Readings for Lent and Easter

The Anointing at Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany^(A) where Lazarus^[a] was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead.^{(B) 2} So^(C) they gave a dinner for him there; Martha^(D) was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair.^(E) So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot^(F) (who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii^[b](G) and given to the poor?” ⁶ He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief.^(H) He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.

⁷ Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial.^(I)