Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible




When morning came, all the high priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus, so as to have him put to death. After binding him, they led him off and handed him over to Pontius Pilate the governor.

When he entered the temple, the high priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "What authority have you for acting in this way? Who gave you this authority?"

Immediately morning came, the high priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and all the Sanhedrin, and after binding Jesus they led him off and handed him over to Pilate.

Then the high priests and the elders of the people met in the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas and took counsel together to get hold of Jesus by craft and have him put to death. "Only," they said, "it must not be during the festival, in case of a riot among the people."

but those who had seized Jesus took him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered. Peter followed him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and when he got inside he sat down beside the attendants to see the end. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure false evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; read more.
but they could find none, although a number of false witnesses came forward. However, two men came forward at last and said, "This fellow declared, 'I can destroy the temple of God and build it in three days.'" So the high priest rose and said to him, "Have you no reply to make? What of this evidence against you?" Jesus said nothing. Then the high priest addressed him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said to him, "Even so! But I tell you, in future you will all see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his dress and cried, "He has blasphemed! What more evidence do we want? Look, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves! What is your view?" They replied, "He is doomed to death." Then they spat in his face and buffeted him, some of them cuffing him and crying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! tell us who struck you!"

At that very moment, while he was still speaking, Judas [Iscariot] one of the twelve came up accompanied by a mob with swords and cudgels who had come from the high priests and scribes and elders. Now his betrayer had given them a signal; he said, "Whoever I kiss, that is the man. Seize him and get him safely away." So when he arrived he at once went up to him and said, "Rabbi [rabbi]," and kissed him. read more.
Then they laid hands on him and seized him, but one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Jesus turned on them, saying, "Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and cudgels? Day after day I was beside you in the temple teaching, and you never seized me. However, it is to let the scriptures be fulfilled." Then they left him and fled, all of them; one young man did follow him, with only a linen sheet thrown round his body, but when the [young] men seized him he fled away naked, leaving the sheet behind him. They took Jesus away to the high priest, and all the high priests and scribes and elders met there with him. Peter followed him at a distance till he got inside the courtyard of the high priest, where he sat down with the attendants to warm himself at the fire. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they could find none, for while many bore false witness against him their evidence did not agree. Some got up and bore false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'" But even so the evidence did not agree. So the high priest rose in their midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no reply to make? What about this evidence against you?" He said nothing and made no answer. Again the high priest put a question to him. "Are you the Christ?" he said, "the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus said, "I am. And, what is more, you will all see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and cried, "What more evidence do we want? You have heard his blasphemy for yourselves. What is your mind?" They condemned him, all of them, to the doom of death; and some of them started to spit on him and to blindfold him and buffet him, asking him, "Prophesy." The attendants treated him to cuffs and slaps.

Then he said to the high priests and commanders of the temple and elders who had appeared to take him, "Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and cudgels? Day after day I was beside you in the temple, and you never stretched a hand against me. But this is your hour, and the dark Power has its way." Then they arrested him and led him away inside the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance read more.
and sat down among some people who had lit a fire in the courtyard and were sitting round it. A maidservant who noticed him sitting by the fire took a long look at him and said, "That fellow was with him too." But he disowned him, saying, "Woman, I know nothing about him." Shortly afterwards another man noticed him and said, "Why, you are one of them!" "Man," said Peter, "I am not." About an hour had passed when another man insisted, "That fellow really was with him. Why, he is a Galilean!" "Man," said Peter, "I do not know what you mean." Instantly, just as he was speaking, the cock crowed; the Lord turned round and looked at Peter, and then Peter remembered what the Lord had told him, that 'Before cock-crow to-day you will disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly. Meantime the men who had Jesus in custody flogged him and made fun of him; blindfolding him they would ask him, "Prophesy, tell us who struck you?" And many another insult they uttered against him. When day broke, the elders of the people all met along with the high priests and scribes, and had him brought before their Sanhedrin. They said to him, "Tell us if you are the Christ." He said to them, "You will not believe me if I tell you, and you will not answer me when I put a question to you. But after this the Son of man will be seated at God's right hand of power." "Are you the Son of God then?" they all said. "Certainly," he replied, "I am." So they said, "What more evidence do we need? We have heard it from his own lips."

