The Plan to Kill Jesus

26 After Jesus finished saying all these things, he told his followers, ² “You know that the day after tomorrow is the day of the Passover Feast. On that day the Son of Man will be given to his enemies to be crucified.”

³ Then the leading priests and the elders had a meeting at the palace of the high priest, named Caiaphas. ⁴ At the meeting, they planned to set a trap to arrest Jesus and kill him. ⁵ But they said, “We must not do it during the feast, because the people might cause a riot.”

Perfume for Jesus’ Burial

⁶ Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, who had a skin disease. ⁷ While Jesus was there, a woman approached him with an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. She poured this perfume on Jesus’ head while he was eating.

⁸ His followers were upset when they saw the woman do this. They asked, “Why waste that perfume? ⁹ It could have been sold for a great deal of money and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Knowing what had happened, Jesus said, “Why are you troubling this woman? She did an excellent thing for me. ¹¹ You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. ¹² This woman poured perfume on my body to prepare me for burial. ¹³ I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached in all the world, what this woman has done will be told, and people will remember her.”

Judas Becomes an Enemy of Jesus

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve apostles, Judas Iscariot, went to talk to the leading priests. ¹⁵ He said, “What will you pay me for giving Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty silver coins. ¹⁶ After that, Judas watched for the best time to turn Jesus in.

Jesus Eats the Passover Meal

¹⁷ On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the followers came to Jesus. They said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?”

¹⁸ Jesus answered, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: “The chosen time is near. I will have the Passover with my followers at your house.”’” ¹⁹ The followers did what Jesus told them to do, and they prepared the Passover meal.

²⁰ In the evening Jesus was sitting at the table with his twelve followers. ²¹ As they were eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will turn against me.”

²² This made the followers very sad. Each one began to say to Jesus, “Surely, Lord, I am not the one who will turn against you, am I?”

²³ Jesus answered, “The man who has dipped his hand with me into the bowl is the one who will turn against me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will die, just as the Scriptures say. But how terrible it will be for the person who hands the Son of Man over to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”

²⁵ Then Judas, who would give Jesus to his enemies, said to Jesus, “Teacher, surely I am not the one, am I?”

Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”

The Lord’s Supper

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and thanked God for it and broke it. Then he gave it to his followers and said, “Take this bread and eat it; this is my body.”

²⁷ Then Jesus took a cup and thanked God for it and gave it to the followers. He said, “Every one of you drink this. ²⁸ This is my blood which is the new^[a] agreement that God makes with his people. This blood is poured out for many to forgive their sins. ²⁹ I tell you this: I will not drink of this fruit of the vine^[b] again until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

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

Jesus’ Followers Will Leave Him

³¹ Jesus told his followers, “Tonight you will all stumble in your faith on account of me, because it is written in the Scriptures:

³² But after I rise from the dead, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

³³ Peter said, “Everyone else may stumble in their faith because of you, but I will not.”

³⁴ Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, tonight before the rooster crows you will say three times that you don’t know me.”

³⁵ But Peter said, “I will never say that I don’t know you! I will even die with you!” And all the other followers said the same thing.

Jesus Prays Alone

³⁶ Then Jesus went with his followers to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, and he began to be very sad and troubled. ³⁸ He said to them, “My heart is full of sorrow, to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me.”

³⁹ After walking a little farther away from them, Jesus fell to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, do not give me this cup^[c] of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want.” ⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back to his followers and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “You men could not stay awake with me for one hour? ⁴¹ Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. The spirit wants to do what is right, but the body is weak.”

⁴² Then Jesus went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this painful thing to be taken from me, and if I must do it, I pray that what you want will be done.”

⁴³ Then he went back to his followers, and again he found them asleep, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So Jesus left them and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing.

⁴⁵ Then Jesus went back to his followers and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinful people. ⁴⁶ Get up, we must go. Look, here comes the man who has turned against me.”

Jesus Is Arrested

⁴⁷ While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles, came up. With him were many people carrying swords and clubs who had been sent from the leading priests and the Jewish elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Judas had planned to give them a signal, saying, “The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him.” ⁴⁹ At once Judas went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Teacher!” and kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus answered, “Friend, do what you came to do.”

Then the people came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹ When that happened, one of Jesus’ followers reached for his sword and pulled it out. He struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

⁵² Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. All who use swords will be killed with swords. ⁵³ Surely you know I could ask my Father, and he would give me more than twelve armies of angels. ⁵⁴ But it must happen this way to bring about what the Scriptures say.”

