Matthew 26
26
The Plan to Kill Jesus
1After Jesus finished saying all these things, he told his followers, 2“You know that the day after tomorrow is the day of the Passover Feast. On that day the Son of Man will be given to his enemies to be killed on a cross.”
3Then the leading priests and the Jewish elders had a meeting at the palace of the high priest. The high priest’s name was Caiaphas. 4At the meeting, they planned to set a trap to arrest Jesus and kill him. 5But they said, “We must not do it during the feast. The people might cause a riot.”
A Woman with Perfume for Jesus
6Jesus was in Bethany. He was at the house of Simon, who had a harmful skin disease. 7While Jesus was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. She poured this perfume on Jesus’ head while he was eating.
8His followers saw the woman do this and were upset. They asked, “Why waste that perfume? 9It could be sold for a great deal of money, and the money could be given to the poor.”
10But Jesus knew what happened. He said, “Why are you troubling this woman? She did a very beautiful thing for me. 11You will always have the poor with you. But you will not always have me. 12This woman poured perfume on my body to prepare me for burial. 13I tell you the truth. The Good News will be told to people in all the world. And in every place where it is preached, what this woman has done will be told. And people will remember her.”
Judas Becomes an Enemy of Jesus
14Then 1 of the 12 followers went to talk to the leading priests. This was the follower named Judas Iscariot. 15He said, “I will give Jesus to you. What will you pay me for doing this?” The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. 16After that, Judas waited for the best time to give Jesus to the priests.
Jesus Eats the Passover Feast
17On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the followers came to Jesus. They said, “We will prepare everything for you to eat the Passover Feast. Where do you want to have the feast?”
18Jesus answered, “Go into the city to a certain man. Tell him that the Teacher says, ‘The chosen time is near. I will have the Passover Feast with my followers at your house.’” 19The followers did what Jesus told them to do, and they prepared the Passover Feast.
20In the evening Jesus was sitting at the table with his 12 followers. 21They were all eating. Then Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. One of you 12 will turn against me.”
22This made the followers very sad. Each one said to Jesus, “Surely, Lord, I am not the one who will turn against you. Am I?”
23Jesus answered, “The man who has dipped his hand with me into the bowl is the one who will turn against me. 24The Son of Man will die. The Scriptures say this will happen. But how terrible it will be for the person who gives the Son of Man to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”
25Then Judas said to Jesus, “Teacher, surely I am not the one. Am I?” (Judas is the one who would give Jesus to his enemies.)
Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”
The Lord’s Supper
26While they were eating, Jesus took some bread. He thanked God for it and broke it. Then he gave it to his followers and said, “Take this bread and eat it. This bread is my body.”
27Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for it and gave it to the followers. He said, “Every one of you drink this. 28This is my blood which begins the new# Some Greek copies do not have this word. Compare Luke 22:20. agreement that God makes with his people. This blood is poured out for many to forgive their sins. 29I tell you this: I will not drink of this fruit of the vine# Product of the grapevine; this may also be translated “wine.” again until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30They sang a hymn. Then they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus’ Followers Will All Leave Him
31Jesus told the followers, “Tonight you will lose your faith because of me. It is written in the Scriptures:
‘I will kill the shepherd,
and the sheep will scatter.’ Zechariah 13:7
32But after I rise from death, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
33Peter said, “All the other followers may lose their faith because of you. But I will never lose my faith.”
34Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. Tonight you will say you don’t know me. You will say this three times before the rooster crows.”
35But Peter said, “I will never say that I don’t know you! I will even die with you!” And all the other followers said the same thing.
Jesus Prays Alone
36Then Jesus went with his followers to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37He told Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to come with him. Then Jesus began to be very sad and troubled. 38He said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, “My heart is full of sorrow and breaking with sadness. Stay here with me and watch.”
39Then Jesus walked a little farther away from them. He fell to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, do not give me this cup# Jesus is talking about the bad things that will happen to him. Accepting these things will be very hard, like drinking a cup of something that tastes very bitter. of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want.” 40Then Jesus went back to his followers and found them asleep. Jesus said to Peter, “You men could not stay awake with me for one hour? 41Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. Your spirit wants to do what is right. But your body is weak.”
42Then Jesus went away a second time. He prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this painful thing to be taken from me, and if I must do it, then I pray that what you want will be done.”
43Then Jesus went back to the followers. Again he found them asleep, because their eyes were heavy. 44So Jesus left them and went away one more time and prayed. This third time he prayed, he said the same thing.
45Then Jesus went back to the followers and said, “You are still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be given to sinful people. 46Get up. We must go. Here comes the man who has turned against me.”