While they were speaking to the people, they were surprised by the priests, the commander of the temple, and the Sadducees, who were annoyed at them teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus as an instance of resurrection from the dead. They laid hands on them and, as it was now evening, put them in custody till next morning. read more.
(A number of those who heard them speak believed, bringing up their numbers to [about] five thousand.) Next morning a meeting was held in Jerusalem of their rulers, elders and scribes, which was attended by the high priest Annas, by Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high priest's family. They made the men stand before them and inquired, "By what authority, in whose name, have you done this?" Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we are being cross-examined to-day upon a benefit rendered to a cripple, upon how this man got better, you and the people of Israel must all understand that he stands before you strong and well, thanks to the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead. He is the stone despised by you builders, which has become head of the corner. There is no salvation by anyone else, nor even a second Name under heaven appointed for us men and our salvation." They were astonished to notice how outspoken Peter and John were, and to discover that they were uncultured persons and mere outsiders; they recognized them as having been companions of Jesus, but as they saw the man who had been healed standing beside them, they could say nothing. Ordering them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin, they proceeded to hold a consultation. "What are we to do with these men?" they said. "It is plain to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that a miracle has admittedly been worked by them. That we cannot deny. However, to keep things from going any further with the people, we had better threaten them that they are not to tell anyone in future about this Name." So they called the men in and ordered them not to speak or teach a single sentence about the Name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Decide for yourselves whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God. Certainly we cannot give up speaking of what we have seen and heard." Then they threatened them still further and let them go; on account of the people they found themselves unable to find any means of punishing them, for everybody was glorifying God over what had happened

Some of those who belonged to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen, but they could not meet the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. They then instigated people to say, "We have heard him talking blasphemy against Moses and God." read more.
In this way they excited the people, the elders, and the scribes, who rushed on him, dragged him away, and took him before the Sanhedrin. They also brought forward false witnesses to say, "This fellow is never done talking against this holy Place and the Law! Why, we have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this Place and change the customs handed down to us by Moses!" Then all who were seated in the Sanhedrin fixed their eyes on him, and saw that his face shone like the face of an angel.

Said the high priest, "Is this true?" "Listen, brothers and fathers," said Stephen. "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before ever he stayed in Haran, and said to him, 'Leave your land and your countrymen and come to whatever land I show you.' read more.
Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and stayed in Haran. From Haran God shifted him, after his father's death, to this land which you now inhabit. But he did not give him any inheritance in it, not even a foot of the land. All be did was to promise that he would give it as a possession to him and to his offspring after him (he at the time being childless). What God said was this: 'His offspring will sojourn in a foreign land, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But,' said God, 'I will pass sentence on the nation that has made them slaves, and then they will get away to worship me in this Place.' God also gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, whom he circumcised on the eighth day, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. Out of jealousy the patriarchs sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him, rescuing him from all his troubles and allowing him to find favour for his wisdom with Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him viceroy over Egypt and over all his own household. Now a famine came over the whole of Egypt and Canaan, attended with great misery, so that our ancestors could not find provender. But, hearing there was food in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors on their first visit to that country; at their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh was informed of Joseph's lineage. Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his kinsfolk, amounting to seventy-five souls; and Jacob went south to Egypt. When he and our ancestors died, they were carried across to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time approached for the promise God had made to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose to rule Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph. He took a cunning method with our race; he oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, to prevent them from surviving. It was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house; then he was exposed, but Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action. When he had completed his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. He saw one of them being badly treated, so he defended him, struck down the Egyptian, and thus avenged the man who had been wronged. (He thought his brothers would understand God was going to bring them deliverance by means of him, but they did not understand.) Next day he came upon two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. "You are brothers!" he said, "why injure one another?" But the man who was injuring his neighbour pushed him aside. "Who made you ruler and umpire over us?" he asked. "Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" At that Moses fled; he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he had two sons born to him. At the close of forty years an angel [of the Lord] appeared to him in the flames of a burning thorn-bush, in the desert of mount Sinai. When Moses saw this, he marvelled at the sight; and as he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said, 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush. But the Lord said to him, 'Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you back to Egypt.' The Moses they refused, when they said, 'Who made you ruler and umpire?' ??that was the very man whom God sent to rule and to redeem them, by aid of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. He it was who led them forth, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert during forty years. (This was the Moses who told the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brotherhood, as he raised me.') This was the man who at the assembly in the desert intervened between the angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai and our fathers; he received living Words to be given to us. But our fathers would not submit to him; they pushed him aside and hankered secretly after Egypt. They told Aaron, 'Make gods that will march in front of us! As for this Moses who led us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him!' They actually made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to this idol, and grew festive over what their own hands had manufactured. So God turned from them, abandoning them to the worship of the starry Host ??as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did you offer me victims and sacrifices during the forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? No, it was the tent of Moloch and the star-symbol of Rephan your god that you carried, figures that you manufactured for worship. So now I will transport you beyond Babylon! In the desert our fathers had the tent of witness as arranged by Him who told Moses to make it after the pattern he had seen. It was passed on and borne in by our fathers as with Joshua they took possession of the territory of the nations whom God drove out before our fathers. So it remained down to the days of David. He found favour with God and asked permission to devise a dwelling for the God of Jacob. It was Solomon, however, who built him a house. And yet the most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me? saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle? Did not my hand make all this? Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you! Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! ??53 you who got the Law that angels transmitted, and have not obeyed it!" When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. He, full of the holy Spirit, gazed up at heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!" With a loud shriek they shut their ears and rushed at him like one man. Putting him outside the city, they proceeded to stone him (the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a youth called Saul). So they stoned Stephen, who called on the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"


