Jesus with Friends in Bethany

12 [^LTherefore] Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from the dead.) ² There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people ·eating [^Lreclining; ^Cit was customary to eat formal meals while reclining around a low table] with Jesus. ³ [^LThen] Mary brought in a pint [^CGreek litra; about eleven ounces, weighing just under a pound] of very expensive ·perfume [ointment/fragrant oil] made from pure nard. She ·poured the perfume on [anointed; ^Cnot the word for royal or priestly anointing, but for hospitality or care] Jesus’ feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the ·sweet smell [fragrance] from the perfume filled the whole house.

⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] who would later ·turn against [betray] him, was there. Judas said, ⁵ “This ·perfume [ointment/fragrant oil] was worth an ·entire year’s wages [^Lthree hundred denarii]. Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ But Judas did not really care about the poor; he said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money ·box [or bag], and he often stole from it.

⁷ [^LTherefore] Jesus answered, “Leave her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today, the day for me to be prepared for burial. ⁸ [^LFor] You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”