Old/New Testament
27 “You’re all going to desert me,” said Jesus, “because it’s written,
I shall attack the shepherd
and then the sheep will scatter.
28 “But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
29 Peter spoke up.
“Everyone else may desert you,” he said, “but I won’t.”
30 “I’m telling you the truth,” Jesus replied. “Today—this very night, before the cock has crowed twice—you will renounce me three times.”
31 This made Peter all the more vehement. “Even if I have to die with you,” he said, “I will never renounce you.”
And all the rest said the same.
32 They came to a place called Gethsemane.
“Stay here,” said Jesus to the disciples, “while I pray.”
33 He took Peter, James and John with him, and became quite overcome and deeply distressed.
34 “My soul is disturbed within me,” he said, “right to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.”
35 He went a little further, and fell on the ground and prayed that, if possible, the moment might pass from him.
36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “all things are possible for you! Take this cup away from me! But—not what I want, but what you want.”
37 He returned and found them sleeping. “Are you asleep, Simon?” he said to Peter. “Couldn’t you keep watch for a single hour? 38 Watch and pray, so that you won’t come into the time of trouble. The spirit is eager, but the body is weak.”
39 Once more he went off and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again, when he returned, he found them asleep, because their eyes were very heavy. They had no words to answer him. 41 But the third time he came, he said to them, “All right—sleep as much as you like now. Have a good rest. The job is done, the time has come—and look! The son of man is betrayed into the clutches of sinners. 42 Get up, let’s be on our way. Here comes the man who’s going to betray me.”
43 At once, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a crowd, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the legal experts, and the elders. 44 The betrayer had given them a coded sign: “The one I kiss—that’s him! Seize him and take him away safely.”
45 He came up to Jesus at once. “Rabbi!” he said, and kissed him.
46 The crowd laid hands on him and seized him. 47 One of the bystanders drew a sword and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. 48 Then Jesus spoke to them.
“Anyone would think,” he said, “you’d come after a brigand! Fancy needing swords and clubs to arrest me! 49 Day after day I’ve been teaching in the Temple, under your noses, and you never laid a finger on me. But the scriptures must be fulfilled.”
50 Then they all abandoned him and ran away.
51 A young man had followed him, wearing only a linen tunic over his otherwise naked body. 52 They seized him, and he left the tunic and ran away naked.
In the high priest’s house
53 They took Jesus away to the high priest. All the chief priests and the elders and legal experts were assembled.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.