Chapter 14

1 aNow bthe Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes cwere seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him;

2 for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.”

3 aWhile He was in bBethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very ccostly perfume of pure 1nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head.

4 But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted?

5 “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred 1denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.

6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me.

7 “For you always have athe poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.

8 “She has done what she could; ashe has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.

9 “Truly I say to you, awherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

10 aThen Judas Iscariot, bwho was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to 1betray Him to them.

11 They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

The Last Passover

12 aOn the first day of bUnleavened Bread, when 1the Passover lamb was being csacrificed, His disciples * said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

13 And He * sent two of His disciples and * said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him;

14 and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My aguest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’

15 “And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.”

16 The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

17 aWhen it was evening He * came with the twelve.

18 As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will 1betray Me—2one who is eating with Me.”

19 They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?”

20 And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, 1one who dips with Me in the bowl.

21 “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man 1by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good 2for that man if he had not been born.”

The Lord’s Supper

22 aWhile they were eating, He took some bread, and 1after a bblessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”

23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

24 And He said to them, “This is My ablood of the bcovenant, which is poured out for many.

25 “Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

26 aAfter singing a hymn, they went out to bthe Mount of Olives.

27 aAnd Jesus * said to them, “You will all 1fall away, because it is written, ‘bI will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’

28 “But after I have been raised, aI will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

29 But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may 1fall away, yet I will not.”

30 And Jesus * said to him, “Truly I say to you, that 1athis very night, before ba rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.”

31 But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also.

Jesus in Gethsemane

32 aThey * came to a place named Gethsemane; and He * said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.”

33 And He * took with Him Peter and 1James and John, and began to be very adistressed and troubled.

34 And He * said to them, “aMy soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.”

35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, athe hour might 1pass Him by.

36 And He was saying, “aAbba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; byet not what I will, but what You will.”

37 And He * came and * found them sleeping, and * said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?

38 “aKeep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

39 Again He went away and prayed, saying the same 1words.

40 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.

41 And He * came the third time, and * said to them, “1Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; athe hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being 2betrayed into the hands of sinners.

42 “Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

Betrayal and Arrest

43 aImmediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, * came up 1accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

44 Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away 1under guard.”

45 After coming, Judas immediately went to Him, saying, “aRabbi!” and kissed Him.

46 They laid hands on Him and seized Him.

47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and 1cut off his ear.

48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber?

49 “Every day I was with you ain the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures.”

50 And they all left Him and fled.

51 A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they * seized him.

52 But he 1pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.

Jesus before His Accusers

53 aThey led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes * gathered together.

54 Peter had followed Him at a distance, aright into bthe courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the 1officers and cwarming himself at the 2fire.

55 Now the chief priests and the whole 1aCouncil kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any.

56 For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent.

57 Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying,

58 “We heard Him say, ‘aI will destroy this 1temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’ ”

59 Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent.

60 The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? 1What is it that these men are testifying against You?”

61 aBut He kept silent and did not answer. bAgain the high priest was questioning Him, and 1saying to Him, “Are You 2the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”

62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see athe Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and bcoming with the clouds of heaven.”

63 aTearing his clothes, the high priest * said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?

64 “You have heard the ablasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.

65 Some began to aspit at Him, and 1bto blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “cProphesy!” And the officers 2received Him with 3slaps in the face.

Peter’s Denials

66 aAs Peter was below in bthe courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest * came,

67 and seeing Peter awarming himself, she looked at him and * said, “You also were with Jesus the bNazarene.”

68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he awent out onto the 1porch.2

69 The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!”

70 But again ahe denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, bfor you are a Galilean too.”

71 But he began to 1curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!”

72 Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before aa rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” 1And he began to weep.

Chapter 15

Jesus before Pilate

1 aEarly in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole 1bCouncil, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate.

2 aPilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He * answered him, “It is as you say.”

3 The chief priests began to accuse Him 1harshly.

4 Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!”

5 But Jesus amade no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.

6 aNow at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested.

7 The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection.

8 The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them.

9 Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

10 For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd ato ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.

12 Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”

13 They shouted 1back, “Crucify Him!”

14 But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”

15 Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus ascourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

16 aThe soldiers took Him away into bthe 1palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they * called together the whole Roman 2ccohort.

17 They * dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him;

18 and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

19 They kept beating His head with a 1reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him.

20 After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they * led Him out to crucify Him.

21 aThey * pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and bRufus), to bear His cross.

The Crucifixion

22 aThen they * brought Him to the place bGolgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.

23 They tried to give Him awine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.

24 And they * crucified Him, and * adivided up His garments among themselves, casting 1lots for them to decide 2what each man should take.

25 It was the 1athird hour 2when they crucified Him.

26 The inscription of the charge against Him 1read, “aTHE KING OF THE JEWS.”

27 They * crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left.

28 [1And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”]

29 Those passing by were 1hurling abuse at Him, awagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to bdestroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,

30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”

31 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “aHe saved others; 1He cannot save Himself.

32 “Let this Christ, athe King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” bThose who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

33 aWhen the 1bsixth hour came, darkness 2fell over the whole land until the 3bninth hour.

34 At the aninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “bEloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.”

36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “1Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.”

37 aAnd Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last.

38 aAnd the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

39 aWhen the centurion, who was standing 1right in front of Him, saw 2the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was 3the Son of God!”

40 aThere were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of 1James bthe 2Less and Joses, and cSalome.

41 When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and 1aminister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

42 aWhen evening had already come, because it was bthe preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a aprominent member of the Council, who himself was bwaiting for the kingdom of God; and he cgathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.

44 Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead.

45 And ascertaining this from athe centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

46 Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

47 aMary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.

Chapter 16

The Resurrection

1 aWhen the Sabbath was over, bMary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of 1James, and Salome, cbought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.

2 Very early on the first day of the week, they * came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away athe stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”

4 Looking up, they * saw that the stone had been rolled away, 1although it was extremely large.

5 aEntering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they bwere amazed.

6 And he * said to them, “aDo not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the bNazarene, who has been crucified. cHe has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.

7 “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘aHe is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ”

8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

9 [1Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to aMary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.

10 aShe went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping.

11 When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, athey refused to believe it.

12 After that, aHe appeared in a different form bto two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country.

13 They went away and reported it to the others, but they adid not believe them either.

The Disciples Commissioned

14 Afterward aHe appeared bto the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their cunbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.

15 And He said to them, “aGo into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

16 “aHe who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

17 “These 1signs will accompany those who have believed: ain My name they will cast out demons, they will bspeak with new tongues;

18 they will apick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will blay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had aspoken to them, He bwas received up into heaven and csat down at the right hand of God.

20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the 1signs that followed.]

[2And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]