Mark 14:1-9 ▼

1 Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away, and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a covert way to arrest Jesus and kill Him.

2 “But not during the feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

3 While Jesus was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured it on Jesus’ head.

4 Some of those present, however, expressed their indignation to one another: “Why this waste of perfume?

5 It could have been sold for over three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.

6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone; why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful deed to Me.

7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them whenever you want. But you will not always have Me.

8 She has done what she could to anoint My body in advance of My burial.

9 And truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”