John 12:1-19

1Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead.

2So they gave a dinner for him there; Martha was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him.

3Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was about to betray him), said,

5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

6He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.

7Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial.

8For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

9Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.

10But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also,

11because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.

12The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

13they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord — the King of Israel!”

14Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written:

15Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.

16His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

17Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify.

18This is also why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign.

19Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”