Matthew 26:17–29

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.”