2 “You knowA that the Passover takes place after two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”d

3 Then the chief priestsB and the elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas,e 4 and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill him.f 5 “Not during the festival,” they said, “so there won’t be rioting among the people.”

THE ANOINTING AT BETHANY

6 While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simong the leper,* 7 a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciplesh saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.”

10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for me. 11 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.i 12 By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospelj is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

14 Thenk one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priestsl 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him.m 16 And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.

BETRAYAL AT THE PASSOVER

17 On the first day of Unleavened Breadn the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

18 “Go into the city to a certain man,” he said, “and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time is near; I am celebrating the Passover at your placeD with my disciples.’ ”o 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. 20 When evening came, he was reclining at the table with the Twelve.