Matthew26

¹ When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples,

² “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.”

³ At that time the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the courtyard of the high priest named Caiaphas;

⁴ and they plotted together to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.

⁵ But they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.”

⁶ Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the Leper,

⁷ a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume, and she poured it on His head as He was reclining at the table.

⁸ But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste?

⁹ For this perfume could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you bothering the woman? For she has done a good deed for Me.

¹¹ For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.

¹² For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.

¹³ Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

¹⁵ and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.

¹⁶ And from then on he looked for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.

¹⁷ Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

¹⁸ And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am keeping the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’”

¹⁹ The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

²⁰ Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve.

²¹ And as they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.”

²² Being deeply grieved, they began saying to Him, each one: “Surely it is not I, Lord?”

²³ And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me.

²⁴ The Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

²⁵ And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”

²⁶ Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

²⁷ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;

²⁸ for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

²⁹ But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it with you, new, in My Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰ And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

³² But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

³³ But Peter replied to Him, “Even if they all fall away because of You, I will never fall away!”

³⁴ Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

³⁵ Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” All the disciples said the same thing as well.

³⁶ Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

³⁷ And He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and began to be grieved and distressed.

³⁸ Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

³⁹ And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

⁴⁰ And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?

⁴¹ Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done.”

⁴³ Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

⁴⁴ And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

⁴⁵ Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁶ Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!”

⁴⁷ And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people.

⁴⁸ Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign previously, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; arrest Him.”

⁴⁹ And immediately Judas went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.

⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested Him.

⁵¹ And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.

⁵² Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword.

⁵³ Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

⁵⁴ How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

⁵⁵ At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a man inciting a revolt? Every day I used to sit within the temple grounds teaching, and you did not arrest Me.

⁵⁶ But all this has taken place so that the Scriptures of the prophets will be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left Him and fled.

⁵⁷ Those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.

⁵⁸ But Peter was following Him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and he came inside and sat down with the officers to see the outcome.

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests and the entire Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death.

⁶⁰ They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward,

⁶¹ and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’”

⁶² The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You offer no answer for what these men are testifying against You?”

⁶³ But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I place You under oath by the living God, to tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴ Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵ Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? See, you have now heard the blasphemy;

⁶⁶ what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!”

⁶⁷ Then they spit in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him,

⁶⁸ and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?”

⁶⁹ Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a slave woman came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”

⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.”

⁷¹ When he had gone out to the gateway, another slave woman saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷² And again he denied it, with an oath: “I do not know the man.”

⁷³ A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “You really are one of them as well, since even the way you talk gives you away.”

⁷⁴ Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the Man!” And immediately a rooster crowed.

⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the statement that Jesus had made: “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.