Mark 14 - Christian Standard Bible Anglicised

The Plot to Kill Jesus

¹ It  was two days before the Passover  and the Festival  of Unleavened Bread.  The chief priests and the scribes  were looking for a cunning  way to arrest Jesus and kill him.

² ‘Not during the festival,’ they said, ‘so that there won’t be a riot among the people.’

The Anointing at Bethany

³ While  he was in Bethany  at the house of Simon the leper,  , as he was reclining at the table,  a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head.

⁴ But some were expressing indignation to one another: ‘Why has this perfume been wasted?

⁵ For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii  , and given to the poor.’  And they began to scold her.

⁶ Jesus replied, ‘Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing   for me.

⁷ You always have the poor   with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me.

⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed my body   in advance for burial.

⁹ Truly I tell you,   wherever the gospel   is proclaimed in the whole world,   what she has done will also be told in memory of her.’

¹⁰ Then  Judas Iscariot,  one of the Twelve,  went to the chief priests  to betray Jesus  to them.

¹¹ And when they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money.  So he started looking for a good opportunity to betray  him.

Preparation for Passover

¹² On  the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrifice the Passover lamb,  his disciples  asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and prepare the Passover so that you may eat it? ’

¹³ So he sent two of his disciples and told them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.

¹⁴ Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house, “The Teacher   says, ‘Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? ’ ”

¹⁵ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.’

¹⁶ So the disciples  went out, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Betrayal at the Passover

¹⁷ When  evening came, he arrived with the Twelve.

¹⁸ While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me #– #one who is eating with me.’

¹⁹ They began to be distressed and to say to him one by one, ‘Surely not I? ’

²⁰ He said to them, ‘It is one of the Twelve #– #the one who is dipping bread in the bowl with me.

²¹ For the Son of Man   will go just as it is written   about him,   but woe   to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.’

The First Lord’s Supper

²² As  they were eating, he took bread,  blessed and broke  it, gave it to them,  and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’

²³ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks,  he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

²⁴ He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant,   , which is poured out   for many.

²⁵ Truly I tell you,   I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine   until that day when I drink it new   , in the kingdom of God.’

²⁶ After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Peter’s Denial Predicted

²⁷ Then  Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will fall away,   because it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep   will be scattered.   ,

²⁸ But after I have risen,   I will go ahead of you to Galilee.’

²⁹ Peter  told him, ‘Even if everyone falls away, I will not.’

³⁰ ‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus said to him, ‘today, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.’

³¹ But he kept insisting, ‘If I have to die with you, I will never deny you.’ And they all said the same thing.

The Prayer in the Garden

³² Then  they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples,  ‘Sit here while I pray.’

³³ He took Peter,  James,  and John  with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.

³⁴ He said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved   to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.’

³⁵ He went a little further, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour  might pass from him.

³⁶ And he said, ‘Abba,   Father!   All things are possible   for you. Take this cup   away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.’

³⁷ Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, ‘Simon,   are you sleeping?   Couldn’t you stay awake for one hour?

³⁸ Stay awake and pray   so that you won’t enter into temptation.   , The spirit   is willing, but the flesh   is weak.’

³⁹ Once again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing.

⁴⁰ And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹ Then he came a third time and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The time has come. See, the Son of Man   is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴² Get up;   let’s go. See, my betrayer is near.’

Judas’s Betrayal of Jesus

⁴³ While  he was still speaking, Judas,  one of the Twelve,  suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes,  and the elders.

⁴⁴ His betrayer had given them a signal. ‘The one I kiss,’ he said, ‘he’s the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.’

⁴⁵ So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, ‘Rabbi! ’  and kissed him.

⁴⁶ They took hold of him and arrested him.

⁴⁷ One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.

⁴⁸ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal,   to capture me?

⁴⁹ Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple,   and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures   must be fulfilled.’

⁵⁰ Then they all deserted him and ran away.

⁵¹ Now a certain young man, wearing nothing but a linen cloth, was following him. They caught hold of him,

⁵² but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.

Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin

⁵³ They  led Jesus away to the high priest,  and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes  assembled.

⁵⁴ Peter  followed him at a distance, right into the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the servants,  , warming himself by the fire.

⁵⁵ The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin  were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death,  but they could not find any.

⁵⁶ For many were giving false testimony  against him, and the testimonies did not agree.

⁵⁷ Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, stating,

⁵⁸ ‘We heard him say, “I will destroy this temple made with human hands,  and in three days I will build another not made by hands.” ’

⁵⁹ Yet their testimony did not agree  even on this.

⁶⁰ Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, ‘Don’t you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you? ’

⁶¹ But he kept silent and did not answer.  Again the high priest questioned him, ‘Are you the Messiah,  the Son  of the Blessed  One? ’

⁶² ‘I am,’   said Jesus, ‘and you will see the Son of Man   seated at the right hand   of Power and coming with the clouds   of heaven.’   ,

⁶³ Then the high priest  tore his robes  and said, ‘Why do we still need witnesses?

⁶⁴ You have heard the blasphemy.  What is your decision? ’ They all condemned him as deserving death.

⁶⁵ Then some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to beat him, saying, ‘Prophesy! ’  The temple servants  also took him and slapped him.

Peter Denies His Lord

⁶⁶ While  Peter  was in the courtyard below, one of the high priest’s maidservants came.

⁶⁷ When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, ‘You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’

⁶⁸ But he denied it: ‘I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about.’ Then he went out to the entrance,  and a cock crowed.

⁶⁹ When the maidservant saw him again, she began to tell those standing nearby, ‘This man is one of them.’

⁷⁰ But again he denied it. After a little while those standing there said to Peter again, ‘You certainly are one of them, since you’re also a Galilean.’  ,

⁷¹ Then he started to curse and swear,  ‘I don’t know this man you’re talking about! ’

⁷² Immediately a cock crowed a second time,  and Peter remembered when Jesus had spoken the word to him, ‘Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ And he broke down and wept.