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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Matthew 26: EASY
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MissionAssist 2018
Matthew 26
26
1And it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2Ye know that after two days the passover takes place, and the Son of man is delivered up to be crucified. 3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together to the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas, 4and took counsel together in order that they might seize Jesus by subtlety and kill him; 5but they said, Not in the feast, that there be not a tumult among the people.
6But Jesus being in Bethany, in Simon the leper's house, 7a woman, having an alabaster flask of very precious ointment, came to him and poured it out upon his head as he lay at table. 8But the disciples seeing it became indignant, saying, To what end was this waste? 9for this might have been sold for much and been given to the poor. 10But Jesus knowing it said to them, Why do ye trouble the woman? for she has wrought a good work toward me. 11For ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always. 12For in pouring out this ointment on my body, she has done it for my burying. 13Verily I say to you, Wheresoever these glad tidings may be preached in the whole world, that also which this woman has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
14Then one of the twelve, he who was called Judas Iscariote, went to the chief priests 15and said, What are ye willing to give me, and I will deliver him up to you? And they appointed to him thirty pieces of silver. 16And from that time he sought a good opportunity that he might deliver him up.
17Now on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? 18And he said, Go into the city unto such a one, and say to him, The Teacher says, My time is near, I will keep the passover in thy house with my disciples. 19And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the passover. 20And when the evening was come he lay down at table with the twelve. 21And as they were eating he said, Verily I say to you, that one of you shall deliver me up. 22And being exceedingly grieved they began to say to him, each of them, Is it I, Lord? 23But he answering said, He that dips his hand with me in the dish, he it is who shall deliver me up. 24The Son of man goes indeed, according as it is written concerning him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is delivered up; it were good for that man if he had not been born. 25And Judas, who delivered him up, answering said, Is it I, Rabbi? He says to him, Thou hast said.
26And as they were eating, Jesus, having taken the bread and blessed, broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. 27And having taken the cup and given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it. 28For this is my blood, that of the new covenant, that shed for many for remission of sins. 29But I say to you, that I will not at all drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father. 30And having sung a hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives.
31Then saith Jesus to them, All ye shall be offended in me during this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. 32But after that I shall be risen, I will go before you to Galilee. 33And Peter answering said to him, If all shall be offended in thee, I will never be offended. 34Jesus said to him, Verily I say to thee, that during this night, before the cock shall crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 35Peter says to him, If I should needs die with thee, I will in no wise deny thee. Likewise said all the disciples also.
36Then Jesus comes with them to a place called Gethsemane, and says to the disciples, Sit here until I go away and pray yonder. 37And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and deeply depressed. 38Then he says to them, My soul is very sorrowful even unto death; remain here and watch with me. 39And going forward a little he fell upon his face, praying and saying, My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me; but not as I will, but as thou wilt. 40And he comes to the disciples and finds them sleeping, and says to Peter, Thus ye have not been able to watch one hour with me? 41Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is ready, but the flesh weak. 42Again going away a second time he prayed saying, My Father, if this cannot pass from me unless I drink it, thy will be done. 43And coming he found them again sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44And leaving them, he went away again and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45Then he comes to the disciples and says to them, Sleep on now and take your rest; behold, the hour has drawn nigh, and the Son of man is delivered up into the hands of sinners. 46Arise, let us go; behold, he that delivers me up has drawn nigh.
47And while he was yet speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great crowd with swords and sticks from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48Now he that delivered him up had given them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, he it is: seize him. 49And immediately coming up to Jesus he said, Hail, Rabbi, and covered him with kisses. 50But Jesus said to him, My friend, for what purpose art thou come? Then coming up they laid hands upon Jesus and seized him. 51And behold, one of those with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and smiting the bondman of the high priest took off his ear. 52Then saith Jesus to him, Return thy sword to its place; for all who take the sword shall perish by the sword. 53Or thinkest thou that I cannot now call upon my Father, and he will furnish me more than twelve legions of angels? 54How then should the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? 55In that hour Jesus said to the crowds, Are ye come out as against a robber with swords and sticks to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye did not seize me. 56But all this is come to pass that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him and fled.
57Now they that had seized Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58And Peter followed him at a distance, even to the palace of the high priest, and entering in sat with the officers to see the end. 59And the chief priests and the elders and the whole sanhedrim sought false witness against Jesus, so that they might put him to death. 60And they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. But at the last two false witnesses came forward 61and said, He said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and in three days build it. 62And the high priest standing up said to him, Answerest thou nothing? What do these witness against thee? 63But Jesus was silent. And the high priest answering said to him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us if thou art the Christ the Son of God. 64Jesus says to him, Thou hast said. Moreover, I say to you, From henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. 65Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He has blasphemed: what need have we any more of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy. 66What think ye? And they answering said, He is liable to the penalty of death. 67Then they spit in his face, and buffeted him, and some struck him with the palms of their hand, 68saying, Prophesy to us, Christ, Who is it who struck thee?
69But Peter sat without in the palace-court; and a maid came to him, saying, And thou wast with Jesus the Galilaean. 70But he denied before all, saying, I do not know what thou sayest. 71And when he had gone out into the entrance, another maid saw him, and says to those there, This man also was with Jesus the Nazaraean. 72And again he denied with an oath: I do not know the man. 73And after a little, those who stood there, coming to him, said to Peter, Truly thou too art of them, for also thy speech makes thee manifest. 74Then he began to curse and to swear, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. 75And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, who had said to him, Before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went forth without, and wept bitterly.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.