The Anointing at Bethany

³ While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.⁴But some were there who said to one another in anger, ‘Why was the ointment wasted in this way?⁵For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.’ And they scolded her.⁶But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me.⁷For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.⁸She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.⁹Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’

Personal Greetings

¹⁶I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae,²so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well. ³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus,⁴and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.⁵Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ.⁶Greet Mary, who has worked very hard among you.⁷Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.¹²Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.¹³Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; and greet his mother—a mother to me also.¹⁵Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.¹⁶Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.