John 11 - New King James Version (NKJV)

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of ^(A)Mary and her sister Martha. ^{2 (B)}It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

⁴ When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when He heard that he was sick, ^(C)He stayed two more days in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

⁸ The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to ^(D)stone You, and are You going there again?”

⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^(E)If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the ^(F)light of this world. ¹⁰ But ^(G)if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ^(H)sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

¹² Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” ¹³ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

¹⁴ Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”

¹⁶ Then ^(I)Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[a]two miles away. ¹⁹ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

²⁰ Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that ^(J)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha said to Him, ^(K)“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am ^(L)the resurrection and the life. ^(M)He who believes in Me, though he may ^(N)die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, ^(O)I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

²⁸ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but ^[b]was in the place where Martha met Him. ^{31 (P)}Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, ^[c]saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

³² Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she ^(Q)fell down at His feet, saying to Him, ^(R)“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

^{35 (S)}Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

³⁷ And some of them said, “Could not this Man, ^(T)who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

³⁸ Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a ^(U)stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would ^(V)see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ Then they took away the stone ^[d]from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² And I know that You always hear Me, but ^(W)because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” ⁴³ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with ^(X)graveclothes, and ^(Y)his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus^(Z)

⁴⁵ Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, ^(AA)and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went away to the Pharisees and ^(AB)told them the things Jesus did. ^{47 (AC)}Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ^(AD)“What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

⁴⁹ And one of them, ^(AE)Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, ^{50 (AF)}nor do you consider that it is expedient for ^[e]us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹ Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and ^(AG)not for that nation only, but ^(AH)also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

⁵³ Then, from that day on, they plotted to ^(AI)put Him to death. ^{54 (AJ)}Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called ^(AK)Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

^{55 (AL)}And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to ^(AM)purify themselves. ^{56 (AN)}Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” ⁵⁷ Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might ^(AO)seize Him.

Footnotes

1. John 11:18 Lit. 15 stadia
2. John 11:30 NU was still
3. John 11:31 NU supposing that she was going
4. John 11:41 NU omits from the place where the dead man was lying
5. John 11:50 NU you

Cross references

1. John 11:1 : Luke 10:38, 39; John 11:5, 19
2. John 11:2 : Matt. 26:7
3. John 11:6 : John 10:40
4. John 11:8 : John 8:59; 10:31
5. John 11:9 : Luke 13:33; John 9:4; 12:35
6. John 11:9 : Is. 9:2
7. John 11:10 : John 12:35
8. John 11:11 : Deut. 31:16; [Dan. 12:2]; Matt. 9:24; Acts 7:60; [1 Cor. 15:18, 51]
9. John 11:16 : Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; John 14:5; 20:26–28; Acts 1:13
10. John 11:22 : [John 9:31; 11:41]
11. John 11:24 : [Luke 14:14; John 5:29]
12. John 11:25 : John 5:21; 6:39, 40, 44; [Rev. 1:18]
13. John 11:25 : John 3:16, 36; 1 John 5:10
14. John 11:25 : 1 Cor. 15:22; [Heb. 9:27]
15. John 11:27 : Matt. 16:16; Luke 2:11; John 4:42; 6:14, 69
16. John 11:31 : John 11:19, 33
17. John 11:32 : Mark 5:22; 7:25; Rev. 1:17
18. John 11:32 : John 11:21
19. John 11:35 : Luke 19:41
20. John 11:37 : John 9:6, 7
21. John 11:38 : Matt. 27:60, 66; Mark 15:46; Luke 24:2; John 20:1
22. John 11:40 : [John 11:4, 23]
23. John 11:42 : John 12:30; 17:21
24. John 11:44 : John 19:40
25. John 11:44 : John 20:7
26. John 11:45 : Matt. 26:1–5; Mark 14:1, 2; Luke 22:1, 2
27. John 11:45 : John 2:23; 10:42; 12:11, 18
28. John 11:46 : John 5:15
29. John 11:47 : Ps. 2:2; Matt. 26:3; Mark 14:1; Luke 22:2
30. John 11:47 : John 12:19; Acts 4:16
31. John 11:49 : Matt. 26:3; Luke 3:2; John 18:14; Acts 4:6
32. John 11:50 : John 18:14
33. John 11:52 : Is. 49:6; Acts 10:45; 11:18; 13:46; [1 John 2:2]
34. John 11:52 : Ps. 22:27; John 10:16; [Eph. 2:14–17]
35. John 11:53 : Matt. 26:4; Luke 6:11; 19:47; 22:2; John 5:16
36. John 11:54 : John 4:1, 3; 7:1
37. John 11:54 : 2 Chr. 13:19
38. John 11:55 : Matt. 26:1; Mark 14:1; Luke 22:1; John 2:13; 5:1; 6:4
39. John 11:55 : Num. 9:10, 13; 31:19, 20; 2 Chr. 30:17; Luke 2:22
40. John 11:56 : John 7:11
41. John 11:57 : Matt. 26:14–16