Bible in 90 Days

The Leaders Ask for a Miracle

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus. They wanted to trap him. So they asked him to show them a miracle to prove that he was from God.

² Jesus answered,^[a] “When you see the sunset, you know what the weather will be. If the sky is red, then you say we will have good weather. ³ And in the morning if the sky is dark and red, then you say that it will be a rainy day. You see these signs in the sky, and you know what they mean. In the same way, you see the things that are happening now. But you don’t know their meaning. ⁴ Evil and sinful people ask for a miracle as a sign. But they will have no sign—only the sign of Jonah.”^[b] Then Jesus left them and went away.

Guard Against Wrong Teachings

⁵ Jesus and his followers went across the lake. But the followers forgot to bring bread. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “Be careful! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

⁷ The followers discussed the meaning of this. They said, “Did Jesus say this because we forgot to bring bread?”

⁸ Jesus knew that they were talking about this. So he asked them, “Why are you talking about not having bread? Your faith is small. ⁹ You still don’t understand? Remember the five loaves of bread that fed the 5,000 people? And remember that you filled many baskets with bread after the people finished eating? ¹⁰ And remember the seven loaves of bread that fed the 4,000 people? Remember that you filled many baskets then also? ¹¹ So I was not talking to you about bread. Why don’t you understand that? I am telling you to be careful and guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” ¹² Then the followers understood what Jesus meant. He was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread. He was telling them to guard against the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Peter Says Jesus Is the Christ

¹³ Jesus went to the area of Caesarea Philippi. He said to his followers, “I am the Son of Man. Who do the people say I am?”

¹⁴ They answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah. And others say that you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ Then Jesus asked them, “And who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus answered, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah. No person taught you that. My Father in heaven showed you who I am. ¹⁸ So I tell you, you are Peter.^[c] And I will build my church on this rock. The power of death will not be able to defeat my church. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The things you don’t allow on earth will be the things that God does not allow. The things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.” ²⁰ Then Jesus warned his followers not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Jesus Says That He Must Die

²¹ From that time on Jesus began telling his followers that he must go to Jerusalem. He explained that the Jewish elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law would make him suffer many things. And he told them that he must be killed. Then, on the third day, he would be raised from death.

²² Peter took Jesus aside and began to criticize him. Peter said, “God save you from those things, Lord! Those things will never happen to you!”

²³ Then Jesus said to Peter, “Go away from me, Satan!^[d] You are not helping me! You don’t care about the things of God. You care only about things that men think are important.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his followers, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must say ‘no’ to the things he wants. He must be willing even to die on a cross, and he must follow me. ²⁵ Whoever wants to save his life will give up true life. And whoever gives up his life for me will have true life. ²⁶ It is worth nothing for a man to have the whole world if he loses his soul. He could never pay enough to buy back his soul. ²⁷ The Son of Man will come again with his Father’s glory and with his angels. At that time, he will reward everyone for what he has done. ²⁸ I tell you the truth. There are some people standing here who, before they die, will see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.”

Jesus with Moses and Elijah

17 Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John the brother of James up on a high mountain. They were all alone there. ² While they watched, Jesus was changed. His face became bright like the sun. And his clothes became white as light. ³ Then two men were there, talking with him. The men were Moses and Elijah.^[e]

⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you want, I will put three tents here—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵ While Peter was talking, a bright cloud covered them. A voice came from the cloud. The voice said, “This is my Son and I love him. I am very pleased with him. Obey him!”

⁶ The followers with Jesus heard the voice. They were so frightened that they fell to the ground. ⁷ But Jesus went to them and touched them. He said, “Stand up. Don’t be afraid.” ⁸ When the followers looked up, they saw Jesus was now alone.

⁹ When Jesus and the followers were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone about the things you saw on the mountain. Wait until the Son of Man has been raised from death. Then you may tell.”

¹⁰ The followers asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first, before the Christ comes?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “They are right to say that Elijah is coming. And it is true that Elijah will make everything the way it should be. ¹² But I tell you, Elijah has already come. People did not know who he was. They did to him everything they wanted to do. It will be the same with the Son of Man. Those same people will make the Son of Man suffer.” ¹³ Then the followers understood that Jesus was talking about John the Baptist.

Jesus Heals a Sick Boy

¹⁴ Jesus and his followers went back to the crowd. A man came to Jesus and bowed before him. ¹⁵ The man said, “Lord, please help my son. He has epilepsy^[f] and is suffering very much. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your followers, but they could not cure him.”