Jesus Is Arrested
47While Jesus was still speaking, Judas came up. Judas was 1 of the 12 followers. He had many people with him. They had been sent from the leading priests and the elders of the people. They carried swords and clubs. 48Judas had planned to give them a signal. He had said, “The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him.” 49At once Judas went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Teacher!” Then Judas kissed him.
50Jesus answered, “Friend, do the thing you came to do.”
Then the men came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 51When that happened, one of Jesus’ followers reached for his sword and pulled it out. The follower struck the servant of the high priest with the sword and cut off his ear.
52Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. All who use swords will be killed with swords. 53Surely you know I could ask my Father, and he would give me more than 12 armies of angels. 54But this thing must happen this way so that it will be as the Scriptures say.”
55Then Jesus said to the crowd, “You came to get me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal. Every day I sat in the Temple teaching. You did not arrest me there. 56But all these things have happened so that it will be as the prophets wrote.” Then all of Jesus’ followers left him and ran away.
Jesus Before the Leaders
57Those men who arrested Jesus led him to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. The teachers of the law and the Jewish elders were gathered there. 58Peter followed Jesus but did not go near him. He followed Jesus to the courtyard of the high priest’s house. He sat down with the guards to see what would happen to Jesus.
59The leading priests and the Jewish council tried to find something false against Jesus so that they could kill him. 60Many people came and told lies about him. But the council could find no real reason to kill Jesus. Then two people came and said, 61“This man said, ‘I can destroy the Temple of God and build it again in three days.’”
62Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Aren’t you going to answer? Don’t you have something to say about their charges against you?” 63But Jesus said nothing.
Again the high priest said to Jesus, “You must swear to this. I command you by the power of the living God to tell us the truth. Tell us, are you the Christ, the Son of God?”
64Jesus answered, “Yes, I am. But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One. And you will see him coming in clouds in the sky.”
65When the high priest heard this, he was very angry. He tore his clothes and said, “This man has said things that are against God! We don’t need any more witnesses. You all heard him say these things against God. 66What do you think?”
The people answered, “He is guilty, and he must die.”
67Then the people there spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. Others slapped Jesus. 68They said, “Prove to us that you are a prophet, you Christ! Tell us who hit you!”
Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus
69At that time, Peter was sitting in the courtyard. A servant girl came to him and said, “You were with Jesus, that man from Galilee.”
70But Peter said that he was never with Jesus. He said this to all the people there. Peter said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
71Then he left the courtyard. At the gate, another girl saw him. She said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72Again, Peter said that he was never with Jesus. Peter said, “I swear that I don’t know this man Jesus!”
73A short time later, some people standing there went to Peter. They said, “We know you are one of those men who followed Jesus. We know this because of the way you talk.”
74Then Peter began to curse. He said, “May a curse fall on me if I’m not telling the truth. I don’t know the man.” After Peter said this, a rooster crowed. 75Then he remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went outside and cried painfully.
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Matthew 26: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Matthew 26
26
Chapter 26
Those who are against Jesus want to take hold of him
1When Jesus finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2‘You know that after two days it will be the time of the Passover festival. Then those people who are against me will put me into the power of the rulers. They will fix me, the Son of Man, to a cross to kill me.’ #26:2 We can read about the first Passover meal in Exodus 12.
3Then the leaders of the priests and the important Jews met together in the house of the most important priest. His name was Caiaphas. 4They wanted to kill Jesus. But they wanted to take hold of him secretly. So they tried to decide how they could do that. 5They said to each other, ‘We do not want to take hold of him during the Passover festival. If we do that, the people will be angry and they may fight against us.’
A woman pours beautiful oil on Jesus' head
6Then Jesus went to Bethany and he visited Simon at his house. At one time, Simon had had a bad disease of the skin. #26:6 We believe that Jesus had caused Simon to become well again. Now Simon could live in his home in Bethany again.
7While Jesus was eating a meal there, a woman came into the house. She brought a small stone jar with her. The jar contained expensive oil with a very nice smell. #26:7 The oil was called nard and people made it from a plant. The plant grows in the country called India. People kept the oil in a special stone jar. The woman had to break the jar to pour out the oil. She poured the oil over Jesus' head while he sat there.
8Jesus' disciples saw what the woman had done. They became angry and they said, ‘This woman should not have wasted the oil. 9She could have sold it for a lot of money. Then she could have given the money to poor people.’
10Jesus knew what his disciples were saying. So he said to them, ‘Do not cause trouble for her. She has done a good thing to me. 11You will always have poor people with you. But you will not always have me with you. 12She has poured oil over my body. So now I will be ready for people to bury me. 13I tell you this: Everywhere in the world people will speak about this good news. At the same time, they will also tell people about the good thing that this woman has done. And so people will remember her.’
