The Plot to Kill Jesus

14 ^(A)Now ^(B)the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes ^(C)were seeking how, after seizing Him in secret, they might kill Him; ² for they were saying, “Not during the festival, lest there be a riot of the people.”

The Costly Perfume

^3 (D)And while He was in ^(E)Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster jar of perfume of very ^(F)costly pure ^[a]nard; and she broke the jar 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 given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She did a good work to Me. ⁷ For you always have ^(G)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; ^(H)she anointed My body beforehand for the burial. ⁹ And truly I say to you, ^(I)wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman did will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

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

The Passover Meal

^12 (L)And on the first day of ^(M)Unleavened Bread, when ^[d]the Passover lamb was being ^(N)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 ^(O)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 And the disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

^17 (P)And when it was evening He *came with the twelve. ¹⁸ And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will ^[e]betray Me—the 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, the 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 ^[f]by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good ^[g]for that man if he had not been born.”

The Lord’s Supper

^22 (Q)And while they were eating, He took some bread, and ^[h]after a ^(R)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 ^(S)blood of the ^(T)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 (U)And after singing a hymn, they went out to ^(V)the Mount of Olives.

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

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

^32 (AB)Then 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 James and John, and began to be very ^(AC)distressed and troubled. ³⁴ And He *said to them, “^(AD)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, ^(AE)the hour might pass from Him. ³⁶ And He was saying, “^(AF)Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; ^(AG)yet not what I will, but what You will.” ³⁷ And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not keep watch for one hour? ^38 (AH)Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹ And again He went away and prayed, saying the same ^[k]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, “^[l]Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; ^(AI)the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being ^[m]betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Get up, let us go; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

^43 (AJ)And immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up, and with him was 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 ^[n]under guard.” ⁴⁵ And after coming, Judas, having immediately gone to Him, *said, “^(AK)Rabbi!” and kissed Him. ⁴⁶ And 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 ^[o]cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ And Jesus answered and 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 ^(AL)in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place in order that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ And they all left Him and fled.

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

Jesus Before His Accusers

^53 (AM)Then they led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes *gathered together. ⁵⁴ And Peter followed Him at a distance, ^(AN)right into ^(AO)the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the ^[q]officers and ^(AP)warming himself at the ^[r]fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole ^[s](AQ)Sanhedrin were seeking 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 And some, standing up, were giving false testimony against Him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We ourselves heard Him say, ‘^(AR)I will destroy this ^[t]sanctuary made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” ⁵⁹ And not even in this way was their testimony consistent. ⁶⁰ And the high priest stood up in their midst and questioned Jesus, saying, “You answer nothing? What are these men testifying against You?” ^61 (AS)But He kept silent and did not answer. ^(AT)Again the high priest was questioning Him and *said to Him, “Are You the ^[u]Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see ^(AU)the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and ^(AV)coming with the clouds of heaven.” ^63 (AW)And tearing his tunics, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? ⁶⁴ You have heard the ^(AX)blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. ⁶⁵ And some began to ^(AY)spit at Him, and ^[v](AZ)to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “^(BA)Prophesy!” And the officers ^[w]received Him with ^[x]slaps in the face.

Peter’s Denials

^66 (BB)And as Peter was below in ^(BC)the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest *came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter ^(BD)warming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You also were with the ^(BE)Nazarene, Jesus.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he ^(BF)went out into the entryway.^{[y] 69} And when the servant-girl saw him, she began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!” ⁷⁰ But again ^(BG)he was denying it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, ^(BH)for you are also a Galilean.” ⁷¹ But he began to ^[z]curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” ⁷² And immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said the statement to him, “Before ^(BI)a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” ^[aa]And throwing himself down, he began to cry.