1 Now it was nearly time for the Passover ceremony, when the Jewish people ate damper without any rising in it. Crowds of people came together in Jerusalem for the ceremony from many different places. 2 The chief priests and the teachers of Moses' law wanted very much to kill Jesus. But they had been unable to do anything because they were afraid of the people who wanted to listen to him. So they were waiting until they could take him when he was alone.

3-4 Then Satan entered into one of Jesus' disciples called Judas Iscariot. Judas left Jesus and the other disciples and went to the chief priests. He talked with the chief priests and some officers in charge of the temple guards who told him to give Jesus to them, 5-6 and they would give him some money. Judas agreed and the leaders were pleased. Then he went away and waited until he could give Jesus to them without many people knowing about it.

7 Now it was time for the Jewish people to eat damper without any rising in it. So it was also time for them to kill the Passover lambs. 8 So Jesus sent two men, Peter and John, to go ahead into Jerusalem. He said to them, “Go ahead and get the special meat and other food for the Passover ceremony and get it ready for us to eat.”

9 They asked, “Where will we get it ready?”

10 Jesus answered, “When you go into the city you will meet a man carrying a big jar filled with water. Follow him, and when he enters a house go inside too. 11 Say to the owner of the house, ‘Our Teacher is going to eat the Passover here in your house. So where is the room for us to eat in?’ 12 The man will show you a big room upstairs. It is a good room, because everything we need is there, so you can get the meat and other food ready for later.”

13 So Peter and John went off and found everything just as Jesus had told them. And they got the cooked sheep and the food and drink ready so that Jesus and his disciples could eat the Passover meal.

14 The time for the Passover meal came and Jesus and his apostles arrived in Jerusalem and went to the house where Peter and John had already gone. And Jesus and his twelve apostles sat down together in the room upstairs.

15 Jesus said to them, “I have wanted so much to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer. 16 Listen! I will eat it now, but I will not eat this Passover food again until God rules over his people. Then people will understand about it and I will eat it again.”

17 Then Jesus took some wine in a cup and thanked God for it. He said to his apostles, “Each of you take this cup and drink from it and give it to one another. 18 But, I tell you, I will drink it today, and then I won't drink this wine again from now until God rules.” Then they drank together.

19 Then Jesus took some damper and thanked God for it. He broke it and gave it to them and said, “This damper is my body that I am giving for you. Eat it so that you can remember me.”

20 They ate the Passover meal together, and after they had eaten Jesus took another cup, as he had done before. He gave it to them saying, “This wine is my blood. It shows you that God will make a new covenant with you. He will make that promise with my blood which I will pour out for you.”

21 Then he said, “One of you here will give me to the leaders so that they can kill me. You have been here with me eating food in this room, but you will give me to the leaders for them to kill me. 22 I, the one who was born in this world, will die, as God decided in the beginning. But it will be terrible for the person who gives me to the leaders so that they can kill me!”

23 Then the men asked each other, “Which one of us would do that!”

24 The disciples began grumbling to one another. They said, “Which of us is greater than the others? And which of us will become ruler over the other men?”

25 So Jesus said to them, “The kings of those people who don't know God are very powerful. They really control their people but they tell them to say to them, ‘You should say to us, You are kind and generous rulers.’

26 “But that shouldn't happen here with you. The most important one of you should be like the youngest one. The leader should work like a servant who works for others.

27 “If a person eats food that other people have cooked for him, tell me, which person would you call the most important? I will tell you. When other people cook food for him, then the person who doesn't cook and doesn't work is the most important one. But I am here with you like a servant.”

28 Jesus also said to them, “Before when people hated me and made trouble for me, you stayed with me and looked after me all the time. 29 My Father has made me a ruler, and I will make you people rule too. 30 I will make you rule when my Father makes me King over everyone. You will rule over the twelve tribes of Israel and then you will eat and drink with me in my kingdom.”

31 Then Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, listen. Satan has wanted to test you all to see if you are good. He has asked God and God won't stop him. So when Satan tests you, he will separate you, the good people from the bad.

32 “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that you will keep on trusting me. Soon you will leave me. You will deny me, but you will come back to me again. And when you come back, you must help your brothers be strong.”

33 But Simon Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, I am ready to go where you go. If they shut you up in jail, they can shut me up too. If they kill you, then they can kill me too. I won't reject you, I won't leave you!”

