Matthew 26:1-35
The
Plot Against JESUS
“When JESUS
had finished saying all these things, HE said to HIS disciples,
2 ‘As you know, the Passover is two days away—and THE SON OF MAN will
be handed over to be crucified.’
3 Then the chief priests and the
elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose
name was Caiaphas,
4 and they schemed to arrest JESUS secretly and
kill HIM.
5 ‘But not during the festival,’ they
said, “or there may be a riot among the people.’
JESUS Anointed at Bethany
6 While JESUS was in Bethany in the home
of Simon the Leper,
7 a woman came to HIM with an
alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on HIS head as HE was
reclining at the table.
8 When the disciples saw this, they
were indignant. ‘Why this waste?”’ they asked.
9 ‘This perfume could have been sold
at a high price and the money given to the poor.’
10 Aware of this, JESUS said to
them, ‘Why
are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to ME.
11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will
not always have ME.
12 When she poured this perfume on MY body, she did it to
prepare ME for burial.
13 Truly I tell you, wherever THIS GOSPEL is preached throughout the
world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’
Judas Agrees to Betray JESUS
14 Then one of the Twelve—the one
called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests
15 and asked, ‘What are you willing
to give me if I deliver HIM over to you? So they counted out for him thirty
pieces of silver.
16 From then on Judas watched for an
opportunity to hand HIM over.
The Last Supper
17 On the first day of the Festival
of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to JESUS and asked, ‘Where do YOU want us
to make preparations for YOU to eat the Passover?’
18 HE replied, ‘Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
‘THE TEACHER says: MY
appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with MY
disciples at your house.’
19 So the
disciples did as JESUS
had directed them and prepared the Passover.
20 When evening came, JESUS was reclining
at the table with the Twelve.
21 And while they were eating, HE
said, ‘Truly
I tell you, one of you will betray ME.”’22 They were very sad and
began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
23 JESUS
replied, ‘The
one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with ME will betray ME.
24 THE SON OF MAN
will go just as it is written about HIM. But woe to that man who betrays THE SON OF MAN! It
would be better for him if he had not been born.”
25 Then Judas, the one who would
betray HIM, said, ‘Surely you don’t mean me, RABBI?’
JESUS answered, ‘You have said so.’
26 While they were eating, JESUS took bread, and
when HE had given thanks, HE broke it and gave it to HIS disciples,
saying, ‘Take
and eat; this is MY body.’
27 Then HE took a cup, and when HE
had given thanks, HE gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.
28 This is MY BLOOD OF THE COVENANT, WHICH IS POURED OUT
FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the
vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in MY FATHER’s
kingdom.’
30 When they had sung a hymn, they
went out to the Mount of Olives.
JESUS Predicts Peter’s Denial
31 Then JESUS told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of ME, for
it is written:
‘I will strike THE SHEPHERD,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.’
33 Peter replied, ‘Even if all fall
away on account of YOU, I never will.’
34 ‘Truly I tell you,’ JESUS answered, ‘this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’
35 But Peter declared, ‘Even if I
have to die with YOU, I will never disown YOU.’ And all the other
disciples said the same."
