1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
Mark 14
1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that?5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Matthew 26
1 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
