CHAPTER 148.
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Levi
Lazarus dies and Jesus and the twelve return to Bethany. The resurrection of Lazarus, which greatly excites the rulers in Jerusalem. The Christines go to the hills of Ephriam, and there abide.
One day as Jesus and the twelve were in the silence in a home in Araba a messenger came and said,
2 Lord, Jesus, hear! your friend in Bethany is sick, nigh unto death; his sisters urge that you arise and come in haste.
3 Then turning to the twelve the master said, Lo, Lazarus has gone to sleep, and I must go and waken him.
4 And his disciples said, What need to go if he has gone to sleep; he will awaken by and by?
5 Then Jesus said, It is the sleep of death; for Lazarus is dead.
6 But Jesus did not haste to go; he stayed two days in Araba; and then he said, The hour has come and we must go to Bethany.
7 But his disciples urged him not to go; they said, The Jews are waiting your return that they may take your life.
8 And Jesus said, Men cannot take my life till I have handed unto them my life.
9 And when the time shall come I will myself lay down my life; that time is near, and God knows best; I must arise and go.
10 And Thomas said, Then we will also go; yes, we will offer up our lives and die with him. And they arose and went.
11 Now, Mary, Martha, Ruth and many friends were weeping in their home when one approached and said, The Lord has come; but Mary did not hear the words.
12 But Ruth and Martha heard, and they arose and went to meet the Lord; he waited at the village gate.
13 And when they met the master Martha said, You are too late, for Lazarus is dead; if you had only been with us I know that he would not have died.
14 But even now I know that you have power over death; that by the sacred Word you may cause life to rise from death.
15 And Jesus said, Behold, for Lazarus shall live again.
16 And Martha said, I know that he will rise and live again when all the dead shall rise.
17 And Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he who has faith in me, though he be dead, yet shall he live;
18 And he who is alive, and has a living faith in me, shall never die. Do you believe what I have said?
19 And Martha said, Lord, I believe that you are come to manifest the Christ of God.
20 Then Jesus said, Go back and call aside your sister, and my mother and the prophetess and say that I have come; and I will stay here by the gate till they have come to me.
21 And Ruth and Martha did as Jesus bade them do, and in a little while the Marys and the prophetess had met the Lord.
22 And Mary said, Why did you tarry thus? If you had been with us our brother, dear, would not have died.
23 Then Jesus went up to the house and when he saw the heavy grief of all, he was himself stirred up with grief, and said, Where is the tomb in which he lies?
24 They said, Lord, come and see. And Jesus wept.
25 The people said, Behold how Jesus loved this man!
26 And others said, Could not this Lord who opened up the eyes of one born blind, have saved this man from death?
27 But soon the mourners stood beside the tomb, a sepulcher hewn out of solid rock; a massive stone closed up the door.
28 And Jesus said, Take you away the stone.
29 But Martha said, Lord, is it well? Behold our brother has been dead four days; the body must be in decay, and is it well that we should see it now?
30 The Lord replied, Have you forgotten, Martha, what I said while we were at the village gate? Did I not say that you should see the glory of the Lord?
31 And then they rolled the stone away; the flesh had not decayed; and Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
32 My Father-God, thou who hast ever heard my prayers, I thank thee now, and that these multitudes may know that thou hast sent me forth, that I am thine and thou art mine, make strong the Word of power.
33 And then he spoke the Word, and in a voice that souls can comprehend, he said, O Lazarus, awake!
34 And Lazarus arose and came out of the tomb. The grave clothes were about him fast, and Jesus said,
35 Loose him and let him go.
36 The people were amazed and multitudes confessed their faith in him.
37 And some went to Jerusalem and told the Pharisees about this resurrection of the dead.
38 The chief priests were confounded, and they said, What shall we do? This man is doing many mighty deeds, and if we do not stay him in his work, all men will look on him as king, and through the Romans he may take the throne, and we will lose our place and power.
39 And then the chief priests and the Pharisees in council met and sought a plan by which they might put him to death.