A Young Man Flees

⁵¹ And a young man followed him, with nothing but ^(A)a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, ⁵² but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

Jesus Before the Council

^53 (B)And ^(C)they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. ^54 (D)And ^(E)Peter had followed him at a distance, ^(F)right into ^(G)the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with ^(H)the guards and ^(I)warming himself at the fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole council^[a] were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. ^56 (J)For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony ^(K)did not agree. ⁵⁷ And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, ^58 (L)“We heard him say, ^(M)‘I will destroy this temple ^(N)that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, ^(O)not made with hands.’” ⁵⁹ Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. ⁶⁰ And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”^{[b] 61} But ^(P)he remained silent and made no answer. ^(Q)Again the high priest asked him, “Are you ^(R)the Christ, the Son of ^(S)the Blessed?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am, and ^(T)you will see the Son of Man ^(U)seated at the right hand of Power, and ^(V)coming with the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ And the high priest ^(W)tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? ⁶⁴ You have heard ^(X)his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they ^(Y)all condemned him as ^(Z)deserving death. ^65 (AA)And some began ^(AB)to spit on him and ^(AC)to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him ^(AD)with blows.

Peter Denies Jesus

^66 (AE)And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter ^(AF)warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway^[c] and ^(AG)the rooster crowed.^{[d] 69} And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” ⁷⁰ But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” ⁷¹ But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” ⁷² And immediately the rooster crowed ^(AH)a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, ^(AI)“Before the rooster crows twice, you will ^(AJ)deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.^[e]

Let Us Sing Songs of Praise