⁵⁵ Then Jesus said to the crowd, “You came to get me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal. Every day I sat in the Temple teaching, and you did not arrest me there. ⁵⁶ But all these things have happened so that it will come about as the prophets wrote.” Then all of Jesus’ followers left him and ran away.

Jesus Before the Leaders

⁵⁷ Those people who arrested Jesus led him to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders were gathered. ⁵⁸ Peter followed far behind to the courtyard of the high priest’s house, and he sat down with the guards to see what would happen to Jesus.

⁵⁹ The leading priests and the whole Jewish council tried to find something false against Jesus so they could kill him. ⁶⁰ Many people came and told lies about him, but the council could find no real reason to kill him. Then two people came and said, ⁶¹ “This man said, ‘I can destroy the Temple of God and build it again in three days.’”

⁶² Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Aren’t you going to answer? Don’t you have something to say about their charges against you?” ⁶³ But Jesus said nothing.

Again the high priest said to Jesus, “I command you by the power of the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴ Jesus answered, “Those are your words. But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One, and coming on clouds in the sky.”

⁶⁵ When the high priest heard this, he tore his clothes and said, “This man has said things that are against God! We don’t need any more witnesses; you all heard him say these things against God. ⁶⁶ What do you think?”

The people answered, “He should die.”

⁶⁷ Then the people there spat in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. Others slapped him. ⁶⁸ They said, “Prove to us that you are a prophet, you Christ! Tell us who hit you!”

Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus

⁶⁹ At that time, as Peter was sitting in the courtyard, a servant girl came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”

⁷⁰ But Peter said to all the people there that he was never with Jesus. He said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

⁷¹ When he left the courtyard and was at the gate, another girl saw him. She said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷² Again, Peter said he was never with him, saying, “I swear I don’t know this man Jesus!”

⁷³ A short time later, some people standing there went to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of those who followed Jesus. The way you talk shows it.”

⁷⁴ Then Peter began to place a curse on himself and swear, “I don’t know the man.” At once, a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went outside and cried painfully.

The Plan to Kill Jesus

14 It was now only two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and teachers of the law were trying to find a trick to arrest Jesus and kill him. ² But they said, “We must not do it during the feast, because the people might cause a riot.”

A Woman with Perfume for Jesus

³ Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, who had a skin disease. While Jesus was eating there, a woman approached him with an alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She opened the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head.

⁴ Some who were there became upset and said to each other, “Why waste that perfume? ⁵ It was worth a full year’s work. It could have been sold and the money given to the poor.” And they got very angry with the woman.

⁶ Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you troubling her? She did an excellent thing for me. ⁷ You will always have the poor with you, and you can help them anytime you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ This woman did the only thing she could do for me; she poured perfume on my body to prepare me for burial. ⁹ I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached in all the world, what this woman has done will be told, and people will remember her.”

Judas Becomes an Enemy of Jesus

¹⁰ One of the twelve apostles, Judas Iscariot, went to talk to the leading priests to offer to hand Jesus over to them. ¹¹ These priests were pleased about this and promised to pay Judas money. So he watched for the best time to turn Jesus in.

Jesus Eats the Passover Meal

¹² It was now the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread when the Passover lamb was sacrificed. Jesus’ followers said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?”

¹³ Jesus sent two of his followers and said to them, “Go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴ When he goes into a house, tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says: “Where is my guest room in which I can eat the Passover meal with my followers?”’ ¹⁵ The owner will show you a large room upstairs that is furnished and ready. Prepare the food for us there.”

¹⁶ So the followers left and went into the city. Everything happened as Jesus had said, so they prepared the Passover meal.

¹⁷ In the evening, Jesus went to that house with the twelve. ¹⁸ While they were all eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will turn against me—one of you eating with me now.”

¹⁹ The followers were very sad to hear this. Each one began to say to Jesus, “I am not the one, am I?”

²⁰ Jesus answered, “It is one of the twelve—the one who dips his bread into the bowl with me. ²¹ The Son of Man will die, just as the Scriptures say. But how terrible it will be for the person who hands the Son of Man over to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”

The Lord’s Supper

²² While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and thanked God for it and broke it. Then he gave it to his followers and said, “Take it; this is my body.”

²³ Then Jesus took a cup and thanked God for it and gave it to the followers, and they all drank from the cup.

²⁴ Then Jesus said, “This is my blood which is the new^[a] agreement that God makes with his people. This blood is poured out for many. ²⁵ I tell you the truth, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine^[b] again 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.

