Luke 22:31-71
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
31 [a]“Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you[b] like wheat,(A) 32 but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” 33 He said to him, “Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you.”(B) 34 But he replied, “I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that you know me.”(C)
Instructions for the Time of Crisis. 35 (D)He said to them, “When I sent you forth without a money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?” “No, nothing,” they replied. 36 (E)He said to them,[c] “But now one who has a money bag should take it, and likewise a sack, and one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one. 37 For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, namely, ‘He was counted among the wicked’; and indeed what is written about me is coming to fulfillment.”(F) 38 Then they said, “Lord, look, there are two swords here.” But he replied, “It is enough!”[d]
The Agony in the Garden.(G) 39 Then going out he went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 When he arrived at the place he said to them, “Pray that you may not undergo the test.”(H) 41 After withdrawing about a stone’s throw from them and kneeling, he prayed,(I) 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.”(J) [e] [43 And to strengthen him an angel from heaven appeared to him. 44 He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.] 45 When he rose from prayer and returned to his disciples, he found them sleeping from grief. 46 He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not undergo the test.”(K)
The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus.(L) 47 While he was still speaking, a crowd approached and in front was one of the Twelve, a man named Judas. He went up to Jesus to kiss him. 48 Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 His disciples realized what was about to happen, and they asked, “Lord, shall we strike with a sword?”(M) 50 And one of them struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear.(N) 51 [f]But Jesus said in reply, “Stop, no more of this!” Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him. 52 And Jesus said to the chief priests and temple guards and elders who had come for him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?(O) 53 Day after day I was with you in the temple area, and you did not seize me; but this is your hour, the time for the power of darkness.”(P)
Peter’s Denial of Jesus. 54 (Q)After arresting him they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest; Peter was following at a distance.(R) 55 They lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter sat down with them. 56 When a maid saw him seated in the light, she looked intently at him and said, “This man too was with him.” 57 But he denied it saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 A short while later someone else saw him and said, “You too are one of them”; but Peter answered, “My friend, I am not.” 59 About an hour later, still another insisted, “Assuredly, this man too was with him, for he also is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “My friend, I do not know what you are talking about.” Just as he was saying this, the cock crowed, 61 and the Lord turned and looked at Peter;[g] and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.”(S) 62 He went out and began to weep bitterly. 63 (T)The men who held Jesus in custody were ridiculing and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and questioned him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” 65 And they reviled him in saying many other things against him.
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin.[h] 66 (U)When day came the council of elders of the people met, both chief priests and scribes,(V) and they brought him before their Sanhedrin.[i] 67 They said, “If you are the Messiah, tell us,” but he replied to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe,(W) 68 and if I question, you will not respond. 69 But from this time on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”(X) 70 They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied to them, “You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further need have we for testimony? We have heard it from his own mouth.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 22:31–32 Jesus’ prayer for Simon’s faith and the commission to strengthen his brothers anticipates the post-resurrectional prominence of Peter in the first half of Acts, where he appears as the spokesman for the Christian community and the one who begins the mission to the Gentiles (Acts 10–11).
- 22:31 All of you: literally, “you.” The translation reflects the meaning of the Greek text that uses a second person plural pronoun here.
- 22:36 In contrast to the ministry of the Twelve and of the seventy-two during the period of Jesus (Lk 9:3; 10:4), in the future period of the church the missionaries must be prepared for the opposition they will face in a world hostile to their preaching.
- 22:38 It is enough!: the farewell discourse ends abruptly with these words of Jesus spoken to the disciples when they take literally what was intended as figurative language about being prepared to face the world’s hostility.
- 22:43–44 These verses, though very ancient, were probably not part of the original text of Luke. They are absent from the oldest papyrus manuscripts of Luke and from manuscripts of wide geographical distribution.
- 22:51 And healed him: only Luke recounts this healing of the injured servant.
- 22:61 Only Luke recounts that the Lord turned and looked at Peter. This look of Jesus leads to Peter’s weeping bitterly over his denial (Lk 22:62).
- 22:66–71 Luke recounts one daytime trial of Jesus (Lk 22:66–71) and hints at some type of preliminary nighttime investigation (Lk 22:54–65). Mark (and Matthew who follows Mark) has transferred incidents of this day into the nighttime interrogation with the result that there appear to be two Sanhedrin trials of Jesus in Mark (and Matthew); see note on Mk 14:53.
- 22:66 Sanhedrin: the word is a Hebraized form of a Greek word meaning a “council,” and refers to the elders, chief priests, and scribes who met under the high priest’s leadership to decide religious and legal questions that did not pertain to Rome’s interests. Jewish sources are not clear on the competence of the Sanhedrin to sentence and to execute during this period.
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