Matthew 26:1–29

The Plot Against Jesus

26:2–5pp—Mk 14:1,2; Lk 22:1,2

26When Jesus had finished saying all these things,^k he said to his disciples, ²“As you know, the Passover^l is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled^m in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,^{n 4}and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.^{o 5}“But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot^p among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

26:6–13pp—Mk 14:3–9 26:6–13Ref—Lk 7:37,38; Jn 12:1–8

⁶While Jesus was in Bethany^q in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

⁸When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹“This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹The poor you will always have with you,^ar but you will not always have me. ¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.^{s 13}Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

26:14–16pp—Mk 14:10,11; Lk 22:3–6

¹⁴Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot^t—went to the chief priests ¹⁵and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.^{u 16}From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

The Last Supper

26:17–19pp—Mk 14:12–16; Lk 22:7–13 26:20–24pp—Mk 14:17–21 26:26–29pp—Mk 14:22–25; Lk 22:17–20; 1Co 11:23–25

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

¹⁸He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time^x is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ ” ¹⁹So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

²⁰When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. ²¹And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”^y

²²They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

²³Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.^{z 24}The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.^a But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²⁵Then Judas, the one who would betray him,^b said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”^c

Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

²⁶While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it^d and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

²⁷Then he took a cup,^e and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸This is my blood of the^b covenant,^f which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.^{g 29}I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you^h in my Father’s kingdom.”