Matthew 26:1-16

Matthew 26

The Plot to Kill Jesus

¹ When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ² “You know that after two days it will be the Passover, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas. ⁴ They plotted together how to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. ⁵ But they said, “Not during the Festival, or else there might be a riot among the people.”

Mary Anoints Jesus

⁶ When Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, ⁷ a woman approached him holding an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. ⁸ But when his disciples saw this, they were upset and said, “Why this waste? ⁹ This perfume could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Jesus was aware of this and said to them, “Why are you causing trouble for this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. ¹¹ You are always going to have the poor with you, but you are not always going to have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Amen I tell you: Wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Judas Plans to Betray Jesus

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From that time on Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.