Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Festival.^(A) Jesus knew that the hour had come^(B) for him to leave this world and go to the Father.^(C) Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.^{(D) 3} Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power,^(E) and that he had come from God^(F) and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.^{(G) 5} After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet,^(H) drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”^(I)

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean,^(J) though not every one of you.”^{(K) 11} For he knew who was going to betray him,^(L) and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’^(M) and ‘Lord,’^(N) and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.^{(O) 15} I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.^{(P) 16} Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master,^(Q) nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.^(R)

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

¹⁸ “I am not referring to all of you;^(S) I know those I have chosen.^(T) But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture:^(U) ‘He who shared my bread^(V) has turned^[a](W) against me.’^[b](X)

¹⁹ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe^(Y) that I am who I am.^{(Z) 20} Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”^(AA)

²¹ After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit^(AB) and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”^(AC)

²² His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. ²³ One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved,^(AD) was reclining next to him. ²⁴ Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

²⁵ Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”^(AE)

²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas,^(AF) the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.^(AG)

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” ²⁸ But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹ Since Judas had charge of the money,^(AH) some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival,^(AI) or to give something to the poor.^{(AJ) 30} As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.^(AK)

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial^(AL)

³¹ When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man^(AM) is glorified^(AN) and God is glorified in him.^{(AO) 32} If God is glorified in him,^[c] God will glorify the Son in himself,^(AP) and will glorify him at once.

³³ “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.^(AQ)

³⁴ “A new command^(AR) I give you: Love one another.^(AS) As I have loved you, so you must love one another.^{(AT) 35} By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”^(AU)

³⁶ Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”^(AV)

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now,^(AW) but you will follow later.”^(AX)

³⁷ Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

³⁸ Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!^(AY)

The Passover^(A)

16 Observe the month of Aviv^(B) and celebrate the Passover^(C) of the Lord your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night. ² Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name.^{(D) 3} Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction,^(E) because you left Egypt in haste^(F)—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.^{(G) 4} Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening^(H) of the first day remain until morning.^(I)

⁵ You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you ⁶ except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary^[a](J) of your departure from Egypt. ⁷ Roast^(K) it and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents. ⁸ For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly^(L) to the Lord your God and do no work.^(M)

The Festival of Weeks^(N)

⁹ Count off seven weeks^(O) from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.^{(P) 10} Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you. ¹¹ And rejoice^(Q) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name^(R)—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites^(S) in your towns, and the foreigners,^(T) the fatherless and the widows living among you.^{(U) 12} Remember that you were slaves in Egypt,^(V) and follow carefully these decrees.

The Festival of Tabernacles^(W)

¹³ Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor^(X) and your winepress.^{(Y) 14} Be joyful^(Z) at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. ¹⁵ For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy^(AA) will be complete.

¹⁶ Three times a year all your men must appear^(AB) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread,^(AC) the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles.^(AD) No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed:^{(AE) 17} Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

Judges

¹⁸ Appoint judges^(AF) and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.^{(AG) 19} Do not pervert justice^(AH) or show partiality.^(AI) Do not accept a bribe,^(AJ) for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. ²⁰ Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Worshiping Other Gods

²¹ Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole^(AK) beside the altar you build to the Lord your God,^{(AL) 22} and do not erect a sacred stone,^(AM) for these the Lord your God hates.

17 Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect^(AN) or flaw in it, for that would be detestable^(AO) to him.^(AP)

² If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant,^{(AQ) 3} and contrary to my command^(AR) has worshiped other gods,^(AS) bowing down to them or to the sun^(AT) or the moon or the stars in the sky,^{(AU) 4} and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true^(AV) and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,^{(AW) 5} take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.^{(AX) 6} On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.^{(AY) 7} The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death,^(AZ) and then the hands of all the people.^(BA) You must purge the evil^(BB) from among you.

Law Courts

⁸ If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge^(BC)—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults^(BD)—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.^{(BE) 9} Go to the Levitical^(BF) priests and to the judge^(BG) who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.^{(BH) 10} You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. ¹¹ Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.^{(BI) 12} Anyone who shows contempt^(BJ) for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering^(BK) there to the Lord your God is to be put to death.^(BL) You must purge the evil from Israel.^{(BM) 13} All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.^(BN)

The King

¹⁴ When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession^(BO) of it and settled in it,^(BP) and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”^{(BQ) 15} be sure to appoint^(BR) over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites.^(BS) Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses^(BT) for himself^(BU) or make the people return to Egypt^(BV) to get more of them,^(BW) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”^{(BX) 17} He must not take many wives,^(BY) or his heart will be led astray.^(BZ) He must not accumulate^(CA) large amounts of silver and gold.^(CB)

¹⁸ When he takes the throne^(CC) of his kingdom, he is to write^(CD) for himself on a scroll a copy^(CE) of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life^(CF) so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees^{(CG) 20} and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law^(CH) to the right or to the left.^(CI) Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.^(CJ)

Offerings for Priests and Levites

18 The Levitical^(CK) priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings^(CL) presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance.^{(CM) 2} They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,^(CN) as he promised them.^(CO)

³ This is the share due the priests^(CP) from the people who sacrifice a bull^(CQ) or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head.^{(CR) 4} You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep,^{(CS) 5} for the Lord your God has chosen them^(CT) and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister^(CU) in the Lord’s name always.^(CV)

⁶ If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose,^{(CW) 7} he may minister in the name^(CX) of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord. ⁸ He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.^(CY)

Occult Practices

⁹ When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate^(CZ) the detestable ways^(DA) of the nations there. ¹⁰ Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire,^(DB) who practices divination^(DC) or sorcery,^(DD) interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,^{(DE) 11} or casts spells,^(DF) or who is a medium or spiritist^(DG) or who consults the dead. ¹² Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.^{(DH) 13} You must be blameless^(DI) before the Lord your God.^(DJ)

The Prophet

¹⁴ The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination.^(DK) But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. ¹⁵ The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites.^(DL) You must listen to him. ¹⁶ For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”^(DM)

¹⁷ The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet^(DN) like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words^(DO) in his mouth.^(DP) He will tell them everything I command him.^{(DQ) 19} I myself will call to account^(DR) anyone who does not listen^(DS) to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.^{(DT) 20} But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods,^(DU) is to be put to death.”^(DV)

²¹ You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” ²² If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true,^(DW) that is a message the Lord has not spoken.^(DX) That prophet has spoken presumptuously,^(DY) so do not be alarmed.