SCRIPTURE: John 12:1-8, Expanded Bible
This translation includes internal notes that are printed inside brackets in italics.
12 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 [reclining; it was customary to eat formal meals while reclining around a low table] with Jesus. 3 Mary brought in a ·pint [Greek litra; about eleven ounces…] of very expensive perfume made from pure nard*. She ·poured the perfume on [anointed; not 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 [three 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 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 You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”
*Nard, or spikenard is similar to lavender and also, in scent, to juniper. Imagine the room filling with the smell of lavender and evergreen.
(Note by CKW)
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