Matthew 26

₁When Jesus had finished teaching, he told his disciples, ₂“You know that two days from now will be Passover. That is when the Son of Man will be handed over to his enemies and nailed to a cross.”

₃At that time the chief priests and the nation's leaders were meeting at the home of Caiaphas the high priest. ₄They secretly planned to have Jesus arrested and put to death. ₅But they said, “We must not do it during Passover, because the people will riot.”

₆Jesus was in the town of Bethany, eating at the home of Simon, who had leprosy. ₇A woman came in with a bottle of expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus' head. ₈But when his disciples saw this, they became angry and complained, “Why such a waste? ₉We could have sold this perfume for a lot of money and given it to the poor.”

₁₀Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said:

₁₄Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve disciples. He went to the chief priests ₁₅and asked, “How much will you give me if I help you arrest Jesus?” They paid Judas thirty silver coins, ₁₆and from then on he started looking for a good chance to betray Jesus.

₁₇On the first day of the Festival of Thin Bread, Jesus' disciples came to him and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal?”

₁₈Jesus told them to go to a certain man in the city and tell him, “Our teacher says, ‘My time has come! I want to eat the Passover meal with my disciples in your home.’ ” ₁₉They did as Jesus told them and prepared the meal.

_20-21When Jesus was eating with his twelve disciples that evening, he said, “One of you will hand me over to my enemies.”

₂₂The disciples were very sad, and each one said to Jesus, “Lord, you can't mean me!”

₂₃He answered, “One of you men who has eaten with me from this dish will betray me. ₂₄The Son of Man will die, as the Scriptures say. But it's going to be terrible for the one who betrays me! That man would be better off if he had never been born.”

₂₅Judas said, “Teacher, surely you don't mean me!”

“That's what you say!” Jesus replied. But later, Judas did betray him.

₂₆During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and eat it. This is my body.”

₂₇Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He then gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and drink it. ₂₈This is my blood, and with it God makes his agreement with you. It will be poured out, so that many people will have their sins forgiven. ₂₉From now on I am not going to drink any wine, until I drink new wine with you in my Father's kingdom.” ₃₀Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

₃₁Jesus said to his disciples, “During this very night, all of you will reject me, as the Scriptures say,

₃₃Peter spoke up, “Even if all the others reject you, I never will!”

₃₄Jesus replied, “I promise you that before a cock crows tonight, you will say three times that you don't know me.” ₃₅But Peter said, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never say I don't know you.”

All the others said the same thing.

₃₆Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane. When they got there, he told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

₃₇Jesus took along Peter and the two brothers, James and John. He was very sad and troubled, ₃₈and he said to them, “I am so sad that I feel as if I am dying. Stay here and keep awake with me.”

₃₉Jesus walked on a little way. Then he knelt with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, don't make me suffer by making me drink from this cup. But do what you want, and not what I want.”

₄₀He came back and found his disciples sleeping. So he said to Peter, “Can't any of you stay awake with me for just one hour? ₄₁Stay awake and pray that you won't be tested. You want to do what is right, but you are weak.”

₄₂Again Jesus went to pray and said, “My Father, if there is no other way, and I must suffer, I will still do what you want.”

₄₃Jesus came back and found them sleeping again. They simply could not keep their eyes open. ₄₄He left them and prayed the same prayer once more.

₄₅Finally, Jesus returned to his disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinners. ₄₆Get up! Let's go. The one who will betray me is already here.”

₄₇Jesus was still speaking, when Judas the betrayer came up. He was one of the twelve disciples, and a large mob armed with swords and clubs was with him. They had been sent by the chief priests and the nation's leaders. ₄₈Judas had told them beforehand, “Arrest the man I greet with a kiss.”

₄₉Judas walked right up to Jesus and said, “Hello, teacher.” Then Judas kissed him.

₅₀Jesus replied, “My friend, why are you here?”

The men grabbed Jesus and arrested him. ₅₁One of Jesus' followers pulled out a sword. He struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

₅₂But Jesus told him, “Put your sword away. Anyone who lives by fighting will die by fighting. ₅₃Don't you know that I could ask my Father, and straight away he would send me more than twelve armies of angels? ₅₄But then, how could the words of the Scriptures come true, which say that this must happen?”

₅₅Jesus said to the mob, “Why do you come with swords and clubs to arrest me like a criminal? Day after day I sat and taught in the temple, and you didn't arrest me. ₅₆But all this happened, so that what the prophets wrote would come true.”

All Jesus' disciples left him and ran away.

₅₇After Jesus had been arrested, he was led off to the house of Caiaphas the high priest. The nation's leaders and the teachers of the Law of Moses were meeting there. ₅₈But Peter followed along at a distance and came to the courtyard of the high priest's palace. He went in and sat down with the guards to see what was going to happen.

₅₉The chief priests and the whole council wanted to put Jesus to death. So they tried to find some people who would tell lies about him in court. ₆₀But they could not find any, even though many did come and tell lies. At last, two men came forward ₆₁and said, “This man claimed that he would tear down God's temple and build it again in three days.”

₆₂The high priest stood up and asked Jesus, “Why don't you say something in your own defence? Don't you hear the charges they are making against you?” ₆₃But Jesus did not answer. So the high priest said, “With the living God looking on, you must tell the truth. Tell us, are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”

₆₄“That is what you say!” Jesus answered. “But I tell all of you,

₆₅The high priest then tore his robe and said, “This man claims to be God! We don't need any more witnesses! You have heard what he said. ₆₆What do you think?”

They answered, “He is guilty and deserves to die!” ₆₇Then they spat in his face and hit him with their fists. Others slapped him ₆₈and said, “You think you are the Messiah! So tell us who hit you!”

₆₉While Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, a servant girl came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus from Galilee.”

₇₀But in front of everyone Peter said, “That isn't so! I don't know what you are talking about!”

₇₁When Peter had gone out to the gate, another servant girl saw him and said to some people there, “This man was with Jesus from Nazareth.”

₇₂Again Peter denied it, and this time he swore, “I don't even know that man!”

₇₃A little while later some people standing there walked over to Peter and said, “We know that you are one of them. We can tell it because you talk like someone from Galilee.”

₇₄Peter began to curse and swear, “I don't know that man!”

At once a cock crowed, ₇₅and Peter remembered that Jesus had said, “Before a cock crows, you will say three times that you don't know me.” Then Peter went out and cried hard.