Matthew 26:1-16

Christian Standard Bible

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things,^(A) he told his disciples, ² “You know^[a] that the Passover takes place after two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”^(B)

³ Then the chief priests^[b] and the elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas,^{(C) 4} and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill him.^{(D) 5} “Not during the festival,” they said, “so there won’t be rioting among the people.”

The Anointing at Bethany

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon^(E) the leper,^{[c] 7} a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. ⁸ When the disciples^(F) saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for me. ¹¹ You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.^{(G) 12} By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel^(H) is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

¹⁴ Then^(I) one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests^{(J) 15} and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him.^{(K) 16} And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.