Death Plot and Anointing

14 ^(A)Now ^(B)the Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes ^(C)were seeking how to arrest Him covertly and kill Him; ² for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there will be a riot of the people.”

^3 (D)While He was in ^(E)Bethany at the home of Simon ^[a]the Leper, He was reclining at the table, and a woman came with an alabaster vial of very ^(F)expensive perfume of pure ^[b]nard. She broke the vial and poured the perfume over His head. ⁴ But there were some indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? ⁵ For this perfume could have been sold for over three hundred ^[c]denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a good deed for Me. ⁷ For you always have ^(G)the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. ⁸ She has done what she could; ^(H)she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. ⁹ Truly I say to you, ^(I)wherever the gospel is preached in the entire world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”

^10 (J)Then Judas Iscariot, ^(K)who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to ^[d]betray Him to them. ¹¹ They were delighted when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

The Last Passover

^12 (L)On the first day of ^[e](M)Unleavened Bread, when ^[f]the Passover lamb was being ^(N)sacrificed, His disciples *said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹³ And He *sent two of His disciples and *said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him; ¹⁴ and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My ^(O)guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵ And he himself will show you a large upstairs room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” ¹⁶ The disciples left and came to the city, and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

^17 (P)When it was evening He *came with the twelve. ¹⁸ And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will ^[g]betray Me—^[h]one who is eating with Me.” ¹⁹ They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” ²⁰ But He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, the one who dips bread with Me in the bowl. ²¹ For the Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man ^[i]by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good ^[j]for that man if he had not been born.”

The Lord’s Supper

^22 (Q)While they were eating, He took some bread, and ^[k]after a ^(R)blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” ²³ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ And He said to them, “This is My ^(S)blood of the ^(T)covenant, which is being poured out for many. ²⁵ Truly I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine again, until that day when I drink it, new, in the kingdom of God.”

^26 (U)And after singing a ^[l]hymn, they went out to ^(V)the Mount of Olives.

^27 (W)And Jesus *said to them, “You will all ^[m]fall away, because it is written: ‘^(X)I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised, ^(Y)I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ²⁹ But Peter said to Him, “Even if they all ^[n]fall away, yet I will not!” ³⁰ And Jesus *said to him, “Truly I say to you, that ^[o](Z)this very night, before ^(AA)a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” ³¹ But ^[p]Peter repeatedly said insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing as well.

Jesus in Gethsemane

^32 (AB)They *came to a place named ^[q]Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” ³³ And He *took with Him Peter, ^[r]James, and John, and began to be very ^(AC)distressed and troubled. ³⁴ And He *said to them, “^(AD)My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and ^[s]keep watch.” ³⁵ And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began praying that if it were possible, ^(AE)the hour might ^[t]pass Him by. ³⁶ And He was saying, “^(AF)Abba! ^[u]Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; ^(AG)yet not what I will, but what You will.” ³⁷ And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not ^[v]keep watch for one hour? ^38 [w](AH)Keep watching and praying, so that you will not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹ And again He went away and prayed, saying the same ^[x]words. ⁴⁰ And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to say in reply to Him. ⁴¹ And He *came the third time, and *said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough. ^(AI)The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being ^[y]betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!”

Betrayal and Arrest

^43 (AJ)And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up, ^[z]accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who were from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. ⁴⁴ Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; arrest Him and lead Him away ^[aa]under guard.” ⁴⁵ And after coming, Judas immediately went to Him and *said, “^(AK)Rabbi!” and kissed Him. ⁴⁶ And they laid hands on Him and arrested Him. ⁴⁷ But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and ^[ab]cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a man inciting a revolt? ⁴⁹ Every day I was with you ^(AL)within the temple grounds teaching, and you did not arrest Me; but this has taken place so that the Scriptures will be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ And ^[ac]His disciples all left Him and fled.

⁵¹ A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they *seized him. ⁵² But he ^[ad]pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.

