Death Plot and Anointing

¹Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; ² for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.”

³ While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure ^[a]nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. ⁴ But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? ⁵ For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred ^[b]denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. ⁷ For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. ⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. ⁹ Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to ^[c]betray Him to them. ¹¹ They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

The Last Passover

¹² On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when ^[d]the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples *said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹³ And He *sent two of His disciples and *said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; ¹⁴ and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” ¹⁶ The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷ When it was evening He *came with the twelve. ¹⁸ As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will ^[e]betray Me—^[f]one who is eating with Me.” ¹⁹ They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” ²⁰ And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, ^[g]one who dips with Me in the bowl. ²¹ For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man ^[h]by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good ^[i]for that man if he had not been born.”

The Lord’s Supper

²² While they were eating, He took some bread, and ^[j]after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” ²³ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵ Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

²⁷ And Jesus *said to them, “You will all ^[k]fall away, because it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ²⁹ But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may ^[l]fall away, yet I will not.” ³⁰ And Jesus *said to him, “Truly I say to you, that ^[m]this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” ³¹ But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also.

Jesus in Gethsemane

³² They *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” ³³ And He *took with Him Peter and ^[n]James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. ³⁴ And He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” ³⁵ And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might ^[o]pass Him by. ³⁶ And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” ³⁷ And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? ³⁸ Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹ Again He went away and prayed, saying the same ^[p]words. ⁴⁰ And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. ⁴¹ And He *came the third time, and *said to them, “^[q]Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being ^[r]betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

Betrayal and Arrest

⁴³ Immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up ^[s]accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. ⁴⁴ Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away ^[t]under guard.” ⁴⁵ After coming, Judas immediately went to Him, saying, “Rabbi!” and kissed Him. ⁴⁶ They laid hands on Him and seized Him. ⁴⁷ But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and ^[u]cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber? ⁴⁹ Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures.” ⁵⁰ And they all left Him and fled.

⁵¹ A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they *seized him. ⁵² But he ^[v]pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.

Jesus before His Accusers

⁵³ They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes *gathered together. ⁵⁴ Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the ^[w]officers and warming himself at the ^[x]fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole ^[y]Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. ⁵⁶ For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. ⁵⁷ Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this ^[z]temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” ⁵⁹ Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. ⁶⁰ The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? ^[aa]What is it that these men are testifying against You?” ⁶¹ But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and ^[ab]saying to Him, “Are You ^[ac]the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ Tearing his clothes, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? ⁶⁴ You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. ⁶⁵ Some began to spit at Him, and ^[ad]to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers ^[ae]received Him with ^[af]slaps in the face.

Peter’s Denials

⁶⁶ As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest *came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he went out onto the ^[ag]porch.^{[ah] 69} The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!” ⁷⁰ But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too.” ⁷¹ But he began to ^[ai]curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” ⁷² Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” ^[aj]And he began to weep.