Matthew 26

¹And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples.

²You know that after two days the Passover takes place, and the Son of Man is handed over to be crucified.

³Then the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people were gathered together in the courtyard of the high priest who was called Caiaphas.

⁴and they plotted together in order to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him.

⁵But they were saying, Not during the feast, so that there may not be an uproar among the people.

⁶Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper.

⁷a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He was reclining.

⁸But when his disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, For what purpose is this waste?

⁹For this fragrant oil could have been sold for much and given to the poor.

¹⁰But Jesus, knowing this, said to them, Why do you cause trouble for the woman? For she has done a beautiful work to me.

¹¹For you always have the poor with you, but Me you do not always have.

¹²For in pouring this fragrant oil on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

¹³Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in all the world, what she did will also be told, in memory of her.

¹⁴Then one of the Twelve, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests.

¹⁵he said, What are you willing to give me, and I will hand Him over to you? And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.

¹⁶And from that time he was seeking an opportunity to betray him.

¹⁷Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?

¹⁸And He said, Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, The Teacher says, My time is near; with you I keep the Passover with My disciples.

¹⁹And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.

²⁰Now when evening had come, He was reclining at table with the twelve disciples.

²¹And while they were eating, He said, Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.

²²And being exceedingly grieved, they began to say to him, one each of them, 'Surely it is not I, Lord?'

²³And He answered and said, The one who dipped his hand with Me in the dish, he will betray Me.

²⁴The Son of Man indeed goes just as it has been written about Him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed; it would have been good for him if that man had not been born.

²⁵And Judas, the one betraying him, answering said, 'Surely it is not I, Rabbi?' He says to him, 'You have said it.'

²⁶Now while they were eating, Jesus, having taken bread and having blessed it, broke it, and giving it to the disciples He said, Take, eat; this is My body.

²⁷And having taken a cup and having given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you;

²⁸For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

²⁹And I say to you that I shall certainly not drink from now on of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.

³⁰And having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

³¹Then Jesus says to them, 'All of you will fall away because of me this night; for it has been written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

³²But after I am raised, I will go before you into Galilee.

³³But Peter answered and said to Him, Even if all fall away because of You, I will never fall away.

³⁴Jesus said to him, 'Truly I say to you that this night, before a rooster crows, three times you will deny me.'

³⁵Peter says to Him, Even if I must die with You, I will never deny You. And likewise all the disciples said so too.

³⁶Then Jesus comes with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he says to the disciples, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.'

³⁷And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

³⁸Then Jesus says to them, 'My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here and keep watch with me.'

³⁹And going forward a little, He fell on His face praying and saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.

⁴⁰And he comes to the disciples and finds them sleeping, and he says to Peter, 'So, were you not able to keep watch one hour with me?'

⁴¹Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

⁴²Again, a second time, having gone away, he prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to pass from me unless I drink it, let your will be done.'

⁴³And coming again, He found them sleeping, for their eyes were weighed down.

⁴⁴And having left them, again having gone away, he prayed a third time, saying the same word once more.

⁴⁵Then He comes to His disciples and says to them, Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour has drawn near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁶Rise up, let us go; behold, the one betraying me has drawn near.

⁴⁷And while he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the Twelve, came, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people.

⁴⁸Now the one betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, Whomever I kiss, He it is; seize Him.

⁴⁹And immediately, coming up to Jesus, he said, 'Greetings, Rabbi,' and kissed him.

⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, Friend, do what you have come for. Then they came forward and laid their hands on Jesus and seized Him.

⁵¹And behold, one of those with Jesus, stretching out his hand, drew his sword, and striking the slave of the high priest, cut off his ear.

⁵²Then Jesus says to him, Return your sword to its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

⁵³Or do you think that I am not able to call upon my Father, and he will provide me at once more than twelve legions of angels?

⁵⁴How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?

⁵⁵In that hour Jesus said to the crowds, 'As against a robber did you come out with swords and clubs to seize me? Every day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.'

⁵⁶But all this has happened so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

⁵⁷And those who had seized Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had assembled.

⁵⁸But Peter was following Him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the outcome.

⁵⁹Now the chief priests and the elders and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put him to death,

⁶⁰but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. But at last two false witnesses came forward

⁶¹said, 'This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.'

⁶²And the high priest stood up and said to Him, Have You no answer? What is it these testify against You?

⁶³But Jesus was silent. And the high priest, answering, said to him, 'I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.'

⁶⁴Jesus says to him, You have said it. But I say to you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his garments, saying, 'He has blasphemed! Why do we still have need of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy.

⁶⁶What do you think? And they answered and said, He is deserving of death.

⁶⁷Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists; and others slapped him,

⁶⁸saying, Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is it that struck You?

⁶⁹Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, 'You also were with Jesus the Galilean.'

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

⁷¹And when he had gone out to the gateway, another servant girl saw him and says to those there, 'This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.'

⁷²And again he denied it with an oath, I do not know the man.

⁷³And after a little while, those standing there came up and said to Peter, 'Truly you also are one of them, for even your accent gives you away.'

⁷⁴Then he began to curse and to swear, I do not know the man! And immediately a rooster crowed.

⁷⁵And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, who had said, 'Before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times.' And going outside, he wept bitterly.