Matthew 26:14–46

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

¹⁴Then one of the twelve disciples—the one named Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ^15*and asked, “What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They counted out 30 silver coins and gave them to him. ¹⁶From then on Judas was looking for a good chance to hand Jesus over to them.

Jesus Eats the Passover Meal with His Disciples

¹⁷On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Where do you want us to get the Passover meal ready for you?”

¹⁸“Go to a certain man in the city,” he said to them, “and tell him: ‘The Teacher says, My hour has come; my disciples and I will celebrate the Passover at your house.’ ”

¹⁹The disciples did as Jesus had told them and prepared the Passover meal.

²⁰When it was evening, Jesus and the twelve disciples sat down to eat. ²¹During the meal Jesus said, “I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²²The disciples were very upset and began to ask him, one after the other, “Surely, Lord, you don’t mean me?”

^23*Jesus answered, “One who dips his bread in the dish with me will betray me. ²⁴The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say he will, but how terrible for that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”

²⁵Judas, the traitor, spoke up. “Surely, Teacher, you don’t mean me?” he asked.

Jesus answered, “So you say.”

The Lord’s Supper

²⁶While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take and eat it,” he said; “this is my body.”

²⁷Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it to them. “Drink it, all of you,” he said; ^28*“this is my blood, which seals God’s covenant, my blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

³⁰Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

^31*Then Jesus said to them, “This very night all of you will run away and leave me, for the scripture says, ‘God will kill the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ^32*But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”

³³Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “I will never leave you, even though all the rest do!”

³⁴Jesus said to Peter, “I tell you that before the cock crows tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me.”

³⁵Peter answered, “I will never say that, even if I have to die with you!”

And all the other disciples said the same thing.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

³⁶Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Grief and anguish came over him, ³⁸and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹He went a little farther on, threw himself face downwards on the ground, and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me! Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

⁴⁰Then he returned to the three disciples and found them asleep; and he said to Peter, “How is it that you three were not able to keep watch with me even for one hour? ⁴¹Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴²Once more Jesus went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup of suffering cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” ⁴³He returned once more and found the disciples asleep; they could not keep their eyes open.

⁴⁴Again Jesus left them, went away, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. ⁴⁵Then he returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look! The hour has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the power of sinners. ⁴⁶Get up, let us go. Look, here is the man who is betraying me!”