¹When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he told his disciples, ²“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” ³Then the chief priests and the elders of the people met together in the palace of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas. ⁴They planned to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.⁵But they said, “Not during the feast, so that there won’t be a riot among the people.” ⁶Now while Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, ⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of expensive perfumed oil, and she poured it on his head as he was at the table. ⁸When the disciples saw this, they became indignant and said, “Why this waste? ⁹It could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor!” ¹⁰When Jesus learned of this, he said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a good service for me. ¹¹For you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me! ¹²When she poured this oil on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” ¹⁴Then one of the 12, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵and said, “What will you give me to betray him into your hands?” So they set out 30 silver coins for him. ¹⁶From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray him. ¹⁷Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near. I will observe the Passover with my disciples at your house.”’” ¹⁹So the disciples did as Jesus had instructed them, and they prepared the Passover. ²⁰When it was evening, he took his place at the table with the 12. ²¹And while they were eating he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” ²²They became greatly distressed and each one began to say to him, “Surely not I, Lord?” ²³He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴The Son of Man will go as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had never been born.” ²⁵Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus replied, “You have said it yourself.”²⁶While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.” ²⁷And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, ²⁸for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹I tell you, from now on I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” ³⁰After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ³¹Then Jesus said to them, “This night you will all fall away because of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd,and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ³²But after I am raised, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” ³³Peter said to him, “If they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away!” ³⁴Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, on this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” ³⁵Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will never deny you.” And all the disciples said the same thing. ³⁶Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he became anguished and distressed. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” ³⁹Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.” ⁴⁰Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour? ⁴¹Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ⁴²He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done.” ⁴³He came again and found them sleeping; they could not keep their eyes open. ⁴⁴So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same thing once more. ⁴⁵Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Get up, let us go. Look! My betrayer is approaching!” ⁴⁷While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the 12, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. ⁴⁸(Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him!”) ⁴⁹Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi,” and kissed him. ⁵⁰Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and took hold of Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹But one of those with Jesus grabbed his sword, drew it out, and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his ear. ⁵²Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place! For all who take hold of the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father and that he would send me more than 12 legions of angels right now? ⁵⁴How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?” ⁵⁵At that moment Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw? Day after day I sat teaching in the temple courts, yet you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶But this has happened so that the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled. ⁵⁷Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house the experts in the law and the elders had gathered. ⁵⁸But Peter was following him from a distance, all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. After going in, he sat with the guards to see the outcome. ⁵⁹The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death. ⁶⁰But they did not find anything, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward ⁶¹and declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” ⁶²So the high priest stood up and said to him, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?” ⁶³But Jesus was silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” ⁶⁴Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now you have heard the blasphemy! ⁶⁶What is your verdict?” They answered, “He is guilty and deserves death.” ⁶⁷Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. And some slapped him,⁶⁸saying, “Prophesy for us, you Christ! Who hit you?” ⁶⁹Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A slave girl came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰But he denied it in front of them all: “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” ⁷¹When he went out to the gateway, another slave girl saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁷²He denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man!” ⁷³After a little while, those standing there came up to Peter and said, “You really are one of them too—even your accent gives you away!” ⁷⁴At that he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.