Mark 14:1–15

The Plot to Kill Jesus

¹⁴It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus^j by stealth and kill him,^{* 2}for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

The Anointing at Bethany

³While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^k as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.^{* 4}But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? ⁵For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. ⁶But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. ⁷For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish, but you will not always have me.^{* 8}She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.^{* 9}Truly I tell you, wherever the good news^l is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.^{* 11}When they heard it, they were greatly pleased and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

¹²On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?”^{* 13}So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, ¹⁴and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹⁵He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”