Lazarus Dies
1A man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2Mary would later pour perfume on the Lord. She would also wipe Jesus’ feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick in bed. 3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus. “Lord,” they told him, “the one you love is sick.”
4When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory. God’s Son will receive glory because of it.” 5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So after he heard Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7And then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short time ago the Jews there tried to kill you with stones. Are you still going back?”
9Jesus answered, “Aren’t there 12 hours of daylight? Anyone who walks during the day won’t trip and fall. They can see because of this world’s light. 10But when they walk at night, they’ll trip and fall. They have no light.”
11After he said this, Jesus went on speaking to them. “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,” he said. “But I am going there to wake him up.”
12His disciples replied, “Lord, if he’s sleeping, he will get better.” 13Jesus had been speaking about the death of Lazarus. But his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15For your benefit, I am glad I was not there. Now you will believe. But let us go to him.”
16Then Thomas, who was also called Didymus, spoke to the rest of the disciples. “Let us go also,” he said. “Then we can die with Jesus.”
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
17When Jesus arrived, he found out that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem. 19Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary. They had come to comfort them because their brother was dead. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed at home.
21“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “I wish you had been here! Then my brother would not have died. 22But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask for.”
23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24Martha answered, “I know he will rise again. This will happen when people are raised from the dead on the last day.”
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even if they die. 26And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27“Yes, Lord,” she replied. “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God. I believe that you are the one who is supposed to come into the world.”
28After she said this, she went back home. She called her sister Mary to one side to talk to her. “The Teacher is here,” Martha said. “He is asking for you.” 29When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Jesus had not yet entered the village. He was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31Some Jews had been comforting Mary in the house. They noticed how quickly she got up and went out. So they followed her. They thought she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32Mary reached the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she fell at his feet. She said, “Lord, I wish you had been here! Then my brother would not have died.”
33Jesus saw her crying. He saw that the Jews who had come along with her were crying also. His spirit became very sad, and he was troubled. 34“Where have you put him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35Jesus wept.
36Then the Jews said, “See how much he loved him!”
37But some of them said, “He opened the eyes of the blind man. Couldn’t he have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38Once more Jesus felt very sad. He came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone in front of the entrance. 39“Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad smell. Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days.”
40Then Jesus said, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?”
41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up. He said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. 42I know that you always hear me. But I said this for the benefit of the people standing here. I said it so they will believe that you sent me.”
43Then Jesus called in a loud voice. He said, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen. A cloth was around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the clothes he was buried in and let him go.”
The Plan to Kill Jesus
45Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did. So they believed in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. 47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What can we do?” they asked. “This man is performing many signs. 48If we let him keep on doing this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come. They will take away our temple and our nation.”
49One of the Jewish leaders spoke up. His name was Caiaphas. He was high priest at that time. He said, “You don’t know anything at all! 50You don’t realize what is good for you. It is better if one man dies for the people than if the whole nation is destroyed.”
51He did not say this on his own because he was high priest at that time. He prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation. 52He also prophesied that Jesus would die for God’s children scattered everywhere. He would die to bring them together and make them one. 53So from that day on, the Jewish rulers planned to kill Jesus.
54Jesus no longer moved around openly among the people of Judea. Instead, he went away to an area near the desert. He went to a village called Ephraim. There he stayed with his disciples.
55It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. Many people went up from the country to Jerusalem. They went there for the special washing that would make them pure before the Passover Feast. 56They kept looking for Jesus as they stood in the temple courtyard. They asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the feast at all?” 57But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders. They had commanded anyone who found out where Jesus was staying to report it. Then they could arrest him.