Jesus before His Accusers

^53 (AM)They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes *gathered together. ⁵⁴ And Peter had followed Him at a distance, ^(AN)right into ^(AO)the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the ^[ae]officers and ^(AP)warming himself at the ^[af]fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the entire ^[ag](AQ)Council were trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. ⁵⁶ For many people were giving false testimony against Him, and so their testimonies were not consistent. ⁵⁷ And then some stood up and began giving false testimony against Him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard Him say, ‘^(AR)I will destroy this ^[ah]temple that was made by hands, and in three days I will build another, made without hands.’” ⁵⁹ And not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. ⁶⁰ And then the high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not offer any answer for what these men are testifying against You?” ^61 (AS)But He kept silent and did not offer any answer. ^(AT)Again the high priest was questioning Him, and *said to Him, “Are You the ^[ai]Christ, the Son of ^[aj]the Blessed One?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see ^(AU)the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and ^(AV)coming with the clouds of heaven.” ^63 (AW)Tearing his clothes, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? ⁶⁴ You have heard the ^(AX)blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him as deserving of death. ⁶⁵ And some began to ^(AY)spit on Him, and ^[ak](AZ)to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists and say to Him, “^(BA)Prophesy!” Then the officers took custody of Him ^[al]and slapped Him in the face.

Peter’s Denials

^66 (BB)And while Peter was below in ^(BC)the courtyard, one of the slave women of the high priest *came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter ^(BD)warming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You were with Jesus the ^(BE)Nazarene as well.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he ^(BF)went out onto the ^[am]porch.^{[an] 69} The slave woman saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them!” ⁷⁰ But again ^(BG)he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “You really are one of them, ^(BH)for you are a Galilean as well.” ⁷¹ But he began to ^[ao]curse himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak!” ⁷² And immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before ^(BI)a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And ^[ap]he hurried on and began to weep.

Signs of Christ’s Return

24 ^(A)Jesus ^(B)left the temple area and was going on His way ^[a]when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, ^(C)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ And as He was sitting on ^(D)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ^(E)Your coming, and of the ^[b]end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(F)See to it that no one ^[c]misleads you. ⁵ For ^(G)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ^[d]Christ,’ and they will ^[e]mislead many people. ⁶ And you will be hearing of ^(H)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For ^(I)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(J)famines and earthquakes in various places. ^8 (K)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “^(L)Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and ^(M)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ And at that time many will ^[f](N)fall away, and they will ^[g]betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(O)false prophets will rise up and ^[h]mislead many people. ¹² And because lawlessness is increased, ^[i]most people’s love will become cold. ^13 (P)But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. ¹⁴ This ^(Q)gospel of the kingdom ^(R)shall be preached in the whole ^[j](S)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ^(T)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(U)the holy place—^[k](V)let the ^[l]reader understand— ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^17 [m]Whoever is on ^(W)the ^[n]housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. ¹⁸ And ^[o]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ But ^(X)woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ Moreover, pray that ^[p]when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a ^(Y)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no ^[q]life would have been saved; but for ^(Z)the sake of the ^[r]elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (AA)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[s]Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false christs and ^(AB)false prophets will arise and will provide great ^[t](AC)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ^(AD)the ^[u]elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ^27 (AE)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the ^(AF)coming of the ^(AG)Son of Man ^[v]be. ^28 (AH)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[w]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(AI)tribulation of those days ^(AJ)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(AK)the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(AL)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(AM)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(AN)He will send forth His angels with ^(AO)a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His ^[x](AP)elect from ^(AQ)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³ so you too, when you see all these things, ^[y]recognize that ^[z]He is near, right ^(AR)at the ^[aa]door. ³⁴ Truly I say to you, ^(AS)this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ^35 (AT)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶ “But ^(AU)about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For ^[ab]the ^(AV)coming of the Son of Man will be ^(AW)just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(AX)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(AY)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not ^[ac]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(AZ)coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ At that time there will be two men in the field; one ^[ad]will be taken and one ^[ae]will be left. ^41 (BA)Two women will be grinding at the ^[af](BB)mill; one ^[ag]will be taken and one ^[ah]will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

⁴² “Therefore ^(BC)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But ^[ai]be sure of this, that ^(BD)if the head of the house had known ^(BE)at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ For this reason ^(BF)you must be ready as well; for ^(BG)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵ “^(BH)Who then is the ^(BI)faithful and ^(BJ)sensible slave whom his ^[aj]master ^(BK)put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave whom his ^[ak]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I say to you that ^(BL)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[al]master ^[am]is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk; ⁵⁰ then the ^[an]master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, ⁵¹ and he will ^[ao]cut him in two and assign ^[ap]him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(BM)weeping and gnashing of teeth.