Mark 14:12–35

The Last Supper

¹²On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

¹³So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ ¹⁵He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” ¹⁶So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.

¹⁷In the evening Jesus arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸As they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here will betray me.”

¹⁹Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one?”

²⁰He replied, “It is one of you twelve who is eating from this bowl with me. ²¹For the Son of Man^* must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”

²²As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.”

²³And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant^* between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many. ²⁵I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”

²⁶Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

²⁷On the way, Jesus told them, “All of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,

‘God will strike^* the Shepherd,

and the sheep will be scattered.’

²⁸But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

²⁹Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.”

³⁰Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

³¹“No!” Peter declared emphatically. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the others vowed the same.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

³²They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” ³³He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. ³⁴He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁵He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by.