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A Woman Anoints Jesus(A)

While Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume and poured it on his head while he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw this, they became irritated and said, “Why this waste? Surely this perfume could’ve been sold for a high price and the money[a] given to the destitute.”

10 But knowing this,[b] Jesus asked them, “Why are you bothering the woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 11 You’ll always have the destitute with you, but you’ll not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she was preparing me for burial. 13 I tell all of you[c] with certainty, wherever this gospel is proclaimed throughout the whole world, what she has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 26:9 The Gk. lacks the money
  2. Matthew 26:10 The Gk. lacks this
  3. Matthew 26:13 The Gk. pronoun you is pl.

Mary Anoints Jesus(A)

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany, where Lazarus lived,[a] the man whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a litron[b] of very expensive perfume made of pure nard and anointed Jesus’ feet. She wiped his feet with her hair, and the house became filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who was going to betray him, asked, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for 300 denarii[c] and the money[d] given to the destitute?” He said this, not because he cared about the destitute, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and would steal what was put into it.

Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone so she can observe the day of my burial, because you will always have the destitute with you, but you won’t always have me.”

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Footnotes

  1. John 12:1 Lit. was
  2. John 12:3 I.e. about twelve ounces; the Gk. litron weighed about 12 ounces
  3. John 12:5 Three hundred denarii was about a year’s wages for a laborer.
  4. John 12:5 The Gk. lacks the money