Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Select a book and chapter to read the MPV in modern, pastor-shaped English. This view shows the reading edition of the text in paragraphs.

Currently viewing: John 11 · MPV reading edition


Here is the refined chapter text:

A certain man named Lazarus from Bethany was sick. He lived in the town where Mary and her sister Martha resided.

Mary, whose brother Lazarus was ill, had anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. His sisters sent to Jesus, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick."

When Jesus heard that, he said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God." Jesus loved Martha and her sister, as well as Lazarus.

After hearing about Lazarus's illness, Jesus stayed in the same place for two days. Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go again into Judaea."

His disciples replied, "The Jews have recently been seeking to stone you; are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks during daylight, they will not stumble because they see the light of this world. But if someone walks in darkness, they stumble because there is no light within them."

Our friend Lazarus is asleep," Jesus said, "but I must go and wake him from sleep." His disciples responded, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." However, Jesus was speaking about his death, not taking rest in sleep.

Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so you may believe; nevertheless let us go to him." Thomas, also known as Didymus, suggested, "Let us go with him."

<span class="jesus-words">When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already.</span> Many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.

Martha, upon hearing that Jesus was coming, went to meet him while Mary remained in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." But she knew that even now, whatever he would ask of God, God would give it to him.

Jesus replied, "Your brother will rise again." Martha believed this and said, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus then declared, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will live, even if they die. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

"Do you believe this?" Jesus asked Martha. She replied, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." After their conversation, she secretly summoned her sister Mary, saying, "The Master has come and calls for you."

Mary arose quickly and came to Jesus. He was still in the place where Martha had met him, not yet having entered the town. The Jews who were with Mary saw her hastening to meet Jesus, followed by others, thinking she was going to weep at the tomb.

When Mary arrived, she saw Jesus and fell at his feet, saying, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus witnessed Mary's sorrow and that of the Jews who were with her, he groaned in spirit and was deeply troubled.

He asked, "Where have you laid him?" They told him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept deeply. The Jews then observed how much Jesus loved Lazarus, saying, "Behold how he loved him!" Some of them even questioned why Jesus couldn't prevent his death, saying, "Could this man who had opened the eyes of the blind not have prevented even this one from dying?"

Jesus groaned in himself once more and came to the grave, a cave with a stone lying across its entrance. He instructed Martha's sister, "Take away the stone." She replied, "Lord, he is already decaying; for he has been dead four days."

Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you had believed, you would have seen God's glory?" They removed the stone, and Jesus looked up toward heaven and prayed, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing around, I said it so they may believe that you sent me."

After speaking, he called out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" The dead man emerged, bound hand and foot in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a napkin. Jesus instructed them to release him and let him go.

Many of the Jews who had come to comfort Mary believed in Jesus because of what they witnessed. However, some of them went to the Pharisees and told them about all that Jesus had done.

The chief priests and Pharisees convened a council, discussing what to do about Jesus. They realized that if he continued performing miracles, everyone would believe in him, and the Romans might confiscate their place of worship and nation.

Caiaphas, the high priest that year, suggested, "You know nothing at all. It is expedient for us that one man should die for the people." He prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, gathering together in one the children of God scattered abroad, not only for that nation but also.

From that day forward, they began secretly plotting to put Jesus to death. As a result, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews; instead, he departed to a region near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

The Jews' Passover was approaching, and many went out of the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They inquired about Jesus's whereabouts, standing in the temple and wondering if he would come to the feast. The chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew Jesus's location should report it so they could arrest him.