foot in a winding-sheet; his face, too, had been wrapped in a cloth. ‘Set him free,’ said Jesus, ‘and let him go.’
The man who [had been] dead came out! The strips of cloth were still wrapped around his [hands and feet], and a cloth was still around his face, [but he came out]! Jesus said to them, “Take off the cloths so that he can walk easily!” [So they did that].
45 In consequence of this, many of the people, who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.
As a result, many of the Jews who had come to [see] Mary and who had seen what Jesus did, believed that he ([was the Messiah/had come from God]).
46 Some of them, however, went to the Pharisees, and told them what he had done.
But some of the [others] went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 The chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the High Council, and said, ‘What are we to do, now that this man is giving so many signs?
So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered all the members of the [Jewish] Council together. They started saying [to each other], “What are we going to do [about Jesus]? He is performing many miracles!
48 If we allow him to continue as we are doing, everyone will believe in him; and the Romans will come and will take from us both our Temple and our nation.’
If we allow him to keep [doing this], everyone will believe (in him/that he [is the Messiah]), [and they will make him their king]. Then the Roman [army] will come and destroy our Temple and our whole nation of Israel!”
49 One of them, however, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them,
One of the [Jewish Council] members was Caiaphas. He was the Jewish high priest that year. [Hinting that they should get rid of Jesus], he said to them, “You [talk as though you] do not know anything [HYP]!
50 ‘You are utterly mistaken. You do not consider that it is better for you that one person should die for the people, rather than the whole nation should be destroyed.’
You do not realize that it would be much better for us if one man died for the sake of the people rather than that [the Romans kill] all the [people of our Jewish] nation.”
51 Now he did not say this of his own accord; but, as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation –
He said that, not because he thought of it himself. Instead, since he was the high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the whole [Jewish] nation.
52 And not for the nation only, but also that he might unite in one body the children of God now scattered far and wide.
But he was also prophesying that Jesus would die, not just for the Jews, but for all the people living in other lands who [would belong] to God, in order that he would unite [all of them into] one [group].
53 So from that day they plotted to put Jesus to death.
So from that day the [Jewish leaders] started to make plans how they could kill Jesus.
54 In consequence of this, Jesus did not go about publicly among the people any more, but left and went into the country bordering on the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
Because of that, Jesus no longer traveled around publicly among the Jewish people. Instead, he left [Jerusalem, along] with us disciples, and went to a village called Ephraim, in an area near the desolate region. We stayed there [for a while].
55 But the Jewish Festival of the Passover was near; and many people had gone up from the country to Jerusalem, for their purification, before the Festival began.
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover [celebration], many [Jews] went up to Jerusalem from other places in the country. They went there to perform the rituals to make themselves acceptable [to God] before the Passover [celebration started].
56 So they looked for Jesus there, and said to one another, as they stood in the Temple Courts, ‘What do you think? Do you think he will come to the Festival?’
The Jewish chief priests and Pharisees issued an order that if anyone found out where Jesus was, that person should report it to them, in order that they could seize him. [So the people thought that Jesus would] probably [not dare to come to the celebration]. But they kept looking for him, and as they were standing in the Temple [courtyard] they were saying to each other, “What do you think? He will not come to the celebration, will he?”
57 The chief priests and the Pharisees had already issued orders that, if anyone learned where Jesus was, he should give information, so that they might arrest him.
