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Gospel Reading - Anointing for burial

¹ When Jesus had finished this talk with his disciples, he told them,

² “As you know, the Passover celebration begins in two days, and I^a shall be betrayed and crucified.”

³At that very moment the chief priests and other Jewish officials were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas the high priest, ⁴to discuss ways of capturing Jesus quietly and killing him. ⁵“But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “for there would be a riot.”

⁶Jesus now proceeded to Bethany, to the home of Simon the leper. ⁷While he was eating, a woman came in with a bottle of very expensive perfume and poured it over his head.

^8-9The disciples were indignant. “What a waste of good money,” they said. “Why, she could have sold it for a fortune and given it to the poor.”

¹⁰Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why are you criticizing her? For she has done a good thing to me. ¹¹You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me. ¹²She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. ¹³And she will always be remembered for this deed. The story of what she has done will be told throughout the whole world, wherever the Good News is preached.”

¹⁴Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles, went to the chief priests ¹⁵and asked, “How much will you pay me to get Jesus into your hands?” And they gave him thirty silver coins.

1. Literally, “the Son of Man.”