Our Father in heaven, We pray that your name will always be kept holy. We pray that your kingdom will come— that what you want will be done here on earth, the same as in heaven. Give us the food we need for today. Forgive our sins, just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us. Don't let us be tempted, but save us from the Evil One.  Amen

I will hold on to my innocence and never let go! My conscience will always be clear! May my enemies be punished like those who are evil. May those who stood against me end up like all who have done wrong. What hope do people without God have when it is time to die, when God takes their life away? When they have troubles and cry out for help, God will not listen to them! It will be too late for them to enjoy talking with God All-Powerful. They should have prayed to God all the time. "I will teach you about God's power. I will not hide anything about God All-Powerful.

There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived. (Mary is the same woman who put perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) Mary's brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick. So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, "Lord, your dear friend Lazarus is sick." When Jesus heard this he said, "The end of this sickness will not be death. No, this sickness is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days and then said to his followers, "We should go back to Judea." They answered, "But Teacher, those Jews there tried to stone you to death. That was only a short time ago. Now you want to go back there?" Jesus answered, "There are twelve hours of light in the day. Whoever walks in the day will not stumble and fall because they can see with the light from the sun. But whoever walks at night will stumble because there is no light." Then Jesus said, "Our friend Lazarus is now sleeping, but I am going there to wake him."

The followers answered, "But, Lord, if he can sleep, he will get well." They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was literally sleeping, but he really meant that Lazarus was dead. So then Jesus said plainly, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad I was not there. I am happy for you because now you will believe in me. We will go to him now." Then Thomas, the one called "Twin," said to the other followers, "We will go too. We will die there with Jesus."

Jesus arrived in Bethany and found that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem. Many Jews had come to see Martha and Mary. They came to comfort them about their brother Lazarus. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to greet him. But Mary stayed home.

When Mary heard this, she stood up and went quickly to Jesus. He had not yet come into the village. He was still at the place where Martha met him. The Jews who were in the house comforting Mary saw her get up and leave quickly. They thought she was going to the tomb to cry there. So they followed her. Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she bowed at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw Mary crying and the people with her crying too, he was very upset and deeply troubled. He asked, "Where did you put him?" They said, "Lord, come and see." Jesus cried.

And the Jews said, "Look! He loved Lazarus very much!" But some of them said, "Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man. Why didn't he help Lazarus and stop him from dying?" Again feeling very upset, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a large stone covering the entrance. He said, "Move the stone away." Martha said, "But, Lord, it has been four days since Lazarus died. There will be a bad smell." Martha was the sister of the dead man. Then Jesus said to her, "Remember what I told you? I said that if you believed, you would see God's divine greatness." So they moved the stone away from the entrance.

Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you heard me. I know that you always hear me. But I said these things because of the people here around me. I want them to believe that you sent me." After Jesus said this he called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth. He had a handkerchief covering his face. Jesus said to the people, "Take off the cloth and let him go."