"We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'"

The Jews retorted, "But we have a Law, and by [our] Law he is bound to die, because he has made himself out to be God's Son."

Jesus said nothing. Then the high priest addressed him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said to him, "Even so! But I tell you, in future you will all see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his dress and cried, "He has blasphemed! What more evidence do we want? Look, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves!

and said, "This fellow declared, 'I can destroy the temple of God and build it in three days.'"

He said nothing and made no answer. Again the high priest put a question to him. "Are you the Christ?" he said, "the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus said, "I am. And, what is more, you will all see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and cried, "What more evidence do we want? read more.
You have heard his blasphemy for yourselves. What is your mind?" They condemned him, all of them, to the doom of death;

"Tell us if you are the Christ." He said to them, "You will not believe me if I tell you, and you will not answer me when I put a question to you. But after this the Son of man will be seated at God's right hand of power." read more.
"Are you the Son of God then?" they all said. "Certainly," he replied, "I am." So they said, "What more evidence do we need? We have heard it from his own lips."


Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure false evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they could find none, although a number of false witnesses came forward. However, two men came forward at last and said, "This fellow declared, 'I can destroy the temple of God and build it in three days.'" read more.
So the high priest rose and said to him, "Have you no reply to make? What of this evidence against you?" Jesus said nothing. Then the high priest addressed him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said to him, "Even so! But I tell you, in future you will all see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his dress and cried, "He has blasphemed! What more evidence do we want? Look, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves! What is your view?" They replied, "He is doomed to death." Then they spat in his face and buffeted him, some of them cuffing him and crying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! tell us who struck you!"

Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they could find none, for while many bore false witness against him their evidence did not agree. Some got up and bore false witness against him, saying, read more.
"We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'" But even so the evidence did not agree. So the high priest rose in their midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no reply to make? What about this evidence against you?" He said nothing and made no answer. Again the high priest put a question to him. "Are you the Christ?" he said, "the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus said, "I am. And, what is more, you will all see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and cried, "What more evidence do we want? You have heard his blasphemy for yourselves. What is your mind?" They condemned him, all of them, to the doom of death; and some of them started to spit on him and to blindfold him and buffet him, asking him, "Prophesy." The attendants treated him to cuffs and slaps.

