The Lord Rejects Saul

1 And Samuel said to Saul, ^c“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel ^din opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and ^edevote to destruction¹ all that they have. Do not spare them, ^fbut kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to ^gthe Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. ^hFor you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 ⁱAnd Saul defeated the Amalekites from ^jHavilah as far as ^kShur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive ^land devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 ^mBut Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves² and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 ⁿ“I regret³ that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and ^ohas not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to ^pCarmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, ^q“Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, ^rfor the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

17 And Samuel said, ^s“Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^tWhy did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, ^u“I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 ^vBut the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel said,

24 Saul said to Samuel, ^b“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and ^creturn with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. ^dFor you have rejected the word of the Lord, ^eand the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 ^fAs Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, ^g“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel ^hwill not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ⁱhonor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, ^jand return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.⁴ Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, ^k“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord ^lin Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went ^mto Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in ⁿGibeah of Saul. 35 ^oAnd Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, ^pbut Samuel grieved over Saul. ^qAnd the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

1 ^rNow the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called ^sthe Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes ^twere seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

Judas to Betray Jesus

3 ^uThen ^vSatan entered into ^wJudas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and ^xofficers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to ^ybetray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

The Passover with the Disciples

7 ^zThen came ^athe day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 So Jesus¹ sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” 9 They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” 10 He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters 11 and tell the master of the house, ^b‘The Teacher says to you, Where is ^cthe guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 And he will show you ^da large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” 13 And they went and found it ^ejust as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

14 ^fAnd when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it^{2 g}until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and ^hwhen he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 ⁱFor I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine ^guntil the kingdom of God comes.” 19 ^jAnd he took bread, and ^hwhen he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ^k“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ^k“This cup that is poured out for you is ^lthe new ^mcovenant in my blood.³ 21 ⁿBut behold, the hand of him who betrays me is ^owith me on the table. 22 For the Son of Man goes ^pas it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” 23 And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

Who Is the Greatest?

24 ^qA dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 ^rAnd he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles ^sexercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 ^tBut not so with you. Rather, let ^sthe greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, ^uone who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But ^vI am among you as the one who serves.

28 “You are those who have stayed with me ^win my trials, 29 and ^xI assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 ^ythat you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and ^zsit on thrones judging ^athe twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, ^bSatan demanded to have you,^{4 c}that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but ^dI have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, ^estrengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter⁵ said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both ^fto prison and ^gto death.” 34 ^hJesus⁶ said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

Scripture Must Be Fulfilled in Jesus

35 And he said to them, ⁱ“When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” 36 He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. 37 For I tell you that ^jthis Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ^k‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For ^lwhat is written about me has its fulfillment.” 38 And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two ^mswords.” And he said to them, ⁿ“It is enough.”

Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

39 ^oAnd he came out and went, ^pas was his custom, to ^qthe Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 ^rAnd when he came to ^sthe place, he said to them, ^t“Pray that you may not ^uenter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and ^vknelt down and prayed, 42 saying, ^w“Father, if you are willing, remove ^xthis cup from me. ^yNevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him ^zan angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And ^wbeing in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.⁷ 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and ^apray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

47 ^bWhile he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called ^cJudas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike ^dwith the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant⁸ of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and ^eofficers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When ^fI was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is ^gyour hour, and ^hthe power of darkness.”

Peter Denies Jesus

54 ⁱThen they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, ^jand Peter was following at a distance. 55 ^kAnd when they had kindled a fire in the middle of ^lthe courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59 And after an interval of about an hour still another ^minsisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and ⁿlooked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ^o“Before the rooster crows today, you will ^pdeny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus Is Mocked

63 ^qNow the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. 64 ^qThey also blindfolded him and kept asking him, ^r“Prophesy! ^rWho is it that struck you?” 65 And they said many other things against him, ^sblaspheming him.

Jesus Before the Council

66 ^tWhen day came, ^uthe assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their ^vcouncil, and they ^wsaid, 67 ^x“If you are ^ythe Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, 68 and if I ask you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated ^zat the right hand of the power of God.” 70 So they all said, “Are you ^athe Son of God, then?” And he said to them, ^b“You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”