¹⁷ Jesus answered, “You people have no faith. Your lives are all wrong. How long must I stay with you? How long must I continue to be patient with you? Bring the boy here.” ¹⁸ Jesus gave a strong command to the demon inside the boy. Then the demon came out, and the boy was healed.

¹⁹ The followers came to Jesus when he was alone. They said, “Why couldn’t we force the demon out?”

²⁰ Jesus answered, “You were not able to drive out the demon because your faith is too small. I tell you the truth. If your faith is as big as a mustard seed,^[g] you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there.’ And the mountain will move. All things will be possible for you. ²¹ [That kind of spirit comes out only if you use prayer and give up eating.]”^[h]

Jesus Talks About His Death

²² Later, the followers met together in Galilee. Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man will be given into the control of some men. ²³ They will kill him, but on the third day he will be raised from death.” And the followers were filled with sadness.

Jesus Talks About Paying Taxes

²⁴ Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. There some men came to Peter. They were the men who collected the Temple tax. They asked, “Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?”

²⁵ Peter answered, “Yes, Jesus pays the tax.”

Peter went into the house where Jesus was. Before Peter could speak, Jesus said to him, “The kings on the earth collect different kinds of taxes. But who are the people who pay the taxes? Are they the king’s children? Or do others pay the taxes? What do you think?”

²⁶ Peter answered, “Other people pay the taxes.”

Jesus said to Peter, “Then the children of the king don’t have to pay taxes. ²⁷ But we don’t want to make these tax collectors angry. So go to the lake and fish. After you catch the first fish, open its mouth. Inside its mouth you will find a coin. Take that coin and give it to the tax collectors. That will pay the tax for you and me.”

Who Is the Greatest?

18 At that time the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² Jesus called a little child to him. He stood the child before the followers. ³ Then he said, “I tell you the truth. You must change and become like little children. If you don’t do this, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.

⁵ “Whoever accepts a little child in my name accepts me. ⁶ If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, then it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for him to have a large stone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea. ⁷ How terrible for the people of the world because of the things that cause them to sin. Such things will happen. But how terrible for the one who causes them to happen. ⁸ If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to have only part of your body but have life forever. That is much better than to have two hands and two feet but be thrown into the fire that burns forever. ⁹ If your eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better for you to have only one eye but have life forever. That is much better than to have two eyes but be thrown into the fire of hell.

A Lost Sheep

¹⁰ “Be careful. Don’t think these little children are worth nothing. I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always with my Father in heaven. ¹¹ [The Son of Man came to save lost people.]^[i]

¹² “If a man has 100 sheep, but 1 of the sheep gets lost, he will leave the other 99 sheep on the hill. He will go to look for the lost sheep. ¹³ And if he finds it, he is happier about that 1 sheep than about the 99 that were never lost. I tell you the truth. ¹⁴ In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost.

When a Person Sins Against You

¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you,^[j] go and tell him what he did wrong. Do this in private. If he listens to you, then you have helped him to be your brother again. ¹⁶ But if he refuses to listen, then go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ‘Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’^{[k] 17} If he refuses to listen to them, then tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him as you would one who does not believe in God. Treat him as if he were a tax collector.

¹⁸ “I tell you the truth. The things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow. The things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.

¹⁹ “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something, then you can pray for it. And the thing you ask for will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”

An Unforgiving Servant

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my brother sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as 7 times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than 7 times. You must forgive him even if he does wrong to you 70 times 7.

²³ “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. ²⁴ So the king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several million dollars. ²⁵ But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.

²⁶ “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’ ²⁷ The master felt sorry for his servant. So the master told the servant he did not have to pay. He let the servant go free.

²⁸ “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed the other servant around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’

²⁹ “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’

³⁰ “But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. ³¹ All the other servants saw what happened. They were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.

³² “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant! You begged me to forget what you owed. So I told you that you did not have to pay anything. ³³ I had mercy on you. You should have had the same mercy on that other servant.’ ³⁴ The master was very angry, and he put the servant in prison to be punished. The servant had to stay in prison until he could pay everything he owed.

³⁵ “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Jesus Teaches About Divorce

19 After Jesus said all these things, he left Galilee. He went into the area of Judea on the other side of the Jordan River. ² Large crowds followed Jesus, and he healed them there.

³ Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for any reason he chooses?”

⁴ Jesus answered, “Surely you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’^{[l] 5} And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife. And the two people will become one body.’^{[m] 6} So the two are not two, but one. God joined the two people together. No person should separate them.”

⁷ The Pharisees asked, “Why then did Moses give a command for a man to divorce his wife by giving her divorce papers?”