Judas Iscariot promises to sell Jesus for money
14Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. He went to see the leaders of the priests 15and he asked them, ‘How much money will you give me if I help you to take hold of Jesus?’ The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. 16Judas then waited for the right moment to help them to take hold of Jesus.
Jesus eats his last meal with his 12 disciples
17The first day of the festival when the Jews eat flat bread arrived. #26:17 Flat bread is bread that has no yeast in it. Jesus' disciples came to him and they asked him, ‘Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you to eat?’
18Jesus replied, ‘Go to a certain man in the city and say to him, “The teacher says: This is the moment that God has prepared for me. I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples in your house.” ’ 19So Jesus' disciples did what he had told them to do. They went and they prepared the Passover meal.
20When it was evening, Jesus and the 12 apostles sat down to eat the Passover meal together. 21While they were eating, Jesus said, ‘I tell you this: One of you will help the Jewish leaders to take hold of me.’
22They were very sad about what Jesus had said. Each one of them said to Jesus, ‘Lord, surely you do not mean me, do you?’
23Jesus said to them ‘The man who will give me to the rulers is eating from the same dish as I am. #26:23 There was a dish on the table with wet food in it. They all put the end of their bread into this dish and they ate the wet food with the bread. Sometimes a person ate out of the same dish as someone else. This meant that they were good friends. 24The Son of Man must die in the way that the Bible says. But it will be very bad for the man who gives me to my enemies. It would be better for that man if he had not been born.’
25Judas was the one who would give Jesus to the Jewish leaders. But he said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, surely you do not mean me, do you?’ Jesus replied to him, ‘Yes, you have said it.’
26While Jesus and his disciples were eating, he took a loaf of bread. He thanked God for it and then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave some of it to each of them. He said, ‘Take this bread and eat it. This is my body.’
27Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for the wine in the cup. Then he gave it to them and he said, ‘All of you should drink some of this wine. 28This is my blood that shows God's promise. When I die, my blood will pour out of my body. In that way God will forgive many people for the wrong things that they have done. That is the promise that God makes because of my death. 29I tell you this. I will not drink wine again until I drink it with you in my Father's kingdom. Then it will be new wine.’ #26:29 Most Christians still meet for special meals to remember what Jesus did for them. They obey Jesus. They eat bread and drink wine together. And they think about when Jesus died for them.
30Then Jesus and his disciples sang a song to praise God. #26:30 People sang a special song about God at the end of a Passover meal. It helped them to remember all that God had done for them. Then they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus tells Peter what will happen
31Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Tonight, all of you will turn away from me. It will happen in the way that the Bible says:
God says, “I will kill the shepherd who leads the sheep.
Then all the sheep will run away in different directions.” ’ #26:31 See Zechariah 13:7
32Jesus then said, ‘But after that happens, I will become alive again. Then I will go to Galilee, and you will meet me there.’
33Peter said to Jesus, ‘Even if everyone else runs away, I will not leave you.’
34Jesus replied to Peter, ‘I tell you this: Even tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me. This will happen before the cockerel sings early tomorrow morning.’
35But Peter said to Jesus, ‘I will die with you if I need to. But I will never say that I do not know you.’ All the other disciples said the same thing.
Jesus prays in a garden on the Mount of Olives
36Then Jesus and his disciples arrived at a large garden called Gethsemane. Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there to pray.’ 37Then Jesus took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, with him. He became very sad and upset. 38He said to them, ‘I am very sad. I feel as if I could die because I feel so sad. Wait here with me and stay awake.’
39Jesus went a short way beyond them. He went down with his face on the ground. He prayed, ‘Father, if it is possible, please save me from this time of great pain. But Father, I do not ask you to do what I want. Do what you want to do.’
40Jesus returned to the three disciples. Now they were sleeping. He said to Peter, ‘You men could not stay awake with me for even one hour! 41You must stay awake and pray. God can help you, so that you will not do something wrong. You really want to do the right thing, but your bodies are weak.’
42Jesus went away a second time and he prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible to save me from this time of great pain, then I want to obey you. Do what you want for me.’
43Then Jesus returned again to Peter, James and John. He saw that they were sleeping. They could not keep their eyes open. 44So Jesus went away from them again and he prayed a third time. He said the same words to God.
45When he returned to the disciples, he said, ‘You should not still be sleeping and resting. Look! The moment has arrived! Someone will now give me, the Son of Man, to my enemies. 46Stand up, we will go now. Look! The man who will give me to my enemies is here.’
