Jesus Brings Lazarus Back to Life

11 Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived, was sick. ² (Mary was the woman who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was the one who was sick.)

³ So the sisters sent a messenger to tell Jesus, “Lord, your close friend is sick.”

⁴ When Jesus heard the message, he said, “His sickness won’t result in death. Instead, this sickness will bring glory to God so that the Son of God will receive glory through it.”

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ (Bethany was near Jerusalem, not quite two miles away.) ¹⁹ Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. Mary stayed at home. ²¹ Martha told Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask him.”

²³ Jesus told Martha, “Your brother will come back to life.”

²⁴ Martha answered Jesus, “I know that he’ll come back to life on the last day, when everyone will come back to life.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the one who brings people back to life, and I am life itself. Those who believe in me will live even if they die. ²⁶ Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”

²⁷ Martha said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was expected to come into the world.”

²⁸ After Martha had said this, she went back home and whispered to her sister Mary, “The teacher is here, and he is calling for you.”

³² When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who were crying with her, he was deeply moved and troubled.

³⁴ So Jesus asked, “Where did you put Lazarus?”

They answered him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵ Jesus cried.

³⁸ Deeply moved again, Jesus went to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone covering the entrance. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take the stone away.”

Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Jesus, “Lord, there must already be a stench. He’s been dead for four days.”

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see God’s glory?” ⁴¹ So the stone was moved away from the entrance of the tomb.

Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. ⁴² I’ve known that you always hear me. However, I’ve said this so that the crowd standing around me will believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ After Jesus had said this, he shouted as loudly as he could, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴ The dead man came out. Strips of cloth were wound around his feet and hands, and his face was wrapped with a handkerchief. Jesus told them, “Free Lazarus, and let him go.”