Matthew 26:47-27:31

New King James Version

Betrayal and Arrest in Gethsemane^(A)

⁴⁷ And ^(B)while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.

⁴⁸ Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.” ⁴⁹ Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” ^(C)and kissed Him.

⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, ^(D)“Friend, why have you come?”

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. ⁵¹ And suddenly, ^(E)one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

⁵² But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, ^(F)for all who take the sword will ^[a]perish by the sword. ⁵³ Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with ^(G)more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, ^(H)that it must happen thus?”

⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. ⁵⁶ But all this was done that the ^(I)Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

Then ^(J)all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin^(K)

^57 (L)And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. ⁵⁸ But ^(M)Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests, ^[b]the elders, and all the council sought ^(N)false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, ^60 [c]but found none. Even though ^(O)many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last ^(P)two ^[d]false witnesses came forward ⁶¹ and said, “This fellow said, ^(Q)‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”

^62 (R)And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” ⁶³ But ^(S)Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, ^(T)“I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

⁶⁴ Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, ^(U)hereafter you will see the Son of Man ^(V)sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

^65 (W)Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His ^(X)blasphemy! ⁶⁶ What do you think?”

They answered and said, ^(Y)“He is deserving of death.”

^67 (Z)Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and ^(AA)others struck Him with ^[e]the palms of their hands, ⁶⁸ saying, ^(AB)“Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”

Peter Denies Jesus, and Weeps Bitterly^(AC)

^69 (AD)Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”

⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.”

⁷¹ And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷² But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”

⁷³ And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your ^(AE)speech betrays you.”

⁷⁴ Then ^(AF)he began to ^[f]curse and ^[g]swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ^(AG)“Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus Handed Over to Pontius Pilate^(AH)

27 When morning came, ^(AI)all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. ² And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and ^(AJ)delivered Him to ^[h]Pontius Pilate the governor.

Judas Hangs Himself^(AK)

^3 (AL)Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty ^(AM)pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”

And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”

⁵ Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and ^(AN)departed, and went and hanged himself.

⁶ But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” ⁷ And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. ⁸ Therefore that field has been called ^(AO)the Field of Blood to this day.

⁹ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^(AP)“And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, ¹⁰ and ^(AQ)gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

Jesus Faces Pilate^(AR)

¹¹ Now Jesus stood before the governor. ^(AS)And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

Jesus said to him, ^(AT)“It is as you say.” ¹² And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, ^(AU)He answered nothing.

¹³ Then Pilate said to Him, ^(AV)“Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” ¹⁴ But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.

Taking the Place of Barabbas^(AW)

^15 (AX)Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. ¹⁶ And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called ^[i]Barabbas. ¹⁷ Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that they had handed Him over because of ^(AY)envy.

¹⁹ While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”

^20 (AZ)But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. ²¹ The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

They said, ^(BA)“Barabbas!”

²² Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”

²³ Then the governor said, ^(BB)“Why, what evil has He done?”

But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a ^[j]tumult was rising, he ^(BC)took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this ^[k]just Person. You see to it.”

²⁵ And all the people answered and said, ^(BD)“His blood be on us and on our children.”

²⁶ Then he released Barabbas to them; and when ^(BE)he had ^[l]scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus^(BF)

^27 (BG)Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the ^[m]Praetorium and gathered the whole ^[n]garrison around Him. ²⁸ And they ^(BH)stripped Him and ^(BI)put a scarlet robe on Him. ^29 (BJ)When they had ^[o]twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ Then ^(BK)they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, ^(BL)and led Him away to be crucified.