Meantime the men who had Jesus in custody flogged him and made fun of him; blindfolding him they would ask him, "Prophesy, tell us who struck you?" And many another insult they uttered against him. read more.
When day broke, the elders of the people all met along with the high priests and scribes, and had him brought before their Sanhedrin. They said to him, "Tell us if you are the Christ." He said to them, "You will not believe me if I tell you, and you will not answer me when I put a question to you. But after this the Son of man will be seated at God's right hand of power." "Are you the Son of God then?" they all said. "Certainly," he replied, "I am." So they said, "What more evidence do we need? We have heard it from his own lips."

Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews gather; I have said nothing in secret. Why ask me? Ask my hearers what I have said to them; they know what I said."


Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the high priests to betray him to them. They were delighted to hear it, and promised to pay him for it. Meantime he sought a good opportunity for betraying him.

While he was still speaking, up came Judas, one of the twelve, accompanied by a large mob with swords and cudgels who had come from the high priests and the elders of the people.

Then they arrested him and led him away inside the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance

whereupon the high priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. "Whatever is to be done?" they said. "The fellow is performing a number of Signs.

Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot went and said to the high priests, "What will you give me for betraying him to you?" And they weighed out for him thirty silver pieces.

Immediately morning came, the high priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and all the Sanhedrin, and after binding Jesus they led him off and handed him over to Pilate.

Then the high priests and the elders of the people met in the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas and took counsel together to get hold of Jesus by craft and have him put to death. "Only," they said, "it must not be during the festival, in case of a riot among the people."

One of his companions put out his hand, drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

And one of them did strike the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

At that very moment, while he was still speaking, Judas [Iscariot] one of the twelve came up accompanied by a mob with swords and cudgels who had come from the high priests and scribes and elders. Now his betrayer had given them a signal; he said, "Whoever I kiss, that is the man. Seize him and get him safely away." So when he arrived he at once went up to him and said, "Rabbi [rabbi]," and kissed him. read more.
Then they laid hands on him and seized him, but one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

They took Jesus away to the high priest, and all the high priests and scribes and elders met there with him. Peter followed him at a distance till he got inside the courtyard of the high priest, where he sat down with the attendants to warm himself at the fire. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they could find none, read more.
for while many bore false witness against him their evidence did not agree. Some got up and bore false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'" But even so the evidence did not agree. So the high priest rose in their midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no reply to make? What about this evidence against you?" He said nothing and made no answer. Again the high priest put a question to him. "Are you the Christ?" he said, "the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus said, "I am. And, what is more, you will all see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and cried, "What more evidence do we want? You have heard his blasphemy for yourselves. What is your mind?" They condemned him, all of them, to the doom of death; and some of them started to spit on him and to blindfold him and buffet him, asking him, "Prophesy." The attendants treated him to cuffs and slaps. Now as Peter was downstairs in the courtyard, a maidservant of the high priest came along,

The high priests and scribes were trying how to get him put to death (for they were afraid of the people), and Satan entered Judas called Iscariot, a member of the twelve, who went off to discuss with the high priests and commanders how he could betray him to them. read more.
They were delighted and agreed to pay him for it. He assented to this and sought a good opportunity for betraying him to them in the absence of the crowd.

When day broke, the elders of the people all met along with the high priests and scribes, and had him brought before their Sanhedrin. They said to him, "Tell us if you are the Christ." He said to them, "You will not believe me if I tell you, and you will not answer me when I put a question to you. read more.
But after this the Son of man will be seated at God's right hand of power." "Are you the Son of God then?" they all said. "Certainly," he replied, "I am." So they said, "What more evidence do we need? We have heard it from his own lips."

Then the whole body of them rose and led him to Pilate. They proceeded to accuse him, saying, "We have discovered this fellow perverting our nation, forbidding tribute being paid to Caesar, and alleging he is king messiah."

