John 12:1-33 ▼

1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany, where Lazarus lived, the man whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.

3 Mary took a litron of very expensive perfume made of pure nard and anointed Jesus' feet. She wiped his feet with her hair, and the house became filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who was going to betray him, asked,

5 |Why wasn't this perfume sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the destitute?|

6 He said this, not because he cared about the destitute, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and would steal what was put into it.

7 Then Jesus said, |Leave her alone so she can observe the day of my burial,

8 because you will always have the destitute with you, but you won't always have me.|

9 When the large crowd of Jews realized that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

10 So the high priests planned to kill Lazarus, too,

11 since he was the reason why so many of the Jews were leaving to believe in Jesus.

12 The next day, the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem.

13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, |Hosanna! How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!|

14 Then Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written:

15 |Stop being afraid, people of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting upon a donkey's colt!|

16 At first, his disciples didn't understand these things. However, when Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that people had done these things to him.

17 So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify to what they had seen.

18 The crowd was going out to meet Jesus because they had heard that he had performed this sign.

19 Then the Pharisees told one another, |You see, there is nothing you can do. Look, the world has gone after him!|

20 Now some Greeks were among those who had come up to worship at the festival.

21 They went to Philip (who was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and told him, |Sir, we would like to see Jesus.|

22 Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

23 Jesus told them, |The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

24 Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces a lot of grain.

25 The one who loves his life will destroy it, and the one who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.

26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.|

27 |Now my soul is in turmoil, and what should I say—'Father, save me from this hour'? No! It was for this very reason that I came to this hour.

28 Father, glorify your name.| Then a voice came from heaven, |I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!|

29 The crowd standing there heard this and said that it was thunder. Others were saying, |An angel has spoken to him.|

30 Jesus replied, |This voice is for your benefit, not for mine.

31 Now is the time for the judgment of this world to begin. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out.

32 As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.|

33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was about to die.