May 23rd, 2026

​The extremely long season of Pentecost has officially begun, and this Sunday’s title is the Day of Pentecost. It may be said that it is tempting to preach on the Second Reading, that of the Pentecost event of Acts 2(:1-21). But this is the reading for every year of the Three-Year Series, as well as the One-Year Series. The Gospel Reading appointed for this year, Year A, is an extremely short one (John 7:37-39), and it mentions that the Spirit had not yet been given, so to talk about Pentecost and its Gospel-centeredness would fit in very well with the text.

It may be also said that, within the writings of this website, we are also currently going through the Gospel according to John, translating a section of the text at a time, in the order in which it appears in the text, without skipping any parts, so that by the end of the church year, during the month of November, we would be at the end of studying that Gospel account. We are currently a bit farther along in that Gospel account than the Gospel Reading. We are beginning what is usually called chapter twelve of that account. And that chapter, at its end, contains a significant halfway point within the progression of the account. But more on that later, God willing. The previous chapter dealt with the resurrection of Lazarus, and that miracle led to his enemies wanting Jesus dead. So the tension has definitely increased quite recently. And the important entrance into Jerusalem, which is below, is a strong testament to that.

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 the structure they imply is not always helpful. These numerical designations tend to focus the reader on the very beginning of the text, and that is usually not the most important thing to remember. (If this were a history lesson, then the beginning might be important.) The words are much more important, and within those words, the text usually has some sort of structure. And the important section tends to be near the end.

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”, “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 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 basically the first half of what has been called the twelfth chapter of the Gospel according to John (12:1-19), with Jesus on his way into Jerusalem:

Therefore  the  Jesus(!),  pro  hex  days  of-the  Pascha,  he-came  into  Bethany,  where  he-was,  Lazarus,  whom  he-raised  out-of  dead-ones,  Jesus.  Therefore  they-made  for-him  a-supper  there,  and  the  Martha  was-deaconing;  now  the  Lazarus,  one  he-was  out-of  the-ones  reclining  with  him;  therefore  the  Mariam(!),  having-taken  a-pound  of-ointment,  of-nard,  pure,  much-expense,  she-anointed  the  feet  of-the  Jesus,  and  she-wiped-off  with-the  hairs  of-her,  the  feet  of-him;  now  the  house  was-filled  out-of  the  odor  of-the  ointment.

Now  HE-SAYS,  Judas,  the  Iscariot,  one  out-of  the  disciples  of-him,  the-one  being-about  him  to-give-over,  “On-account-of  what,  this,  the  ointment,  not  was-sold  for-three-hundred  denarii  and  given  to-poor?”  Now  he-said  this,  not  because  about  the  poor  it-mattered  to-him,  but-on-the-contrary,  because  a-klepto  he-was,  and  the  moneybag  having,  the-things  being-thrown,  he-carried.

Therefore  he-said,  the  Jesus,  “Leave  her,  in-order-that  into  the  day  of-the  burial-preparation  of-me  she-may-keep  it;  for  the  poor  always  you-have  with  yourselves,  now  me,  not  always  you-have.”  Therefore  it-knew,  the  crowd,  great,  out-of  the  Jews,  that  there  he-is,  and  they-came,  not  on-account-of  the  Jesus  mono,  but-on-the-contrary,  in-order-that  also  the  Lazarus  they-might-see,  whom  he-raised  out-of  dead-ones.  Now  they-took-counsel,  the  archpriests,  in-order-that  also  the  Lazarus  they-might-kill,  because  many,  on-account-of  him,  they-were-going-away,  of-the  Jews,  and  they-were-believing  into  the  Jesus.

On-the  morrow,  the  crowd,  great,  the-one  having-come  into  the  feast,  having-heard  that  he-is-coming,  the  Jesus,  into  Jerusalem,  they-took  the  branches  of-the  palm-trees,  and  they-came-out  into  a-meeting  with-him,  and  they-were-shouting,  “Hosanna,  having-been-blessed,  the-one  coming  in  name  of-Lord,  and  the  king  of-the  Israel.”  Now  having-found,  the  Jesus,  a-young-donkey,  he-sat  upon  it,  just-as  it-is  having-been-written,  “Do-not  be-afraid,  daughter  of-Zion;  behold,  the  king  of-you,  he-is-coming,  sitting  upon  colt  of-a-donkey.”
​
These-things(!),  not  they-knew,  of-him  the  disciples,  the  proton,  but-on-the-contrary,  when  he-was-glorified,  Jesus,  then  they-remembered  that  these-things  were  upon  him,  having-been-written,  and  these-things  they-did  to-him.  Therefore  it-was-witnessing,  the  crowd,  the-one  being  with  him  when  the  Lazarus,  he-called  out-of  the  tomb,  and  he-raised  him  out-of  dead-ones.  On-account-of  this  also,  it-encountered  him,  the  crowd,  because  they-heard  this,  him  to-have-done,  the  sign.  Therefore  the  Pharisees  said  toward  themselves,  “Behold  that  not  you-are-profiting  nothing;  see,  the  cosmos,  after  him,  it-came-away.”