May 16th, 2026

The season of Easter still continues, but only for one more Sunday. And its perspective is quite unique, since the ascension of Jesus was celebrated on the previous Thursday. This Sunday’s title is the Seventh Sunday of Easter, and no matter what year we are in with the three-year series, the Gospel Reading for this Sunday is from the so-called seventeenth chapter of the Gospel according to John. This year, being year A, the text is the first part of that chapter (John 17:1-11).

Within the writings of this website, we are also currently going through the Gospel according to John, translating a little bit of the text at a time, in the order in which it appears in the text, without skipping any parts. And we are currently not as far along in the book as chapter seventeen. At the present time we are dealing with what is called chapter eleven of that account, and that chapter deals with the resurrection of Lazarus.

With such a long chapter (fifty-seven verses), these writings were also broken into three parts. The previous writing dealt with the main part of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus after he had been in the tomb for four days. This week’s writing will deal with the ramifications of that miracle, and they will be significant. Because Jesus made someone alive, his enemies now want him dead.

If you are familiar with the writings of this website, you would know that the texts are translated in an EXTREMELY literal fashion. There are countless ways to translate a text. And that particular type of translation will be defined in the next two paragraphs. If you are familiar with this style of translation, you may bypass the next two paragraphs.

The first significant thing to mention regarding the description of this type of translation is that the verse numbers will not be included within the text itself. Both the chapter numbers and verse numbers were added quite later after the text was written, and they are certainly helpful when someone is searching for a particular text, but their structure is not always helpful. The words are much more important, and within those words the text has a structure.

It should also be noted that the words with hyphens occur when more than one English word is used to describe a single word of the ancient Greek. And some of the words chosen below are meant to point out the close connection that often occurs between the English and Greek languages. It is also important to mention that the order of the words below is also the same order that is in the ancient Greek. This may help to show the important words, especially when another word besides the verb is first in the sentence or phrase; the verb is usually first in Greek. Sometimes this emphasis is shown with a “(!)”. The exception to this translation order is that there are just a small number of words (like “therefore” and “now”) that are usually second in a sentence that are meant to be first when translated. It should be said that repetition of words should be noted as an emphasis. One more thing to mention is that, although it does not happen within the text below, but it was very frequent in the previous verses, the verbs in capital letters are called HISTORICAL PRESENTS. That is when a verb in a past tense is expected, but a verb in the present tense is given. This special characteristic of some of the verbs has been explained elsewhere in these writings, and it may be helpful to read some of the other writings of this website. With all of the above things to consider, it will probably be helpful to have another translation or a study bible nearby as you read the text below.

What follows is an EXTREMELY literal translation of some of what could be called the third and last part of the eleventh chapter of the Gospel according to John (11:45-57); these are the ramifications after the resurrection of Lazarus:

Therefore  many  out-of  the  Jews,  the-ones  having-come  toward  the  Mariam  and  having-beheld  the-thing-which  he-did,  they-believed  into  him.  Now  some  out-of  them,  they-came-away  toward  the  Pharisees,  and  they-said  to-them  the-things-which  he-did,  Jesus.

Therefore  they-synagogued,  the  archpriests  and  the  Pharisees,  a-Sanhedrin,  and  they-were-saying,  “What  are-we-doing,  because  this,  the  man,  many(!)  he-does  signs.  If  we-allow  him  thus,  all  will-believe  into  him,  and  they-will-come,  the  Romans,  and  they-will-take  of-us  both  the  place  and  the  ethnos.” 

Now  one,  a-certain-one  out-of  them,  Caiphas,  archpriest  being  of-the  year,  that-one,  he-said  to-them,  “You,  not  you-know  anything,  nor  do-you-consider  that  It-is-better  for-you  that  one  anthropoid  should-die  on-behalf  of-the  people,  and  not  whole(!),  the  ethnic  be-destroyed.”  Now  this,  from  himself,  not  he-said,  but-on-the-contrary,  archpriest  being  of-the  year,  that,  he-prophesied  that  he-was-about-to,  Jesus,  to-die  on-behalf-of  the  ethnos.  And  not  on-behalf-of  the  ethnos  mono,  but-on-the-contrary,  in-order-that  also  the  children  of-the  God,  the-ones  having-been-scattered,  he-might-synagogue  into  one. ​

Therefore  from  that,  the  day,  they-took-counsel  in-order-that  they-might-kill  him.  Therefore  the  Jesus  no-longer  openly  walked-around  in  the  Jews,  but-on-the-contrary,  he-came-away  from-there  into  the  land  near  the  wilderness,  into  Ephraim,  being-called,  a-city,  and-there  he-remained  with  the  disciples.

Now  it-was  near,  the  Pascha  of-the  Jews,  and  they-went-up,  many,  into  Jerusalem,  out-of  the  land  pro  the  Pascha,  in-order-that  they-might-purify  themselves.  Therefore  they-were-seeking  the  Jesus,  and  they-were-saying  with  one-another  in  the  temple,  standing,  “What  does-it-seem  to-you,  that  certainly  not  he-will-come  into  the  Feast?”  Now  they-had-given,  the  archpriests  and  the  Pharisees,  commandments  in-order-that,  if  anyone  knows  where  he-is,  he-should-inform,  so-that  they-might-arrest  him.