34 Jesus said, “That is not so. Tonight, before the rooster calls out, you will say three times that you do not know me.”

35 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “When I sent you before to different places, you didn't take any money or things or shoes with you. I sent you empty-handed. But you were all right; you stayed in other people's houses and ate their food, didn't you?”

“Yes, we did,” they answered.

36 Jesus said, “But now you must take money and things and a sword with you when you go. If you haven't got a sword, you must swap your clothes for someone else's sword, so that you will have one to take.

37 “Long ago these words were written:

‘He died just like wicked men die.’

38 They said, “Look, Lord! Here are two swords for you!”

Jesus answered, “That is enough!”

39 Jesus went downstairs and out of the house. He and his disciples went out to the Mount of Olives, where they always used to go.

40 When they arrived there, Jesus said to his disciples, “Stay here and pray, so that you will keep standing firm when Satan tests you.” 41 Then Jesus left the men and went a short way away and knelt on the ground and prayed to God. 42 He said, “Father, I am about to die, but no! Let me go, please, so that I won't have to suffer. But because you have already decided, even if I don't want to, I am ready to do your will, and so I must suffer.”

43 Then while Jesus was praying, an angel came and appeared to him. He came down from heaven and made him strong. 44 But Jesus became very upset and he prayed to his Father again. He prayed and prayed. Sweat came out of his body like blood and fell to the ground.

45 When he had finished praying, he got up and went back to his disciples, but the men had fallen asleep because they were so upset.

46 Jesus said to them, “Why are you asleep? Get up now, so you can pray and keep standing firm when Satan tests you.”

47 But while Jesus was still speaking to his disciples, a crowd of people arrived. The chief priests, officers in charge of the temple guards, and elders were coming to take Jesus. One of Jesus' disciples called Judas was leading them. He came up to Jesus and kissed him.

48 Jesus said to Judas, “You kissed me so that the soldiers could take me, didn't you! You kissed me, the one who was born in this world!”

49 When Jesus' other disciples saw Judas, they knew what would happen and asked, “Lord, do you want us to fight with our swords?” 50 And one of them pulled out his sword and hit one of the men, cutting off his right ear. The man worked for the high priest in the temple.

51 But Jesus said, “That is enough! Leave him alone!” And he touched the man's ear and healed it.

52 Then Jesus spoke to the chief priests and the officers in charge of the temple guards and the elders and said, “You have come to me with swords and sticks, but I am not a thief. 53 I was with you in the temple every day, and you did not try to take me until today. But now you can take me because God won't stop you, and because you are powerful and wicked men.”

54 They took hold of Jesus and took him away to the high priest. And Peter followed them. 55 When they arrived at the high priest's house, they took Jesus inside but they themselves stayed outside and sat down beside a fire.

Afterwards Peter also arrived and sat down with them. 56 One of the servant girls noticed Peter sitting by the fire and she looked straight at him and said, “This man was with Jesus too!”

57 But Peter denied it and said, “I don't know the man!”

58 After a little while a man noticed Peter and said, “You are one of his friends too!”

But Peter answered, “No, I am not!”

59 Later on another man said, “I am sure you were with Jesus, because you are both Galileans!”

60 But Peter said, “I don't know anything about it!” And while he was still speaking, a rooster called out.

61 The Lord turned around and looked straight at Peter, and at the same time Peter remembered the words that Jesus had spoken before. He had said, “Before the rooster calls out tonight you will say three times that you do not know me.” 62 Then Peter went outside. He was very upset and he cried and cried.

63 Some soldiers were guarding Jesus. They laughed at him and kept on beating him. 64 Then they tied up his eyes with cloth and said, “You are a prophet, so guess! Tell us who hit you!” 65 And they said many other things like that to him and teased him.

66 They kept on doing that until daylight. Then the Jewish elders met together with the chief priests and the teachers of Moses' law. And Jesus was brought to their big council meeting.

67 The leaders said to him, “If you are the Messiah, then tell us now.”

Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you won't believe me. 68 And if I ask you questions you won't answer me. 69 But from today I, who was born in this world, will sit at the right side of the most powerful God.”

70 They all said, “Then you are the Son of God, are you?”

Jesus answered, “That is true, but you have said it, not me.”

71 The leaders talked together and said, “That is enough! He himself has now said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ So we do not need to call any other people here to blame him because we ourselves have heard him say it.”