Matthew 26:36-57

Living Bible

³⁶ Then Jesus brought them to a garden grove, Gethsemane, and told them to sit down and wait while he went on ahead to pray. ³⁷ He took Peter with him and Zebedee’s two sons James and John, and began to be filled with anguish and despair.

³⁸ Then he told them, “My soul is crushed with horror and sadness to the point of death . . . stay here . . . stay awake with me.”

³⁹ He went forward a little, and fell face downward on the ground, and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup be taken away from me. But I want your will, not mine.”

⁴⁰ Then he returned to the three disciples and found them asleep. “Peter,” he called, “couldn’t you even stay awake with me one hour? ⁴¹ Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For the spirit indeed is willing, but how weak the body is!”

⁴² Again he left them and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot go away until I drink it all, your will be done.”

⁴³ He returned to them again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy, ⁴⁴ so he went back to prayer the third time, saying the same things again.

⁴⁵ Then he came to the disciples and said, “Sleep on now and take your rest . . . but no! The time has come! I am^[a] betrayed into the hands of evil men! ⁴⁶ Up! Let’s be going! Look! Here comes the man who is betraying me!”

⁴⁷ At that very moment while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived with a great crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the Jewish leaders. ⁴⁸ Judas had told them to arrest the man he greeted, for that would be the one they were after. ⁴⁹ So now Judas came straight to Jesus and said, “Hello, Master!” and embraced^[b] him in friendly fashion.

⁵⁰ Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed him.

⁵¹ One of the men with Jesus pulled out a sword and slashed off the ear of the high priest’s servant.

⁵² “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those using swords will get killed. ⁵³ Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? ⁵⁴ But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what is happening now?” ⁵⁵ Then Jesus spoke to the crowd. “Am I some dangerous criminal,” he asked, “that you had to arm yourselves with swords and clubs before you could arrest me? I was with you teaching daily in the Temple and you didn’t stop me then. ⁵⁶ But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.”

At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.

⁵⁷ Then the mob led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where all the Jewish leaders were gathering.