Love Your Enemies^(A)

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you not to oppose an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn your other cheek to him as well. ⁴⁰ If someone wants to sue you in order to take your shirt, let him have your coat too. ⁴¹ If someone forces you to go one mile, go two miles with him. ⁴² Give to everyone who asks you for something. Don’t turn anyone away who wants to borrow something from you.

Jesus Is Arrested^(A)

⁴⁷ Just then, while Yeshua was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles, arrived. A large crowd carrying swords and clubs was with him. They were from the chief priests and leaders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now, the traitor had given them a signal. He said, “The one I kiss is the man you want. Arrest him!”

⁴⁹ Then Judas quickly stepped up to Yeshua and said, “Hello, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

⁵⁰ Yeshua said to him, “Friend, why are you here?”

Then some men came forward, took hold of Yeshua, and arrested him. ⁵¹ Suddenly, one of the men with Yeshua pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of the chief priest’s servant. ⁵² Then Yeshua said to him, “Put your sword away! All who use a sword will be killed by a sword. ⁵³ Don’t you think that I could call on my Father to send more than twelve legions of angels to help me now? ⁵⁴ How, then, are the Scriptures to be fulfilled that say this must happen?”

⁵⁵ At that time Yeshua said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as if I were a criminal? I used to sit teaching in the temple courtyard every day. But you didn’t arrest me then. ⁵⁶ All of this has happened so that what the prophets have written would come true.”

Then all the disciples abandoned him and ran away.

The Trial in Front of the Jewish Council^(B)

⁵⁷ Those who had arrested Yeshua took him to Caiaphas, the chief priest, where the experts in Moses’ Teachings and the leaders had gathered together. ⁵⁸ Peter followed at a distance until he came to the chief priest’s courtyard. He went inside and sat with the guards to see how this would turn out.

⁵⁹ The chief priests and the whole council were searching for false testimony to use against Yeshua in order to execute him. ⁶⁰ But they did not find any, although many came forward with false testimony. At last two men came forward. ⁶¹ They stated, “This man said, ‘I can tear down God’s temple and rebuild it in three days.’”

⁶² The chief priest stood up and said to Yeshua, “Don’t you have any answer to what these men testify against you?”

⁶³ But Yeshua was silent.

Then the chief priest said to him, “Swear an oath in front of the living God and tell us, are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”

⁶⁴ Yeshua answered him, “Yes, I am. But I can guarantee that from now on you will see the Son of Man in the highest position in heaven. He will be coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵ Then the chief priest tore his robes in horror and said, “He has dishonored God! Why do we need any more witnesses? You’ve just heard him dishonor God! ⁶⁶ What’s your verdict?”

They answered, “He deserves the death penalty!”

⁶⁷ Then they spit in his face, hit him with their fists, and some of them slapped him. ⁶⁸ They said, “You Christ, if you’re a prophet, tell us who hit you.”

Peter Denies Jesus^(C)

⁶⁹ Peter was sitting in the courtyard. A female servant came to him and said, “You, too, were with Yeshua the Galilean.”

⁷⁰ But Peter denied it in front of them all by saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

⁷¹ As he went to the entrance, another female servant saw him. She told those who were there, “This man was with Yeshua from Nazareth.”

⁷² Again Peter denied it and swore with an oath, “I don’t know the man!”

⁷³ After a little while the men standing there approached Peter and said, “It’s obvious you’re also one of them. Your accent gives you away!”

⁷⁴ Then Peter began to curse and swear with an oath, “I don’t know the man!” Just then a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ Peter remembered what Yeshua had said: “Before a rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.

The Death of Judas

27 Early in the morning all the chief priests and the leaders of the people decided to execute Yeshua. ² They tied him up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

³ Then Judas, who had betrayed Yeshua, regretted what had happened when he saw that Yeshua was condemned. He brought the 30 silver coins back to the chief priests and leaders. ⁴ He said, “I’ve sinned by betraying an innocent man.”

They replied, “What do we care? That’s your problem.”

⁵ So he threw the money into the temple, went away, and hanged himself.

⁶ The chief priests took the money and said, “It’s not right to put it into the temple treasury, because it’s blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use it to buy a potter’s field for the burial of strangers. ⁸ That’s why that field has been called the Field of Blood ever since. ⁹ Then what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true, “They took the 30 silver coins, the price the people of Israel had placed on him, ¹⁰ and used the coins to buy a potter’s field, as the Lord had directed me.”

John Prepares the Way^(A)

¹⁹ This was John’s answer when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ John didn’t refuse to answer. He told them clearly, “I’m not the Messiah.”

²¹ They asked him, “Well, are you Elijah?”

John answered, “No, I’m not.”

Then they asked, “Are you the prophet?”

John replied, “No.”

²² So they asked him, “Who are you? Tell us so that we can take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John said, “I’m a voice crying out in the desert, ‘Make the way for the Lord straight,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ Some of those who had been sent were Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked John, “Why do you baptize if you’re not the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet?”

