The Plot against Jesus^(A)

26 When Jesus had finished teaching all these things, he said to his disciples, ^2 (B)“In two days, as you know, it will be the Passover Festival, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests and the elders met together in the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest, ⁴ and made plans to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death. ⁵ “We must not do it during the festival,” they said, “or the people will riot.”

The Plot against Jesus^(A)

14 ^(B)It was now two days before the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were looking for a way to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death. ² “We must not do it during the festival,” they said, “or the people might riot.”

The Plot against Jesus^(A)

⁴⁵ Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did, and they believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them returned to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ So the Pharisees and the chief priests met with the Council and said, “What shall we do? Look at all the miracles this man is performing! ⁴⁸ If we let him go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Roman authorities will take action and destroy our Temple and our nation!”

⁴⁹ One of them, named Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “What fools you are! ⁵⁰ Don't you realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?” ⁵¹ Actually, he did not say this of his own accord; rather, as he was High Priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people, ⁵² and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.

⁵³ From that day on the Jewish authorities made plans to kill Jesus.