Matthew 26:47-27:56

New American Standard Bible

Jesus’ Betrayal and Arrest

^47 (A)And while He was still speaking, behold, ^(B)Judas, one of the twelve, came ^[a]accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign previously, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; arrest Him.” ⁴⁹ And immediately Judas went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, ^(C)Rabbi!” and kissed Him. ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “^(D)Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested Him.

⁵¹ And behold, ^(E)one of those who were with Jesus ^[b]reached and drew his ^(F)sword, and struck the ^(G)slave of the high priest and ^[c]cut off his ear. ⁵² Then Jesus *said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for ^(H)all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword. ⁵³ Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve ^[d](I)legions of ^(J)angels? ⁵⁴ How then would ^(K)the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

⁵⁵ At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a man inciting a revolt? ^(L)Every day I used to sit within the temple grounds teaching, and you did not arrest Me. ⁵⁶ But all this has taken place so that ^(M)the Scriptures of the prophets will be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left Him and fled.

Jesus before Caiaphas

^57 (N)Those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to ^(O)Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. ⁵⁸ But ^(P)Peter was following Him at a distance, as far as the ^(Q)courtyard of the high priest, and he came inside and sat down with the ^[e](R)officers to see the outcome.

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests and the entire ^[f](S)Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. ⁶⁰ They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on ^(T)two came forward, ⁶¹ and said, “This man stated, ‘^(U)I am able to destroy the ^[g]temple of God and to rebuild it ^[h]in three days.’” ⁶² The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You offer no answer for what these men are testifying against You?” ⁶³ But ^(V)Jesus kept silent. ^(W)And the high priest said to Him, “I ^(X)place You under oath by ^(Y)the living God, to tell us whether You are the ^[i]Christ, ^(Z)the Son of God.” ⁶⁴ Jesus *said to him, “^(AA)You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see ^(AB)the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and ^(AC)coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵ Then the high priest ^(AD)tore his ^[j]robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? See, you have now heard the blasphemy; ⁶⁶ what do you think?” They answered, “^(AE)He deserves death!”

^67 (AF)Then they ^(AG)spit in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others ^[k]slapped Him, ⁶⁸ and said, “^(AH)Prophesy to us, You ^[l]Christ; who is the one who hit You?”

Peter’s Denials

^69 (AI)Now Peter was sitting outside in the ^(AJ)courtyard, and a slave woman came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” ⁷¹ When he had gone out to the gateway, another slave woman saw him and *said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁷² And again he denied it, with an oath: “I do not know the man.” ⁷³ A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “You really are one of them as well, ^(AK)since even the way you talk ^[m]gives you away.” ⁷⁴ Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the statement that Jesus had ^[n]made: “^(AL)Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Judas’ Remorse

27 ^(AM)Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; ² and they bound Him and led Him away, and ^(AN)handed Him over to ^(AO)Pilate the governor.

³ Then when ^(AP)Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned ^(AQ)the thirty ^[o]pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? ^(AR)You shall see to it yourself!” ⁵ And he threw the pieces of silver into ^(AS)the temple sanctuary and left; and ^(AT)he went away and hanged himself. ⁶ The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them in the temple treasury, since it is money paid for blood.” ⁷ And they conferred together and ^[p]with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. ^8 (AU)For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “^(AV)And ^[q]they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One whose price had been set by the sons of Israel; ^10 (AW)and ^[r]they gave them for the Potter’s Field, just as the Lord directed me.”

Jesus before Pilate

^11 (AX)Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “So You are the ^(AY)King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “^(AZ)It is as you say.” ¹² And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, ^(BA)He did not offer any answer. ¹³ Then Pilate *said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they are testifying against You?” ¹⁴ And still ^(BB)He did not answer him in regard to even a single ^[s]charge, so the governor was greatly amazed.

^15 (BC)Now at the Passover Feast the governor was accustomed to release for the ^[t]people any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶ And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus ^(BD)who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that it was because of envy that ^[u]they had handed Him over.

¹⁹ And ^(BE)while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “See that you have nothing to do with that ^(BF)righteous Man; for ^[v]last night I suffered greatly ^(BG)in a dream because of Him.” ²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ^(BH)ask for Barabbas, and to put Jesus to death. ²¹ And the governor ^[w]said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²² Pilate *said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus ^(BI)who is called Christ?” They all *said, “^[x]Crucify Him!” ²³ But he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” Yet they kept shouting all the more, saying, “^[y]Crucify Him!”

²⁴ Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that ^(BJ)a riot was starting, he took water and ^(BK)washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of ^(BL)this Man’s blood; ^(BM)you yourselves shall see.” ²⁵ And all the people replied, “^(BN)His blood shall be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released Barabbas ^[z]for them; but after having Jesus ^(BO)flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^27 (BP)Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into ^(BQ)the ^[aa]Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman ^[ab](BR)cohort to Him. ²⁸ And they stripped Him and ^(BS)put a red ^[ac]cloak on Him. ^29 (BT)And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a ^[ad]reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “^(BU)Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And ^(BV)they spit on Him, and took the reed and beat Him on the head. ^31 (BW)And after they had mocked Him, they took the cloak off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

^32 (BX)As they were coming out, they found a man of ^(BY)Cyrene named Simon, ^[ae]whom they compelled to carry His ^[af]cross.

The Crucifixion

^33 (BZ)And when they came to a place called ^(CA)Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, ^34 (CB)they gave Him ^(CC)wine mixed with ^[ag]bile to drink; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink it.

³⁵ And when they had crucified Him, ^(CD)they divided His garments among themselves by casting ^[ah]lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they began to ^(CE)keep watch over Him there. ³⁷ And above His head they put up the charge against Him ^[ai]which read, “^(CF)THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸ At that time two ^[aj]rebels *were being crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those passing by were ^[ak]speaking abusively to Him, ^(CG)shaking their heads, ⁴⁰ and saying, “^(CH)You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! ^(CI)If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, ⁴² “^(CJ)He saved others; ^[al]He cannot save Himself! ^(CK)He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ^43 (CL)He has trusted in God; let God rescue Him now, if He ^[am]takes pleasure in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ^44 (CM)And the ^[an]rebels who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him in the same way.

^45 (CN)Now from the ^[ao]sixth hour darkness ^[ap]fell upon all the land until the ^[aq]ninth hour. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “^(CO)Eli, Eli, lema sabaktanei?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ⁴⁷ And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸ And ^(CP)immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. ⁴⁹ But the rest of them said, “^[ar]Let us see if Elijah comes to save Him^[as].” ⁵⁰ And Jesus ^(CQ)cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit. ^51 (CR)And behold, ^(CS)the ^[at]veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and ^(CT)the earth shook and the rocks were split. ⁵² Also the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the ^[au]saints who had ^(CU)fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered ^(CV)the holy city and appeared to many. ^54 (CW)Now as for the centurion and those who were with him ^(CX)keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw ^(CY)the earthquake and the other things that were happening, they became extremely frightened and said, “Truly this was ^[av](CZ)the Son of God!”

^55 (DA)And many women were there watching from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ^(DB)caring for Him. ⁵⁶ Among them were ^(DC)Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and ^(DD)the mother of the sons of Zebedee.