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The Anointing at Bethany(A)

When Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment and poured it on His head as He sat at supper.

When His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “For what purpose is this waste? This ointment might have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”

10 When Jesus perceived it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has done a good work for Me. 11 For you have the poor always with you, but you do not always have Me. 12 In pouring this ointment on My body, she did it for My burial. 13 Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her.”

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The Anointing at Bethany(A)

12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. They prepared a supper for Him there. Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pint[a] of very costly ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.

But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii[b] and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. And having the money box, he used to steal what was put in it.

But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”

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Footnotes

  1. John 12:3 Gk. a litra, or half a liter.
  2. John 12:5 About a year’s wages.