The Plot Against Jesus^(A)

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things,^(B) he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, the Passover^(C) is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled^(D) in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,^{(E) 4} and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.^{(F) 5} “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot^(G) among the people.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus^(A)

22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,^{(B) 2} and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus,^(C) for they were afraid of the people.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary,^(A) and had seen what Jesus did,^(B) believed in him.^{(C) 46} But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ Then the chief priests and the Pharisees^(D) called a meeting^(E) of the Sanhedrin.^(F)

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs.^{(G) 48} If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

⁴⁹ Then one of them, named Caiaphas,^(H) who was high priest that year,^(I) spoke up, “You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰ You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”^(J)

⁵¹ He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, ⁵² and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.^{(K) 53} So from that day on they plotted to take his life.^(L)

⁵⁴ Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea.^(M) Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

⁵⁵ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,^(N) many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing^(O) before the Passover. ⁵⁶ They kept looking for Jesus,^(P) and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” ⁵⁷ But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.