² I will catch up with him while he is weary and discouraged. He and his troops will panic, and everyone will run away. Then I will kill only the king,

³¹ Meanwhile, the king of Aram had issued these orders to his thirty-two chariot commanders: “Attack only the king of Israel. Don’t bother with anyone else!”

¹⁴ The king and all who were with him grew weary along the way, so they rested when they reached the Jordan River.^[a]

⁵⁰ You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

³¹ On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,

The Scattering of the Sheep

³⁸ “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’

¹⁸ They attacked you when you were exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were straggling behind. They had no fear of God.

⁴ Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

⁵ “Jesus the Nazarene,”^[a] they replied.

“I am he,”^[b] Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) ⁶ As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! ⁷ Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

⁸ “I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.”