⁸ Jesus answered, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because you refused to accept God’s teaching. But divorce was not allowed in the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery.^[n] The only reason for a man to divorce and marry again is if his first wife has been unfaithful to him.”

¹⁰ The followers said to him, “If that is the only reason a man can divorce his wife, then it is better not to marry.”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “Not everyone can accept this truth about marriage. But God has made some able to accept it. ¹² There are different reasons why some men cannot marry. Some men were born without the ability to become fathers. Others were made that way later in life by other people. And other men have given up marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. But the person who can marry should accept this teaching about marriage.”^[o]

Jesus Welcomes Children

¹³ Then the people brought their little children to Jesus so that he could put his hands on them^[p] and pray for them. When his followers saw this, they told the people to stop bringing their children to Jesus. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are like these children.” ¹⁵ After Jesus put his hands on the children, he left there.

A Rich Young Man’s Question

¹⁶ A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have life forever?”

¹⁷ Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. But if you want to have life forever, obey the commands.”

¹⁸ The man asked, “Which commands?”

Jesus answered, “‘You must not murder anyone. You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not steal. You must not tell lies about your neighbor in court. ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother.^[q] Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”^[r]

²⁰ The young man said, “I have obeyed all these things. What else do I need to do?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, then go and sell all the things you own. Give the money to the poor. If you do this, you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me!”

²² But when the young man heard this, he became very sad because he was very rich. So he left Jesus.

²³ Then Jesus said to his followers, “I tell you the truth. It will be very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Yes, I tell you that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ When the followers heard this, they were very surprised. They asked, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible. But for God all things are possible.”

²⁷ Peter said to Jesus, “We left everything we had and followed you. So what will we have?”

²⁸ Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. When the new age comes, the Son of Man will sit on his great throne. And all of you who followed me will also sit on 12 thrones. And you will judge the 12 tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother,^[s] children, or farms to follow me will get much more than he left. And he will have life forever. ³⁰ Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.

A Story About Vineyard Workers

20 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who owned some land. One morning, he went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. ² The man agreed to pay the workers one silver coin^[t] for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work. ³ About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there, doing nothing. ⁴ So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my vineyard, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ ⁵ So they went to work in the vineyard. The man went out again about twelve o’clock and again at three o’clock. Both times he hired people to work in his vineyard. ⁶ About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again. He saw others standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’ ⁷ They answered, ‘No one gave us a job.’ The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸ “At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them. Start by paying the last people I hired. Then pay all of them, ending with the workers I hired first.’

⁹ “The workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay. Each worker received one silver coin. ¹⁰ Then the workers who were hired first came to get their pay. They thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one silver coin. ¹¹ When they got their silver coin, they complained to the man who owned the land. ¹² They said, ‘Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as you paid us. And we worked hard all day in the hot sun.’ ¹³ But the man who owned the vineyard said to one of those workers, ‘Friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed to work for one silver coin. ¹⁴ So take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same pay that I gave you. ¹⁵ I can do what I want with my own money. Are you jealous because I am good to those people?’

¹⁶ “So those who are last now will someday be first. And those who are first now will someday be last.”

Jesus Talks About His Own Death

¹⁷ Jesus was going to Jerusalem. His 12 followers were with him. While they were on the way, Jesus gathered the followers together and spoke to them privately. He said to them, ¹⁸ “We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law. They will say that he must die. ¹⁹ They will give the Son of Man to the non-Jewish people. They will laugh at him and beat him with whips, and then they will kill him on a cross. But on the third day after his death, he will be raised to life again.”

A Mother Asks Jesus a Favor

²⁰ Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus. Her sons were with her. The mother bowed before Jesus and asked him to do something for her.

²¹ Jesus asked, “What do you want?”

She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side in your kingdom. And promise that the other son will sit at your left side.”

²² But Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you accept the kind of suffering that I must suffer?”^[u]

The sons answered, “Yes, we can!”

²³ Jesus said to them, “Truly you will suffer the same things that I will suffer. But I cannot choose who will sit at my right side or my left side. Those places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”

²⁴ The other ten followers heard this and were angry with the two brothers.

²⁵ Jesus called all the followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority. ²⁶ But it should not be that way among you. If one of you wants to become great, then he must serve the rest of you like a servant. ²⁷ If one of you wants to become first, then he must serve the rest of you like a slave. ²⁸ So it is with the Son of Man. The Son of Man did not come for other people to serve him. He came to serve others. The Son of Man came to give his life to save many people.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁹ When Jesus and his followers were leaving Jericho, a great many people followed Jesus. ³⁰ There were two blind men sitting by the road. The blind men heard that Jesus was going by, so they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, please help us!”