Then they yelled, "Off with him! Off with him! Crucify him!" "Crucify your king?" said Pilate. The high priests retorted, "We have no king but Caesar!" Then Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,



They took Jesus away to the high priest, and all the high priests and scribes and elders met there with him. Peter followed him at a distance till he got inside the courtyard of the high priest, where he sat down with the attendants to warm himself at the fire. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they could find none, read more.
for while many bore false witness against him their evidence did not agree. Some got up and bore false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'" But even so the evidence did not agree. So the high priest rose in their midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no reply to make? What about this evidence against you?" He said nothing and made no answer. Again the high priest put a question to him. "Are you the Christ?" he said, "the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus said, "I am. And, what is more, you will all see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and cried, "What more evidence do we want? You have heard his blasphemy for yourselves. What is your mind?" They condemned him, all of them, to the doom of death; and some of them started to spit on him and to blindfold him and buffet him, asking him, "Prophesy." The attendants treated him to cuffs and slaps.

When morning came, all the high priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus, so as to have him put to death. After binding him, they led him off and handed him over to Pontius Pilate the governor.

Then summoning the high priests and rulers and the people, Pilate said to them, "You brought me this man as being an inciter to rebellion among the people. I have examined him before you and found nothing criminal about him, for all your accusations against him. No, nor has Herod, for he has remitted him to us. He has done nothing, you see, that calls for death; read more.
so I shall release him with a whipping." -- But they shouted one and all, "Away with him! Release Bar-Abbas for us!" (This was a man who had been put into prison on account of a riot which had taken place in the city and also on a charge of murder.) Again Pilate addressed them, for he wanted to release Jesus, but they roared, "To the cross, to the cross with him!" He asked them a third time, "But what crime has he committed? I have found nothing about him that deserves death; so I shall release him with a whipping." But they loudly urged their demand that he should be crucified, and their shouts carried the day. Pilate gave sentence that their demand was to be carried out;

but those who had seized Jesus took him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered. Peter followed him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and when he got inside he sat down beside the attendants to see the end. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure false evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; read more.
but they could find none, although a number of false witnesses came forward. However, two men came forward at last and said, "This fellow declared, 'I can destroy the temple of God and build it in three days.'" So the high priest rose and said to him, "Have you no reply to make? What of this evidence against you?" Jesus said nothing. Then the high priest addressed him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said to him, "Even so! But I tell you, in future you will all see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his dress and cried, "He has blasphemed! What more evidence do we want? Look, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves! What is your view?" They replied, "He is doomed to death." Then they spat in his face and buffeted him, some of them cuffing him and crying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! tell us who struck you!"

Then they arrested him and led him away inside the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance and sat down among some people who had lit a fire in the courtyard and were sitting round it. A maidservant who noticed him sitting by the fire took a long look at him and said, "That fellow was with him too." read more.
But he disowned him, saying, "Woman, I know nothing about him." Shortly afterwards another man noticed him and said, "Why, you are one of them!" "Man," said Peter, "I am not." About an hour had passed when another man insisted, "That fellow really was with him. Why, he is a Galilean!" "Man," said Peter, "I do not know what you mean." Instantly, just as he was speaking, the cock crowed; the Lord turned round and looked at Peter, and then Peter remembered what the Lord had told him, that 'Before cock-crow to-day you will disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly. Meantime the men who had Jesus in custody flogged him and made fun of him; blindfolding him they would ask him, "Prophesy, tell us who struck you?" And many another insult they uttered against him. When day broke, the elders of the people all met along with the high priests and scribes, and had him brought before their Sanhedrin. They said to him, "Tell us if you are the Christ." He said to them, "You will not believe me if I tell you, and you will not answer me when I put a question to you. But after this the Son of man will be seated at God's right hand of power." "Are you the Son of God then?" they all said. "Certainly," he replied, "I am." So they said, "What more evidence do we need? We have heard it from his own lips."

