Matthew 26:36-75

New American Standard Bible

The Garden of Gethsemane

^36 (A)Then Jesus *came with them to a place called ^[a](B)Gethsemane, and *told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ And He took ^(C)Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and began to be grieved and distressed. ³⁸ Then He *said to them, “^(D)My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and ^(E)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 ^(F)this cup pass from Me; ^(G)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 ^(H)keep watch with Me for one hour? ^41 (I)Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; ^(J)the spirit is ^[b]willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup ^(K)cannot pass away unless I drink from it, ^(L)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, “^[c]Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, ^(M)the hour ^[d]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!”

Jesus’ Betrayal and Arrest

^47 (N)And while He was still speaking, behold, ^(O)Judas, one of the twelve, came ^[e]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, ^(P)Rabbi!” and kissed Him. ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “^(Q)Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested Him.

⁵¹ And behold, ^(R)one of those who were with Jesus ^[f]reached and drew his ^(S)sword, and struck the ^(T)slave of the high priest and ^[g]cut off his ear. ⁵² Then Jesus *said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for ^(U)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 ^[h](V)legions of ^(W)angels? ⁵⁴ How then would ^(X)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? ^(Y)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 ^(Z)the Scriptures of the prophets will be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left Him and fled.

Jesus before Caiaphas

^57 (AA)Those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to ^(AB)Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. ⁵⁸ But ^(AC)Peter was following Him at a distance, as far as the ^(AD)courtyard of the high priest, and he came inside and sat down with the ^[i](AE)officers to see the outcome.

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests and the entire ^[j](AF)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 ^(AG)two came forward, ⁶¹ and said, “This man stated, ‘^(AH)I am able to destroy the ^[k]temple of God and to rebuild it ^[l]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 ^(AI)Jesus kept silent. ^(AJ)And the high priest said to Him, “I ^(AK)place You under oath by ^(AL)the living God, to tell us whether You are the ^[m]Christ, ^(AM)the Son of God.” ⁶⁴ Jesus *said to him, “^(AN)You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see ^(AO)the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and ^(AP)coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵ Then the high priest ^(AQ)tore his ^[n]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, “^(AR)He deserves death!”

^67 (AS)Then they ^(AT)spit in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others ^[o]slapped Him, ⁶⁸ and said, “^(AU)Prophesy to us, You ^[p]Christ; who is the one who hit You?”

Peter’s Denials

^69 (AV)Now Peter was sitting outside in the ^(AW)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, ^(AX)since even the way you talk ^[q]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 ^[r]made: “^(AY)Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.