³¹ All the people criticized the blind men. They told them to be quiet. But the blind men shouted more and more, “Lord, Son of David, please help us!”

³² Jesus stopped and said to the blind men, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³ They answered, “Lord, we want to be able to see.”

³⁴ Jesus felt sorry for the blind men. He touched their eyes, and at once they were able to see. Then the men followed Jesus.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King

21 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers into the town. ² He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell him, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.’” ⁴ This was to make clear the full meaning of what the prophet said:

⁶ The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt to Jesus. They laid their coats on the donkeys, and Jesus sat on them. ⁸ Many people spread their coats on the road before Jesus. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. All the people were shouting,

¹⁰ Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. The city was filled with excitement. The people asked, “Who is this man?”

¹¹ The crowd answered, “This man is Jesus. He is the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus Goes to the Temple

¹² Jesus went into the Temple. He threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables that belonged to the men who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. ¹³ Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house where people will pray.’^[w] But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.’”^[x]

¹⁴ The blind and crippled people came to Jesus in the Temple, and Jesus healed them. ¹⁵ The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw that Jesus was doing wonderful things. They saw the children praising him in the Temple. The children were saying, “Praise^[y] to the Son of David.” All these things made the priests and the teachers of the law very angry.

¹⁶ They asked Jesus, “Do you hear the things these children are saying?”

Jesus answered, “Yes. Haven’t you read in the Scriptures, ‘You have taught children and babies to sing praises’?”^[z]

¹⁷ Then Jesus left and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

The Power of Faith

¹⁸ Early the next morning, Jesus was going back to the city. He was very hungry. ¹⁹ He saw a fig tree beside the road. Jesus went to it, but there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again have fruit!” The tree immediately dried up.

²⁰ His followers saw this and were amazed. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth. If you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. ²² If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”

Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority

²³ Jesus went to the Temple. While he was teaching there, the leading priests and the elders of the people came to Jesus. They said to him, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question, too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. ²⁵ Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from God or from man?”

The priests and the leaders argued about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘It was from man,’ we are afraid of what the people will do because they all believe that John was a prophet.”

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things!

A Story About Two Sons

²⁸ “Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ ²⁹ The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later the son decided he should go, and he went. ³⁰ Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”

The priests and leaders answered, “The first son.”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. The tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do. ³² John came to show you the right way to live. And you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw this, but you still refused to change and believe him.

God Sends His Son

³³ “Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the vineyard and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. ³⁴ Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. ³⁵ But the farmers grabbed the servants, beat one, killed another, and then killed a third servant with stones. ³⁶ So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to the servants that they had done before. ³⁷ So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then his vineyard will be ours!’ ³⁹ So the farmers grabbed the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”

⁴¹ The priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the vineyard to some other farmers. They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:

⁴³ “So I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do the things God wants in his kingdom. ⁴⁴ The person who falls on this stone will be broken. But if the stone falls on him, he will be crushed.”^[aa]

⁴⁵ The leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories that Jesus told. They knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted to arrest him. But they were afraid of the people, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.

A Story About a Wedding Feast

22 Jesus used stories to tell other things to the people. He said, ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. ³ The king invited some people to the feast. When the feast was ready, the king sent his servants to tell the people to come. But they refused to come to the feast.

⁴ “Then the king sent other servants. He said to them, ‘Tell those who have been invited that my feast is ready. I have killed my best bulls and calves for the dinner. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’

⁵ “But the people refused to listen to the servants. They went to do other things. One went to work in his field, and another went to his business. ⁶ Some of the other people grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them. ⁷ The king was very angry. He sent his army to kill the people who had killed his servants. And the army burned their city.

⁸ “After that, the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready. I invited those people, but they were not worthy to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners and invite everyone you see. Tell them to come to my feast.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “Then the king came in to see all the guests. He saw a man there who was not dressed in the right clothes for a wedding. ¹² The king said, ‘Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not wearing the right clothes for a wedding.’ But the man said nothing. ¹³ So the king told some servants, ‘Tie this man’s hands and feet. Throw him out into the darkness. In that place, people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’

¹⁴ “Yes, many are invited. But only a few are chosen.”

