MatthewChapter 26

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¹Jesus finished saying all these things. Then he told his disciples, ²"You know that the Passover is two days from now. And the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." ³At that time the chief priests and the elders of the people met together. They met in the courtyard of the high priest. His name was Caiaphas. ⁴They made a secret plan to arrest Jesus and kill him. ⁵"But not during the feast," they said. "The people might start a riot." ⁶Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper. ⁷A woman came to him with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume. Jesus was leaning at the table to eat. She poured the perfume on his head. ⁸When the disciples saw this, they were angry. "Why waste this?" they asked. ⁹"This perfume could have been sold for a lot of money. Then the money could have been given to the poor." ¹⁰Jesus knew what they were saying. He asked, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. ¹¹You will always have the poor with you. But you will not always have me. ¹²She poured this perfume on my body. By doing this, she has made me ready to be buried. ¹³I tell you the truth, this good news will be preached all over the world. And wherever it is, what she has done will also be told. People will remember her." ¹⁴Then one of the Twelve went to the chief priests. He was the one called Judas Iscariot. ¹⁵He asked, "What will you give me if I hand Jesus over to you?" So they counted out thirty pieces of silver for him. ¹⁶From then on, Judas watched for a chance to betray Jesus. ¹⁷It was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The disciples came to Jesus. "Where do you want us to get the Passover meal ready for you?" they asked. ¹⁸He answered, "Go into the city to a certain man. Tell him, 'The Teacher says: My time is near. I will celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'" ¹⁹So the disciples did what Jesus had told them. They got the Passover meal ready. ²⁰When evening came, Jesus was leaning at the table with the twelve disciples. ²¹While they were eating, he said to them, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me." ²²They were very sad. One by one they began to ask him, "Surely it isn't me, Lord?" ²³Jesus answered, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But how terrible it will be for the man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had never been born." ²⁵Judas, the one who would betray him, spoke up. "Surely it isn't me, Rabbi?" he asked. Jesus answered, "You have said it yourself." ²⁶While they were eating, Jesus took bread. He said a blessing and broke it. He gave it to the disciples and said, "Take and eat. This is my body." ²⁷Then he took the cup and gave thanks. He gave it to them and said, "All of you drink from it. ²⁸This is my blood of the covenant. It is poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹I tell you, I will not drink this fruit of the vine again until a certain day. On that day I will drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." ³⁰Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. ³¹Then Jesus said to them, "This very night all of you will fall away because of me. It is written,
'I will strike the Shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' ³²But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." ³³Peter said to him, "Even if all the others fall away because of you, I never will." ³⁴"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered. "This very night, before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don't know me." ³⁵But Peter said, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never say I don't know you." And all the other disciples said the same thing. ³⁶Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane. He told them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." ³⁷He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. He began to be very sad and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, "My soul is so full of sorrow that I feel close to death. Stay here and keep watch with me." ³⁹He went on a little farther. Then he fell with his face to the ground and prayed. "My Father, if it is possible, take this cup away from me. But let it be what you want, not what I want." ⁴⁰Then Jesus came back to the disciples. He found them sleeping. "Couldn't you keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. ⁴¹"Watch and pray so that you won't fall into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak." ⁴²He went away a second time and prayed. "My Father," he said, "if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, may what you want be done." ⁴³Jesus came back again. He found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So he left them and went away once more. He prayed a third time, saying the same thing. ⁴⁵Then he came back to the disciples. He said, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near. The Son of Man is being handed over to sinners. ⁴⁶Get up! Let's go! Look, the one who is betraying me is coming!" ⁴⁷Jesus was still speaking when Judas came. He was one of the Twelve. A large crowd was with him. They carried swords and clubs. The chief priests and the elders of the people had sent them. ⁴⁸Now Judas, the betrayer, had given them a signal. "The one I kiss is the man," he had said. "Arrest him." ⁴⁹Judas went straight to Jesus. "Greetings, Rabbi!" he said. And he kissed him. ⁵⁰Jesus answered, "Friend, do what you came to do." Then the men stepped forward. They grabbed Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹At that, one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword. He struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. ⁵²"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him. "For all who use the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³Don't you know I could call on my Father? He would send me more than twelve armies of angels right away.a ⁵⁴But then how would the Scriptures come true? They say it must happen this way." ⁵⁵At that time Jesus spoke to the crowd. "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me?" he asked. "Do you think I'm an outlaw? Every day I sat teaching in the temple courts. And you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶But all this has happened so that what the prophets wrote would come true." Then all the disciples left him and ran away. ⁵⁷The men who had arrested Jesus took him to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. The scribes and the elders had gathered there. ⁵⁸But Peter followed him from far away. He went right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He went in and sat down with the guards. He wanted to see what would happen. ⁵⁹The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false witnesses against Jesus. They wanted to put him to death. ⁶⁰But they did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two men came forward. ⁶¹They said, "This man said, 'I can destroy the temple of God and build it again in three days.'" ⁶²Then the high priest stood up. He asked Jesus, "Aren't you going to answer? What are these men saying against you?" ⁶³But Jesus stayed quiet. The high priest said to him, "I order you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God." ⁶⁴"You have said it yourself," Jesus answered. "But I say to all of you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power. You will see him coming on the clouds of heaven." ⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothes. "He has spoken against God!" he said. "Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard him speak against God. ⁶⁶What do you think?" "He deserves to die," they answered. ⁶⁷Then they spit in his face and hit him with their fists. Others slapped him. ⁶⁸They said, "Prophesy to us, Messiah! Who hit you?" ⁶⁹Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. A servant girl came up to him. "You were with Jesus of Galilee too," she said. ⁷⁰But in front of all of them, Peter said it wasn't true. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. ⁷¹Then Peter went out to the gate. There another servant girl saw him. She said to the people there, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." ⁷²Again he said it wasn't true. He swore an oath and said, "I don't know the man!" ⁷³A little while later, those standing nearby came up to Peter. "You must be one of them," they said. "The way you talk gives you away." ⁷⁴Then Peter began to call down curses and swear to them. "I don't know the man!" he said. Right away a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: "Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don't know me." And Peter went outside and cried bitterly.