拉撒路病死
1伯大尼村有个名叫拉撒路的人病倒了。伯大尼是玛丽亚和她姐姐玛大居住的村庄。 2就是这个玛丽亚后来用香膏抹主，又用自己的头发擦干祂的脚，患病的拉撒路是她的弟弟。 3她们姊妹两个托人去告诉耶稣，说：“主啊，你所爱的人病了！”
4耶稣听见后，说：“这病不会致命，而是为了上帝的荣耀，使祂的儿子借此得到荣耀。” 5耶稣一向爱玛大、玛丽亚和拉撒路， 6可是祂听到拉撒路有病的消息后，仍逗留了两天， 7然后才对门徒说：“我们去犹太吧！”
8门徒说：“老师，犹太人近来想拿石头打你，你还要去那里吗？”
9耶稣说：“白天不是有十二个小时吗？人在白天走路，不会跌倒，因为他看得见这世上的光。 10人在夜间走路，才会跌倒，因为没有光。” 11接着耶稣又说：“我们的朋友拉撒路已经睡了，我去叫醒他。”
12门徒说：“主啊，如果他睡了，肯定会好的。” 13其实耶稣是指他已经死了，门徒却以为他真的睡了。
14于是，耶稣清楚地对他们说：“拉撒路死了。 15为了你们的缘故，我很高兴自己不在那里，好叫你们信我。现在我们可以去了。” 16绰号“双胞胎”的多马对其他门徒说：“我们也去，好跟祂一块儿死吧。”
拉撒路死而复活
17耶稣到了伯大尼，得知拉撒路已经在坟墓里四天了。 18伯大尼离耶路撒冷不远，大约只有三公里的路， 19很多犹太人来看玛大和玛丽亚，为她们兄弟的事来安慰她们。
20玛大听说耶稣来了，就去迎接祂，玛丽亚却仍然坐在家里。 21玛大对耶稣说：“主啊，你如果早在这里，我弟弟就不会死了。 22就是现在我也知道你无论向上帝求什么，上帝必定赐给你。”
23耶稣说：“你弟弟必定复活。”
24玛大说：“我知道，在末日复活的时候，他必复活。”
25耶稣说：“我是复活，我是生命。信我的人虽然死了，也必复活。 26凡活着信我的人必永远不死。你相信吗？”
27玛大说：“主啊，我信！我相信你是来到世界的基督，是上帝的儿子。”
28玛大说完了，就回去悄悄地告诉她妹妹玛丽亚：“老师来了，祂叫你去。”
29玛丽亚听了，急忙起来到耶稣那里。 30那时，耶稣还没有进村子，仍在玛大迎接祂的地方。 31那些在家里安慰玛丽亚的犹太人，见她匆匆忙忙地跑了出去，以为她要去坟墓那里哭，就跟着出去。
32玛丽亚来到耶稣那里，俯伏在祂脚前说：“主啊，你如果早在这里，我弟弟就不会死了。”
33耶稣看见她和陪她来的犹太人都在哭，心中感动，十分难过， 34便问：“你们把他葬在哪里了？”
他们答道：“主啊，你来看。”
35耶稣哭了。
36犹太人说：“你看！祂多么爱拉撒路啊！”
37其中也有人说：“祂既然能医好瞎眼的人，难道不能叫这个人不死吗？”
38耶稣又十分感动地来到坟墓前。那坟墓是个洞，洞口堵着一块大石头。
39耶稣说：“把石头挪开。”
死者的姐姐玛大对祂说：“主啊，他死了四天了，已经臭了。”
40耶稣说：“我不是跟你说过，只要你信，就会看见上帝的荣耀吗？”
41于是，他们把石头挪开，耶稣望着天说：“父啊，我感谢你，因为你已垂听了我的祷告， 42我知道你常常垂听我的祷告。我这样说是为了周围站着的众人，好叫他们相信是你差了我来。”
43说完，就大声呼喊：“拉撒路，出来！” 44那死者就出来了，手脚都缠着布条，脸上也包着布。
耶稣对他们说：“给他解开，让他走！”
谋害耶稣
45许多来看玛丽亚的犹太人看见耶稣所行的事，就信了祂， 46但也有些人去见法利赛人，把耶稣所行的事告诉他们。 47祭司长和法利赛人便召开公会会议，说：“这人行了这么多神迹，我们该怎么办呢？ 48如果让祂这样继续下去，所有的人都会信祂，那时罗马人一定会来夺取我们的土地，掳掠我们的人民。”
49当年担任大祭司的该亚法对他们说：“你们什么都不懂！ 50你们没有认识到，祂一个人替众人死，而不是整个民族灭亡，对你们来说更好。” 51其实这句话不是出于他自己，只因那年他是大祭司，上帝借着他预言耶稣将要替犹太民族死。 52祂不单是要替犹太民族死，也要把散居在各处的上帝的儿女聚集在一起。
53从那天起，他们就计划要杀害耶稣， 54所以耶稣不再公开地在犹太人中间露面。祂离开伯大尼，前往靠近旷野的地方，到了以法莲城，就和门徒住下来。
55犹太人的逾越节快到了，有很多人从乡下上耶路撒冷，预备在过节前洁净自己。 56他们四处寻找耶稣，又彼此在圣殿里谈论：“你们怎么想？祂不会来过节吧？” 57当时祭司长和法利赛人早已下令，如果有人知道耶稣在哪里，就来报告，他们好去抓祂。
