1. NOW A certain man named Lazarus was ill. He was of Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived.
2. This Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was [now] sick.
3. So the sisters sent to Him, saying, Lord, he whom You love [so well] is sick.
4. When Jesus received the message, He said, This sickness is not to end in death; but [on the contrary] it is to honor God and to promote His glory, that the Son of God may be glorified through (by) it.
5. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [They were His dear friends, and He held them in loving esteem.]