John 11:1-44

The Death of Lazarus

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of ¹Mary and her sister Martha.

2 ²It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.

3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, ³he whom you love is ill. ”

4 But when Jesus heard it he said, ⁴“This illness does not lead to death. It is for ⁵the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. ”

5 Now ⁶Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

6 So, when he heard that Lazarus^[a] was ill, ⁷he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7 Then after this he said to the disciples, ⁸“Let us go to Judea again. ”

8 The disciples said to him, ⁹“Rabbi, ¹⁰the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again? ”

9 Jesus answered, ¹¹“Are there not twelve hours in the day? ¹²If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

10 But ¹³if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not ¹⁴in him. ”

11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ¹⁵has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. ”

12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. ”

13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.

14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,

15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. ”

16 ¹⁶So Thomas, called the Twin, ^[b] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, ¹⁷that we may die with him. ”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb ¹⁸four days.

18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[c] off,

19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary ¹⁹to console them concerning their brother.

20 ²⁰So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.

21 Martha said to ²¹Jesus, “Lord, ²²if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, ²³God will give you. ”

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

24 ²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in ²⁵the resurrection on the last day. ”

25 Jesus said to her, ²⁶“I am the resurrection and ²⁷the life. ^[d] Whoever believes in me, ²⁸though he die, ²⁹yet shall he live,

26 and everyone who lives and believes in me ³⁰shall never die. Do you believe this? ”

27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; ³¹I believe that ³²you are the Christ, the Son of God, ³³who is coming into the world. ”

Jesus Weeps

28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ³⁴“The Teacher is here and is calling for you. ”

29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.

30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.

31 When the Jews ³⁵who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ³⁶“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he ³⁷was deeply moved^[e] in his spirit and ³⁸greatly troubled.

34 And he said, “Where have you laid him? ”They said to him, “Lord, come and see. ”

35 ³⁹Jesus wept.

36 So the Jews said, “See ⁴⁰how he loved him! ”

37 But some of them said, “Could not he ⁴¹who opened the eyes of the blind man ⁴²also have kept this man from dying? ”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

38 Then Jesus, ⁴³deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was ⁴⁴a cave, and ⁴⁵a stone lay against it.

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone. ”Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for ⁴⁶he has been dead four days. ”

40 Jesus said to her, ⁴⁷“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see ⁴⁸the glory of God? ”

41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus ⁴⁹lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

42 ⁵⁰I knew that you always hear me, but I said this ⁵¹on account of the people standing around, ⁵²that they may believe that you sent me. ”

43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out. ”

44 ⁵³The man who had died came out, ⁵⁴his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and ⁵⁵his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go. ”

Cross References

• 1. 11:1 See Luke 10:38, 39
• 2. 11:2 ch. 12:3
• 3. 11:3 ver. 5, 11, 36
• 4. 11:4 [ver. 11; Matt. 9:24]
• 5. 11:4 ver. 40; [ch. 9:3; 13:31]
• 6. 11:5 ver. 3
• 7. 11:6 [ch. 2:4; 7:6, 8]
• 8. 11:7 ch. 10:40
• 9. 11:8 See ch. 1:38
• 10. 11:8 ch. 8:59; 10:31
• 11. 11:9 [Luke 13:33]
• 12. 11:9 See ch. 9:4; 1 John 2:10
• 13. 11:10 Jer. 13:16
• 14. 11:10 Jer. 13:16
• 15. 11:11 See Matt. 27:52
• 16. 11:16 ch. 14:5; 20:24, 26-28; 21:2; Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13
• 17. 11:16 [ch. 13:37]
• 18. 11:17 ver. 39
• 19. 11:19 ver. 31; Job 2:11
• 20. 11:20 [Luke 10:38, 39]
• 21. 11:21 ver. 32
• 22. 11:21 [ver. 37]
• 23. 11:22 [ver. 42; ch. 9:31]
• 24. 11:24 [ver. 39]
• 25. 11:24 ch. 5:29; Luke 14:14; See ch. 6:39
• 26. 11:25 [ch. 5:21; 6:40, 44; 1 Cor. 15:21]
• 27. 11:25 ch. 14:6; [ch. 6:57; Col. 3:4]; See ch. 1:4
• 28. 11:25 [ch. 12:25]
• 29. 11:25 See ch. 3:36
• 30. 11:26 ch. 6:50, 51; 8:51
• 31. 11:27 ch. 6:69; 20:31; 1 John 5:1, 5; [ch. 8:24; 13:19; 1 John 4:16]
• 32. 11:27 Matt. 16:16
• 33. 11:27 ch. 6:14; See Matt. 11:3
• 34. 11:28 Matt. 26:18; Mark 14:14; Luke 22:11; See ch. 13:13
• 35. 11:31 ver. 19
• 36. 11:32 ver. 21
• 37. 11:33 ver. 38; Mark 14:5 (Gk.)
• 38. 11:33 ch. 12:27; 13:21
• 39. 11:35 [Luke 19:41]
• 40. 11:36 ver. 3
• 41. 11:37 ch. 9:6, 7
• 42. 11:37 [ver. 21, 32]
• 43. 11:38 ver. 33
• 44. 11:38 Isa. 22:16
• 45. 11:38 ch. 20:1; Matt. 27:60; Mark 15:46; Luke 24:2
• 46. 11:39 ver. 17
• 47. 11:40 ver. 25, 26
• 48. 11:40 ver. 4; [Rom. 6:4]
• 49. 11:41 ch. 17:1
• 50. 11:42 [ver. 22; Matt. 26:53]
• 51. 11:42 ch. 12:29, 30
• 52. 11:42 ch. 17:8, 21; See ch. 3:17
• 53. 11:44 ch. 5:28, 29
• 54. 11:44 ch. 19:40
• 55. 11:44 [ch. 20:7]

Footnotes

• [a] 11:6 Greek 'he'; also verse 17
• [b] 11:16 Greek 'Didymus'
• [c] 11:18 Greek 'fifteen stadia'; a 'stadion' was about 607 feet or 185 meters
• [d] 11:25 Some manuscripts omit 'and the life'
• [e] 11:33 Or 'was indignant'; also verse 38