Jesus Before His Accusers

^53 (A)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, ^(B)right into ^(C)the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the ^[a]officers and ^(D)warming himself at the ^[b]fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole ^[c](E)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, ‘^(F)I will destroy this ^[d]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 (G)But He kept silent and did not answer. ^(H)Again the high priest was questioning Him and *said to Him, “Are You the ^[e]Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see ^(I)the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and ^(J)coming with the clouds of heaven.” ^63 (K)And tearing his tunics, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? ⁶⁴ You have heard the ^(L)blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. ⁶⁵ And some began to ^(M)spit at Him, and ^[f](N)to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “^(O)Prophesy!” And the officers ^[g]received Him with ^[h]slaps in the face.