The soldiers take hold of Jesus
47While Jesus was still speaking, Judas arrived. He was one of Jesus' 12 disciples. A crowd also came with him. They were carrying swords and heavy sticks. The leaders of the priests and the important Jews had sent these people with Judas. 48Judas was ready to help the Jewish leaders to take hold of Jesus. Before this, he had told them, ‘I will kiss one of the men. You must take hold of that man.’
49Now Judas went immediately to Jesus. He said, ‘Hello, Teacher.’ Then he kissed Jesus in a friendly way. #26:49 We think that Judas kissed Jesus on the side of his face.
50Jesus said to Judas, ‘My friend, now do what you have come here to do.’
Then the crowd of men came up to Jesus. They took hold of him to lead him away. 51Then one of Jesus' disciples took hold of his sword. He hit the servant of the leader of the priests with it and he cut off the servant's ear.
52Then Jesus said to the disciple, ‘Put your sword back in its place. People who use a sword to kill others will themselves die in the same way. Someone will kill them with a sword. 53You should know that I could ask my Father God to help me. He would immediately send more than 12 large groups of angels to fight for me. 54They would save me. But then the things that God has said in the Bible about this would not happen. So it must happen in this way.’
55At that time, Jesus said to the crowd, ‘You have come out here with swords and heavy sticks to take hold of me. Do you really believe that I am leading people to fight against our country's rulers? No! I was teaching people every day in the yard of the temple. But you did not try to take hold of me then. 56The prophets wrote long ago that all this would happen to me. Now it has become true.’
Then all of Jesus' disciples ran away and left him.
Jesus stands in front of all the important rulers
57Then those men who had taken hold of Jesus took him to Caiaphas's house. Caiaphas was the most important priest. The teachers of God's Law and the important Jews were meeting there together with Caiaphas. #26:57 Caiaphas was the leader of the important Jewish rulers. There were 71 of them. They met together to decide about how to rule the people. They also decided how to punish a bad person. They had a lot of power, but they could not kill a bad person. Only the Roman rulers could do that.
58Peter followed Jesus into the yard of Caiaphas' house. But he did not go near Jesus. He sat down in the yard with the police who worked in the temple. He wanted to see what would happen.
59The leaders of the priests and all the Jewish leaders wanted to punish Jesus with death. So they tried to find some people who would say things against Jesus that were not true. 60Many people did come. And they said things against Jesus that were not true. But still the Jewish leaders could not find a reason to kill Jesus. #26:60 The Jewish leaders wanted a reason to give Jesus over to the Roman rulers. But Jesus had never said anything wrong.
Then two men stood up and they said, 61‘We heard this man say, “I can destroy the temple and in three days I can build it again.” ’
62Then Caiaphas stood up. He said to Jesus, ‘You must reply now to what these men have said against you. Are the things that they say true?’ 63But Jesus did not say anything.
So Caiaphas said to him, ‘I use the authority of the God who lives. You must promise to tell us what is true. Are you the Messiah? Are you the Son of God?’
64‘You have said it,’ Jesus replied. ‘And I tell all of you, soon you will see the Son of Man. He will be sitting in the most important place at the right side of the Most Powerful God. You will also see him coming to earth. He will be riding on the clouds in the sky.’
65Then Caiaphas tore his clothes to show that he was angry. #26:65 Caiaphas tore his coat to show other people that he was very angry. He said, ‘Jesus has spoken bad words against God. We do not need anyone else to speak against him. You have heard him speak bad words against God. 66Do you think that he is guilty?’
They replied, ‘He is guilty and he deserves to die.’
67Then some of them spat into Jesus' face. They also hit him with their fists. 68When they hit him, they said, ‘Messiah! Show us that you are a prophet. Tell us who hit you!’
Peter says three times that he does not know Jesus
69While all these things were happening, Peter was sitting outside in the yard. One of the girls who worked there went to him and she said, ‘You were also a friend of Jesus, the man from Galilee.’
70Peter said in front of everyone who was there, ‘That is not true. I do not know what you are talking about.’
71Peter then went out to the gate, and another servant girl saw him. This girl said to the people who were standing there, ‘This man was a friend of Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’
72Peter answered again very strongly. He said, ‘I promise you, I really do not know that man!’
73After a little time, other people who were standing at the gate spoke to Peter. They said, ‘We are sure that you too are one of that man's friends. We know this because you speak like people who live in Galilee.’
74Peter said to them very strongly, ‘I tell you that I do not know that man. God will surely punish me if this is not true!’
Immediately after Peter said this, the cockerel sang. 75Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, ‘Tonight you will say three times that you do not know me. You will do it before the cockerel sings.’ So Peter went out of the yard. He began to weep a lot because he was very upset.
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