¹Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.

⁶Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, ⁷a woman came to him having an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. ⁸But when his disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.”

¹⁰However, knowing this, Jesus said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? Because she has done a good work for me. ¹¹For you always have the poor with you; but you don’t always have me. ¹²For in pouring this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.”

³While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard—very costly. She broke the jar, and poured it over his head. ⁴But there were some who were indignant among themselves, saying, “Why has this ointment been wasted? ⁵For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii,[1] and given to the poor.” They grumbled against her.

⁶But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. ⁷For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me. ⁸She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying. ⁹Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her.”

[1]14:5 300 denarii was about a years wages for an agricultural laborer.

²So they made him a supper there. Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. ³Mary, therefore, took a pound[1] of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. ⁴Then Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, one of his disciples, who would betray him, said, ⁵“Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii,[2] and given to the poor?” ⁶Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it. ⁷But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial. ⁸For you always have the poor with you, but you don’t always have me.”

⁹A large crowd therefore of the Jews learned that he was there, and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰But the chief priests conspired to put Lazarus to death also, ¹¹because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

[1]12:3 a Roman pound of 12 ounces, or about 340 grams

[2]12:5 300 denarii was about a year’s wages for an agricultural laborer.