Matthew 26:1-16

English Standard Version

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, ^2 (A)“You know that after two days ^(B)the Passover is coming, and ^(C)the Son of Man ^(D)will be delivered up to be crucified.”

^3 (E)Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in ^(F)the palace of the high priest, whose name was ^(G)Caiaphas, ^4 (H)and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. ⁵ But they said, “Not during the feast, ^(I)lest there be an uproar among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

^6 (J)Now when Jesus was at ^(K)Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^{[a] 7} a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. ⁸ And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹ For this could have been sold for a large sum and ^(L)given to the poor.” ¹⁰ But ^(M)Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ For ^(N)you always have the poor with you, but ^(O)you will not always have me. ¹² In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it ^(P)to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly, I say to you, wherever ^(Q)this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told ^(R)in memory of her.”

Judas to Betray Jesus

^14 (S)Then one of the twelve, whose name was ^(T)Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they ^(U)paid him ^(V)thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ And from that moment he sought an opportunity ^(W)to betray him.