²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water. Someone you don’t know is standing among you. ²⁷ He’s the one who comes after me. I am not worthy to untie his sandal strap.”

¹³ The God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has glorified his servant Yeshua. You handed Yeshua over to Pilate. You rejected him in Pilate’s presence, even though Pilate had decided to let him go free. ¹⁴ You rejected the man who was holy and innocent. You asked to have a murderer given to you, ¹⁵ and you killed the source of life. But God brought him back to life, and we are witnesses to that. ¹⁶ We believe in the one named Yeshua. Through his power alone this man, whom you know, was healed, as all of you saw.

¹⁷ “And now, brothers, I know that like your rulers you didn’t know what you were doing. ¹⁸ But in this way God made the sufferings of his Messiah come true. God had predicted these sufferings through all the prophets. ¹⁹ So change the way you think and act, and turn to God to have your sins removed. ²⁰ Then times will come when the Lord will refresh you. He will send you Yeshua, whom he has appointed to be the Christ. ²¹ Heaven must receive Yeshua until the time when everything will be restored as God promised through his holy prophets long ago.

²² “Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me. Listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Those who won’t listen to that prophet will be excluded from the people.’ ²⁴ Samuel and all the prophets who followed him spoke about these days. ²⁵ You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the promise^[a] that God made to our ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendant all people on earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ God has brought his servant back to life and has sent him to you first. God did this to bless you by turning every one of you from your evil ways.”

³⁵ “This is the Moses whom the Israelites rejected by saying, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?’ This is the one God sent to free them and to rule them with the help of the Messenger who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ This is the man who led our ancestors out of Egypt. He is the person who did amazing things and worked miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert for 40 years. ³⁷ This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me.’ ³⁸ This is the Moses who was in the assembly in the desert. Our ancestors and the Messenger who spoke to him on Mount Sinai were there with him. Moses received life-giving messages to give to us, ³⁹ but our ancestors were not willing to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt. ⁴⁰ They told Aaron, ‘We don’t know what has happened to this Moses, who led us out of Egypt. So make gods who will lead us.’ ⁴¹ That was the time they made a calf. They offered a sacrifice to that false god and delighted in what they had made.

⁴² “So God turned away from them and let them worship the sun, moon, and stars. This is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel? ⁴³ You carried along the shrine of Moloch, the star of the god Rephan, and the statues you made for yourselves to worship. I will send you into exile beyond the city of Babylon.’

⁴⁴ “In the desert our ancestors had the tent of God’s promise. Moses built this tent exactly as God had told him. He used the model he had seen. ⁴⁵ After our ancestors received the tent, they brought it into this land. They did this with Joshua’s help when they took possession of the land from the nations that God forced out of our ancestors’ way. This tent remained here until the time of David, ⁴⁶ who won God’s favor. David asked that he might provide a permanent place for the family of Jacob.^{[a] 47} But Solomon was the one who built a house for God.

⁴⁸ “However, the Most High doesn’t live in a house built by humans, as the prophet says:

⁵¹ “How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You’re just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute? They killed those who predicted that a man with God’s approval would come. You have now become the people who betrayed and murdered that man. ⁵³ You are the people who received Moses’ Teachings, which were put into effect by angels. But you haven’t obeyed those teachings.”

⁹ In my letter to you I told you not to associate with people who continue to commit sexual sins. ¹⁰ I didn’t tell you that you could not have any contact with unbelievers who commit sexual sins, are greedy, are dishonest, or worship false gods. If that were the case, you would have to leave this world. ¹¹ Now, what I meant was that you should not associate with people who call themselves brothers or sisters in the Christian faith but live in sexual sin, are greedy, worship false gods, use abusive language, get drunk, or are dishonest. Don’t eat with such people.

¹² After all, do I have any business judging those who are outside the Christian faith? Isn’t it your business to judge those who are inside? ¹³ God will judge those who are outside. Remove that wicked man from among you.

¹⁷ Give double honor to spiritual leaders^[a] who handle their duties well. This is especially true if they work hard at teaching the word of God. ¹⁸ After all, Scripture says, “Never muzzle an ox when it is threshing^[b] grain,” and “The worker deserves his pay.”

¹⁹ Don’t pay attention to an accusation against a spiritual leader unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. ²⁰ Reprimand those leaders who sin. Do it in front of everyone so that the other leaders will also be afraid.

²¹ I solemnly call on you in the sight of God, Christ Yeshua, and the chosen angels to be impartial when you follow what I’ve told you. Never play favorites.

²² Don’t be in a hurry to place your hands on anyone to ordain him. Don’t participate in the sins of others. Keep yourself morally pure.

²⁸ If two or three witnesses accused someone of rejecting Moses’ Teachings, that person was shown no mercy as he was executed. ²⁹ What do you think a person who shows no respect for the Son of God deserves? That person looks at the blood of the promise (the blood that made him holy) as no different from other people’s blood, and he insults the Spirit that God gave us out of his kindness.^[a] He deserves a much worse punishment. ³⁰ We know the God who said,

God also said,

³¹ Falling into the hands of the living God is a terrifying thing.