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"We must not do it during the festival," they said, "or the people will riot."
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Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease.
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While Jesus was eating, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar filled with an expensive perfume, which she poured on his head.
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The disciples saw this and became angry. "Why all this waste?" they asked.
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"This perfume could have been sold for a large amount and the money given to the poor!"
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Jesus knew what they were saying, and so he said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? It is a fine and beautiful thing that she has done for me.
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You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me.
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What she did was to pour this perfume on my body to get me ready for burial.
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Now, I assure you that wherever this gospel is preached all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."
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Then one of the twelve disciples - the one named Judas Iscariot - went to the chief priests
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and asked, "What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?" They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him.
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