The Pharisees Try to Trap Jesus

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees left the place where Jesus was teaching. They made plans to trap Jesus with a question. ¹⁶ They sent some of their own followers and some men from the group called Herodians.^[ab] These men said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. We know that you teach the truth about God’s way. You are not afraid of what other people think about you. All men are the same to you. ¹⁷ So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus knew that these men were trying to trick him. So he said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me a coin used for paying the tax.” The men showed him a silver coin.^{[ac] 20} Then Jesus asked, “Whose picture is on the coin? And whose name is written on the coin?”

²¹ The men answered, “Caesar’s.”

Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. And give to God the things that are God’s.”

²² The men heard what Jesus said, and they were amazed. They left him and went away.

Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus

²³ That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no person will rise from death.) The Sadducees asked Jesus a question. ²⁴ They said, “Teacher, Moses told us that a married man might die without having children. Then his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. ²⁵ There were seven brothers among us. The first one married but died. He had no children. So his brother married the widow. ²⁶ Then the second brother also died. The same thing happened to the third brother and all the other brothers. ²⁷ The woman was last to die. ²⁸ But all seven men had married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will she be?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “You don’t understand because you don’t know what the Scriptures say. And you don’t know about the power of God. ³⁰ When people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other. They will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹ Surely you have read what God said to you about the rising from death? ³² God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^[ad] God is the God of living people, not dead people.”

³³ All the people heard this. They were amazed at Jesus’ teaching.

The Most Important Command

³⁴ The Pharisees learned that the Sadducees could not argue with Jesus’ answers to them. So the Pharisees met together. ³⁵ One Pharisee was an expert in the law of Moses. That Pharisee asked Jesus a question to test him. ³⁶ The Pharisee asked, “Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?”

³⁷ Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.’^{[ae] 38} This is the first and most important command. ³⁹ And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’^{[af] 40} All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.”

Jesus Questions the Pharisees

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were together, Jesus asked them a question. ⁴² He asked, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

The Pharisees answered, “The Christ is the Son of David.”

⁴³ Then Jesus said to them, “Then why did David call him ‘Lord’? David was speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit. David said,

⁴⁵ David calls the Christ ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”

⁴⁶ None of the Pharisees could answer Jesus’ question. And after that day no one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions.

Jesus Accuses the Leaders

23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his followers. Jesus said, ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the law of Moses says. ³ So you should obey and follow whatever they tell you. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do the things themselves. ⁴ They make strict rules and try to force people to obey them. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.

⁵ “The reason they do good things is so other people will see them. They make the boxes^[ag] of Scriptures that they wear bigger and bigger. And they make their special prayer clothes very long so that people will notice them. ⁶ Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the most important seats at the feasts. And they love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. ⁷ They love people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. And they love to have people call them ‘Teacher.’

⁸ “But you must not be called ‘Teacher.’ You are all brothers and sisters together. You have only one Teacher. ⁹ And don’t call any person on earth ‘Father.’ You have one Father. He is in heaven. ¹⁰ And you should not be called ‘Master.’ You have only one Master, the Christ. ¹¹ He who serves you as a servant is the greatest among you. ¹² Whoever makes himself great will be made humble. Whoever makes himself humble will be made great.

¹³ “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the door for people to enter the kingdom of heaven. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop others who are trying to enter. ¹⁴ [How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You take away widows’ houses, and you make long prayers so that people can see you. So you will have a worse punishment.]^[ah]

¹⁵ “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You travel across land and sea to find one person who will follow your ways. When you find that person, you make him more fit for hell than you are.

¹⁶ “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, ‘If anyone swears by the Temple when he makes a promise, that means nothing. But if anyone swears by the gold that is in the Temple, then he must keep that promise.’ ¹⁷ You are blind fools! Which is greater: the gold or the Temple? The Temple makes that gold holy. ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar when he makes a promise, that means nothing. But if he swears by the gift on the altar, then he must keep his promise.’ ¹⁹ You are blind! Which is greater: the gift or the altar? The altar makes the gift holy. ²⁰ The person who swears by the altar is really using the altar and also everything on the altar. ²¹ And the person who uses the Temple to make a promise is really using the Temple and also everything in the Temple. ²² The person who uses heaven to make a promise is also using God’s throne and the One who sits on that throne.

²³ “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You give to God one-tenth of everything you earn—even your mint, dill, and cummin.^[ai] But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law—being fair, showing mercy, and being loyal. These are the things you should do, as well as those other things. ²⁴ You guide the people, but you are blind! You are like a person who picks a fly out of his drink and then swallows a camel!^[aj]

²⁵ “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You wash the outside of your cups and dishes. But inside they are full of things that you got by cheating others and pleasing only yourselves. ²⁶ Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup clean and good. Then the outside of the cup can be truly clean.