[vss 15-18 moved to between while Peter stood outside at the door. Then this other disciple, who was an acquaintance of the high priest, came out and spoke to the woman at the door, and brought Peter inside. The maidservant at the door then said to Peter, "Are you not one of this fellow's disciples?" He said, "No." read more.
Now the servants and the attendants were standing and warming themselves at a charcoal fire which they had lit (for it was cold), and Peter also stood beside them and warmed himself. Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews gather; I have said nothing in secret. Why ask me? Ask my hearers what I have said to them; they know what I said." As he said this, one of the attendants who stood by gave him a blow, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?" "If I have said anything wrong," replied Jesus, "prove it; if I said what was true, why strike me?" & 25] Simon Peter followed Jesus along with another disciple; and as this disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest, he passed into the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus, Then Annas had him bound and sent him to Caiaphas the high priest. They asked him, "Are you not one of his disciples?" He denied it, saying, "No," Said one of the high priest's servants, a kinsman of the man whose ear had been cut off by Peter, "Did I not see you with him in the orchard?" Again Peter denied it. And at that very moment the cock crowed. Then from the house of Caiaphas they took Jesus to the praetorium. (It was early morning.) They would not enter the praetorium themselves, in case of being ceremonially defiled, for they wanted to eat the passover; so Pilate came outside to them and asked, "What charge do you bring against this man?" They retorted, "If he had not been a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you." Then said Pilate, "Take him yourselves, and sentence him according to your own Law." The Jews said, "We have no right to put anyone to death" (that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, by which he had indicated the kind of death he was to die).


While he was still speaking, up came Judas, one of the twelve, accompanied by a large mob with swords and cudgels who had come from the high priests and the elders of the people. Now his betrayer had given them a signal; he said, " Whoever I kiss, that is the man." So he went up at once to Jesus; "Hail, rabbi!" he said, and kissed him. read more.
Jesus said, "My man, do your errand." Then they laid hands on Jesus and seized him. One of his companions put out his hand, drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; all who draw the sword shall die by the sword. What! do you think I cannot appeal to my Father to furnish me at this moment with over twelve legions of angels? Only, how could the scriptures be fulfilled then ??the scriptures that say this must be so?" At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and cudgels? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you never seized me. However, this has all happened for the fulfilment of the prophetic scriptures!" Then all the disciples left him and fled; but those who had seized Jesus took him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered. Peter followed him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and when he got inside he sat down beside the attendants to see the end. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure false evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they could find none, although a number of false witnesses came forward. However, two men came forward at last and said, "This fellow declared, 'I can destroy the temple of God and build it in three days.'" So the high priest rose and said to him, "Have you no reply to make? What of this evidence against you?" Jesus said nothing. Then the high priest addressed him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said to him, "Even so! But I tell you, in future you will all see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his dress and cried, "He has blasphemed! What more evidence do we want? Look, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves! What is your view?" They replied, "He is doomed to death." Then they spat in his face and buffeted him, some of them cuffing him and crying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! tell us who struck you!" Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A maidservant came up and said to him, "You were with Jesus the Galilean too." But he denied it before them all; "I do not know what you mean," he said. When he went out to the gateway another maidservant noticed him and said to those who were there, "This fellow was with Jesus the Nazarene." Again he denied it; he swore, "I do not know the man." After a little the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "To be sure, you are one of them too. Why, your accent betrays you!" At this he broke out cursing and swearing, "I do not know the man." At that moment a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said, that 'before the cock crows you will disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly.

At that very moment, while he was still speaking, Judas [Iscariot] one of the twelve came up accompanied by a mob with swords and cudgels who had come from the high priests and scribes and elders. Now his betrayer had given them a signal; he said, "Whoever I kiss, that is the man. Seize him and get him safely away." So when he arrived he at once went up to him and said, "Rabbi [rabbi]," and kissed him. read more.
Then they laid hands on him and seized him, but one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Jesus turned on them, saying, "Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and cudgels? Day after day I was beside you in the temple teaching, and you never seized me. However, it is to let the scriptures be fulfilled." Then they left him and fled, all of them; one young man did follow him, with only a linen sheet thrown round his body, but when the [young] men seized him he fled away naked, leaving the sheet behind him. They took Jesus away to the high priest, and all the high priests and scribes and elders met there with him. Peter followed him at a distance till he got inside the courtyard of the high priest, where he sat down with the attendants to warm himself at the fire. Now the high priests and the whole of the Sanhedrin tried to secure evidence against Jesus, in order to have him put to death; but they could find none, for while many bore false witness against him their evidence did not agree. Some got up and bore false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and in three days I will build another temple not made by hands.'" But even so the evidence did not agree. So the high priest rose in their midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no reply to make? What about this evidence against you?" He said nothing and made no answer. Again the high priest put a question to him. "Are you the Christ?" he said, "the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus said, "I am. And, what is more, you will all see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and cried, "What more evidence do we want? You have heard his blasphemy for yourselves. What is your mind?" They condemned him, all of them, to the doom of death; and some of them started to spit on him and to blindfold him and buffet him, asking him, "Prophesy." The attendants treated him to cuffs and slaps. Now as Peter was downstairs in the courtyard, a maidservant of the high priest came along, and when she noticed Peter warming himself she looked at him and said, "You were with Jesus of Nazaret too." But he denied it. "I do not know," he said, "I have no idea what you mean." Then he went outside into the passage. The cock crowed. Again the maidservant who had noticed him began to tell the bystanders, "That fellow is one of them." But he denied it again. After a little the bystanders once more said to Peter, "To be sure, you are one of them. Why, you are a Galilean!" But he broke out cursing and swearing, "I do not know the man you mean." At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered how Jesus had told him, "Before the cock crows twice you will disown me thrice;" and he burst into tears.