Jesus’ Followers Will Leave Him

²⁷ Then Jesus told the followers, “You will all stumble in your faith, because it is written in the Scriptures:

²⁸ But after I rise from the dead, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

²⁹ Peter said, “Everyone else may stumble in their faith, but I will not.”

³⁰ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, tonight before the rooster crows twice you will say three times you don’t know me.”

³¹ But Peter insisted, “I will never say that I don’t know you! I will even die with you!” And all the other followers said the same thing.

Jesus Prays Alone

³² Jesus and his followers went to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be very sad and troubled. ³⁴ He said to them, “My heart is full of sorrow, to the point of death. Stay here and watch.”

³⁵ After walking a little farther away from them, Jesus fell to the ground and prayed that, if possible, he would not have this time of suffering. ³⁶ He prayed, “Abba,^[c] Father! You can do all things. Take away this cup^[d] of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want.”

³⁷ Then Jesus went back to his followers and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour? ³⁸ Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. The spirit wants to do what is right, but the body is weak.”

³⁹ Again Jesus went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰ Then he went back to his followers, and again he found them asleep, because their eyes were very heavy. And they did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹ After Jesus prayed a third time, he went back to his followers and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That’s enough. The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinful people. ⁴² Get up, we must go. Look, here comes the man who has turned against me.”

Jesus Is Arrested

⁴³ At once, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles, came up. With him were many people carrying swords and clubs who had been sent from the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish elders.

⁴⁴ Judas had planned a signal for them, saying, “The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him and guard him while you lead him away.” ⁴⁵ So Judas went straight to Jesus and said, “Teacher!” and kissed him. ⁴⁶ Then the people grabbed Jesus and arrested him. ⁴⁷ One of his followers standing nearby pulled out his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said, “You came to get me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal. ⁴⁹ Every day I was with you teaching in the Temple, and you did not arrest me there. But all these things have happened to make the Scriptures come true.” ⁵⁰ Then all of Jesus’ followers left him and ran away.

⁵¹ A young man, wearing only a linen cloth, was following Jesus, and the people also grabbed him. ⁵² But the cloth he was wearing came off, and he ran away naked.

Jesus Before the Leaders

⁵³ The people who arrested Jesus led him to the house of the high priest, where all the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of the law were gathered. ⁵⁴ Peter followed far behind and entered the courtyard of the high priest’s house. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire.

⁵⁵ The leading priests and the whole Jewish council tried to find something that Jesus had done wrong so they could kill him. But the council could find no proof of anything. ⁵⁶ Many people came and told false things about him, but all said different things—none of them agreed.

⁵⁷ Then some people stood up and lied about Jesus, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard this man say, ‘I will destroy this Temple that people made. And three days later, I will build another Temple not made by people.’” ⁵⁹ But even the things these people said did not agree.

⁶⁰ Then the high priest stood before them and asked Jesus, “Aren’t you going to answer? Don’t you have something to say about their charges against you?” ⁶¹ But Jesus said nothing; he did not answer.

The high priest asked Jesus another question: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed God?”

⁶² Jesus answered, “I am. And in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One, and coming on clouds in the sky.”

⁶³ When the high priest heard this, he tore his clothes and said, “We don’t need any more witnesses! ⁶⁴ You all heard him say these things against God. What do you think?”

They all said that Jesus was guilty and should die. ⁶⁵ Some of the people there began to spit at Jesus. They blindfolded him and beat him with their fists and said, “Prove you are a prophet!” Then the guards led Jesus away and beat him.

Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus

⁶⁶ While Peter was in the courtyard, a servant girl of the high priest came there. ⁶⁷ She saw Peter warming himself at the fire and looked closely at him.

Then she said, “You also were with Jesus, that man from Nazareth.”

⁶⁸ But Peter said that he was never with Jesus. He said, “I don’t know or understand what you are talking about.” Then Peter left and went toward the entrance of the courtyard. And the rooster crowed.^[e]

⁶⁹ The servant girl saw Peter there, and again she said to the people who were standing nearby, “This man is one of those who followed Jesus.” ⁷⁰ Again Peter said that it was not true.

A short time later, some people were standing near Peter saying, “Surely you are one of those who followed Jesus, because you are from Galilee, too.”

⁷¹ Then Peter began to place a curse on himself and swear, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”

⁷² At once, the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter lost control of himself and began to cry.