²⁷ “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside, those tombs look fine. But inside, they are full of the bones of dead people, and all kinds of unclean things are there. ²⁸ It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are good. But on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil.

²⁹ “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets. You show honor to the graves of people who lived good lives. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our fathers, we would not have helped them kill the prophets.’ ³¹ But you give proof that you are children of those people who murdered the prophets. ³² And you will complete the sin that your fathers started!

³³ “You are snakes! A family of poisonous snakes! You will not escape God. You will all be judged guilty and be sent to hell! ³⁴ So I tell you this: I am sending to you prophets and wise men and teachers. You will kill some of these people. You will nail some of them to crosses. You will beat some of them in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town. ³⁵ So you will be guilty for the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth. You will be guilty for the murder of that good man Abel. And you will be guilty for the murder of Zechariah^[ak] son of Berakiah. He was murdered when he was between the Temple and the altar. ³⁶ I tell you the truth. All of these things will happen to you people who are living now.

Jesus Feels Sorry for Jerusalem

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and kill with stones those men God sent to you. Many times I wanted to help your people! I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me. ³⁸ Now your home will be left completely empty. ³⁹ I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord.’”^[al]

The Temple Will Be Destroyed

24 Jesus left the Temple and was walking away. But his followers came to show him the Temple’s buildings. ² Jesus asked, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another.”

³ Later, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. His followers came to be alone with him. They said, “Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to show us that it is time for you to come again and for the world to end?”

⁴ Jesus answered: “Be careful that no one fools you. ⁵ Many people will come in my name. They will say, ‘I am the Christ.’ And they will fool many people. ⁶ You will hear about wars and stories of wars that are coming. But don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. ⁷ Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places. ⁸ These things are like the first pains when something new is about to be born.

⁹ “Then men will arrest you and hand you over to be hurt and kill you. They will hate you because you believe in me. ¹⁰ At that time, many who believe will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. ¹¹ Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe false things. ¹² There will be more and more evil in the world. So most people will stop showing their love for each other. ¹³ But the person who continues to be strong until the end will be saved. ¹⁴ The Good News about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come.

¹⁵ “Daniel the prophet spoke about ‘the horrible thing that destroys.’^[am] You will see this terrible thing standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means.) ¹⁶ “At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. ¹⁷ If a person is on the roof^[an] of his house, he must not go down to get anything out of his house. ¹⁸ If a person is in the field, he must not go back to get his coat. ¹⁹ At that time, it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! ²⁰ Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away. ²¹ This is because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning of the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again. ²² God has decided to make that terrible time short. If that time were not made short, then no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen. ²³ At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the Christ!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. ²⁴ False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great things and miracles. They will do these things to the people God has chosen. They will fool them, if that is possible. ²⁵ Now I have warned you about this before it happens.

²⁶ “If people tell you, ‘The Christ is in the desert’—don’t go there. If they say, ‘The Christ is in the inner room’—don’t believe it. ²⁷ When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by everyone. It will be like lightning flashing in the sky that can be seen everywhere. ²⁸ Wherever there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹ “Soon after the trouble of those days, this will happen:

³⁰ “At that time, there will be something in the sky that shows the Son of Man is coming. All the peoples of the world will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on clouds in the sky. He will come with great power and glory. ³¹ He will use a loud trumpet to send his angels all around the earth. They will gather his chosen people from every part of the world.

³² “The fig tree teaches us a lesson: When its branches become green and soft, and new leaves begin to grow, then you know that summer is near. ³³ So also, when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to come. ³⁴ I tell you the truth. All these things will happen while the people of this time are still living! ³⁵ The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed, but the words I have said will never be destroyed!

When Will Jesus Come Again?

³⁶ “No one knows when that day or time will be. Even the Son^[ao] and the angels in heaven don’t know. Only the Father knows. ³⁷ When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as what happened during Noah’s time. ³⁸ In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. They were marrying and giving their children to be married. They were still doing those things until the day Noah entered the boat. ³⁹ They knew nothing about what was happening. But then the flood came, and all those people were destroyed. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. ⁴⁰ Two men will be working together in the field. One man will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding grain with a hand mill.^[ap] One woman will be taken and the other will be left.

⁴² “So always be ready. You don’t know the day your Lord will come. ⁴³ Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, then the owner would be ready for him. The owner would watch and not let the thief enter his house. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time you don’t expect him.

⁴⁵ “Who is the wise and trusted servant? The master trusts one servant to give the other servants their food at the right time. ⁴⁶ When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be very happy. ⁴⁷ I tell you the truth. The master will choose that servant to take care of everything the master owns. ⁴⁸ But what will happen if the servant is evil and thinks his master will not come back soon? ⁴⁹ Then that servant will begin to beat the other servants. He will feast and get drunk with others like him. ⁵⁰ And the master will come when the servant is not ready and is not expecting him. ⁵¹ Then the master will punish that servant. He will send him away to be among the hypocrites. There people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.

A Story About Ten Girls

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten girls who went to wait for the bridegroom. They took their lamps with them. ² Five of the girls were foolish and five were wise. ³ The five foolish girls took their lamps, but they did not take more oil for the lamps to burn. ⁴ The wise girls took their lamps and more oil in jars. ⁵ The bridegroom was very late. All the girls became sleepy and went to sleep.

⁶ “At midnight someone cried out, ‘The bridegroom is coming! Come and meet him!’ ⁷ Then all the girls woke up and got their lamps ready. ⁸ But the foolish girls said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ The wise girls answered, ‘No! The oil we have might not be enough for all of us. Go to the people who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “So the five foolish girls went to buy oil. While they were gone, the bridegroom came. The girls who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Then the door was closed and locked.

¹¹ “Later the others came back. They called, ‘Sir, sir, open the door to let us in.’ ¹² But the bridegroom answered, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “So always be ready. You don’t know the day or the time the Son of Man will come.

A Story About Three Servants

¹⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was going to another place for a visit. Before he left, he talked with his servants. The man told them to take care of his things while he was gone. ¹⁵ He decided how much each servant would be able to care for. He gave one servant five bags of money. He gave another servant two bags of money. And he gave a third servant one bag of money. Then the man left. ¹⁶ The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money. The five bags of money earned five more. ¹⁷ It was the same with the servant who had two bags of money. He invested the money and earned two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who got one bag of money went out and dug a hole in the ground. Then he hid his master’s money in the hole.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master came home. He asked the servants what they did with his money. ²⁰ The servant who got five bags of money brought five more bags to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of money. So I used your five bags to earn five more.’ ²¹ The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with small things. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’

²² “Then the servant who got two bags of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of money to care for. So I used your two bags to earn two more.’ ²³ The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with small things. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’

²⁴ “Then the servant who got one bag of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid. I went and hid your money in the ground. Here is the bag of money you gave me.’ ²⁶ The master answered, ‘You are a bad and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest things I did not plant, and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed? ²⁷ So you should have put my money in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would get my money back with interest.’

²⁸ “So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the bag of money from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags of money. ²⁹ Everyone who uses what he has will get more. He will have much more than he needs. But the one who does not use what he has will have everything taken away from him.’ ³⁰ Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside, into the darkness! There people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’

The King Will Judge All People

³¹ “The Son of Man will come again in his great glory. All his angels will come with him. He will be King and sit on his great throne. ³² All the people of the world will be gathered before him. Then he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ The Son of Man will put the sheep, the good people, on his right and the goats, the bad people, on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to the good people on his right, ‘Come. My Father has given you his blessing. Come and receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. ³⁵ I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. ³⁶ I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

³⁷ “Then the good people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’

⁴⁰ “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth. Anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me. God has said that you will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever. That fire was prepared for the devil and his helpers. ⁴² I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. ⁴³ I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.’

⁴⁴ “Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you alone and away from home? Or when did we see you without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?’

⁴⁵ “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth. Anything you refused to do for any of my people here, you refused to do for me.’

⁴⁶ “These people will go off to be punished forever. But the good people will go to live forever.”

The Plan to Kill Jesus

26 After Jesus finished saying all these things, he told his followers, ² “You know that the day after tomorrow is the day of the Passover Feast. On that day the Son of Man will be given to his enemies to be killed on a cross.”

³ Then the leading priests and the Jewish elders had a meeting at the palace of the high priest. The high priest’s name was Caiaphas. ⁴ At the meeting, they planned to set a trap to arrest Jesus and kill him. ⁵ But they said, “We must not do it during the feast. The people might cause a riot.”

A Woman with Perfume for Jesus

⁶ Jesus was in Bethany. He was at the house of Simon, who had a harmful skin disease. ⁷ While Jesus was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. She poured this perfume on Jesus’ head while he was eating.

⁸ His followers saw the woman do this and were upset. They asked, “Why waste that perfume? ⁹ It could be sold for a great deal of money, and the money could be given to the poor.”

¹⁰ But Jesus knew what happened. He said, “Why are you troubling this woman? She did a very beautiful thing for me. ¹¹ You will always have the poor with you. But you will not always have me. ¹² This woman poured perfume on my body to prepare me for burial. ¹³ I tell you the truth. The Good News will be told to people in all the world. And in every place where it is preached, what this woman has done will be told. And people will remember her.”

Judas Becomes an Enemy of Jesus

¹⁴ Then 1 of the 12 followers went to talk to the leading priests. This was the follower named Judas Iscariot. ¹⁵ He said, “I will give Jesus to you. What will you pay me for doing this?” The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. ¹⁶ After that, Judas waited for the best time to give Jesus to the priests.

Jesus Eats the Passover Feast

¹⁷ On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the followers came to Jesus. They said, “We will prepare everything for you to eat the Passover Feast. Where do you want to have the feast?”

¹⁸ Jesus answered, “Go into the city to a certain man. Tell him that the Teacher says, ‘The chosen time is near. I will have the Passover Feast with my followers at your house.’” ¹⁹ The followers did what Jesus told them to do, and they prepared the Passover Feast.

²⁰ In the evening Jesus was sitting at the table with his 12 followers. ²¹ They were all eating. Then Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. One of you 12 will turn against me.”

²² This made the followers very sad. Each one said to Jesus, “Surely, Lord, I am not the one who will turn against you. Am I?”

²³ Jesus answered, “The man who has dipped his hand with me into the bowl is the one who will turn against me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will die. The Scriptures say this will happen. But how terrible it will be for the person who gives the Son of Man to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”

²⁵ Then Judas said to Jesus, “Teacher, surely I am not the one. Am I?” (Judas is the one who would give Jesus to his enemies.)

Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”

The Lord’s Supper

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took some bread. He thanked God for it and broke it. Then he gave it to his followers and said, “Take this bread and eat it. This bread is my body.”

²⁷ Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for it and gave it to the followers. He said, “Every one of you drink this. ²⁸ This is my blood which begins the new^[aq] agreement that God makes with his people. This blood is poured out for many to forgive their sins. ²⁹ I tell you this: I will not drink of this fruit of the vine^[ar] again until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

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

Jesus’ Followers Will All Leave Him

³¹ Jesus told the followers, “Tonight you will lose your faith because of me. It is written in the Scriptures:

³² But after I rise from death, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

³³ Peter said, “All the other followers may lose their faith because of you. But I will never lose my faith.”

³⁴ Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. Tonight you will say you don’t know me. You will say this three times before the rooster crows.”

³⁵ But Peter said, “I will never say that I don’t know you! I will even die with you!” And all the other followers said the same thing.

Jesus Prays Alone

³⁶ Then Jesus went with his followers to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He told Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to come with him. Then Jesus began to be very sad and troubled. ³⁸ He said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, “My heart is full of sorrow and breaking with sadness. Stay here with me and watch.”

³⁹ Then Jesus walked a little farther away from them. He fell to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, do not give me this cup^[as] of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want.” ⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back to his followers and found them asleep. Jesus said to Peter, “You men could not stay awake with me for one hour? ⁴¹ Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. Your spirit wants to do what is right. But your body is weak.”

⁴² Then Jesus went away a second time. He prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this painful thing to be taken from me, and if I must do it, then I pray that what you want will be done.”

⁴³ Then Jesus went back to the followers. Again he found them asleep, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So Jesus left them and went away one more time and prayed. This third time he prayed, he said the same thing.

⁴⁵ Then Jesus went back to the followers and said, “You are still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be given to sinful people. ⁴⁶ Get up. We must go. Here comes the man who has turned against me.”

Jesus Is Arrested

⁴⁷ While Jesus was still speaking, Judas came up. Judas was 1 of the 12 followers. He had many people with him. They had been sent from the leading priests and the elders of the people. They carried swords and clubs. ⁴⁸ Judas had planned to give them a signal. He had said, “The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him.” ⁴⁹ At once Judas went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Teacher!” Then Judas kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus answered, “Friend, do the thing you came to do.”

Then the men came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹ When that happened, one of Jesus’ followers reached for his sword and pulled it out. The follower struck the servant of the high priest with the sword and cut off his ear.

⁵² Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. All who use swords will be killed with swords. ⁵³ Surely you know I could ask my Father, and he would give me more than 12 armies of angels. ⁵⁴ But this thing must happen this way so that it will be as the Scriptures say.”

⁵⁵ Then Jesus said to the crowd, “You came to get me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal. Every day I sat in the Temple teaching. You did not arrest me there. ⁵⁶ But all these things have happened so that it will be as the prophets wrote.” Then all of Jesus’ followers left him and ran away.