While he was still speaking, there came a mob headed by the man called Judas, one of the twelve. He approached in order to kiss Jesus, but Jesus said to him, "Judas! would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?" Now when the supporters of Jesus saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, shall we strike with our swords?" read more.
And one of them did strike the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. Jesus said, "Let me do this at least," and cured him by touching his ear. Then he said to the high priests and commanders of the temple and elders who had appeared to take him, "Have you sallied out to arrest me like a robber, with swords and cudgels? Day after day I was beside you in the temple, and you never stretched a hand against me. But this is your hour, and the dark Power has its way." Then they arrested him and led him away inside the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance and sat down among some people who had lit a fire in the courtyard and were sitting round it. A maidservant who noticed him sitting by the fire took a long look at him and said, "That fellow was with him too." But he disowned him, saying, "Woman, I know nothing about him." Shortly afterwards another man noticed him and said, "Why, you are one of them!" "Man," said Peter, "I am not." About an hour had passed when another man insisted, "That fellow really was with him. Why, he is a Galilean!" "Man," said Peter, "I do not know what you mean." Instantly, just as he was speaking, the cock crowed; the Lord turned round and looked at Peter, and then Peter remembered what the Lord had told him, that 'Before cock-crow to-day you will disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly. Meantime the men who had Jesus in custody flogged him and made fun of him; blindfolding him they would ask him, "Prophesy, tell us who struck you?" And many another insult they uttered against him. When day broke, the elders of the people all met along with the high priests and scribes, and had him brought before their Sanhedrin. They said to him, "Tell us if you are the Christ." He said to them, "You will not believe me if I tell you, and you will not answer me when I put a question to you. But after this the Son of man will be seated at God's right hand of power." "Are you the Son of God then?" they all said. "Certainly," he replied, "I am." So they said, "What more evidence do we need? We have heard it from his own lips."

So after procuring troops and some attendants belonging to the high priests and the Pharisees, Judas went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, who knew everything that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, "Who are you looking for?" "Jesus the Nazarene," they replied. Jesus said, "I am he." (And Judas the traitor was standing beside them.) read more.
When he said, "I am he," they fell back and dropped to the ground; so he asked them once more, "Who are you looking for?" And when they replied, "Jesus the Nazarene," he answered, "I told you that I am he; if it is me you are looking for, let these men get away" (this was to fulfil his own word: 'I did not lose a single one of those whom thou didst give me'). Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear (the servant's name was Malchus); whereupon Jesus said to Peter, "Sheathe your sword. Am I not to drink the cup which the Father has handed me?" So the troops and their commander and the Jewish attendants seized Jesus, bound him, and brought him first of all to Annas (for Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year ??14 the Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was for their interests that one man should die for the people). [vss 15-18 moved to between while Peter stood outside at the door. Then this other disciple, who was an acquaintance of the high priest, came out and spoke to the woman at the door, and brought Peter inside. The maidservant at the door then said to Peter, "Are you not one of this fellow's disciples?" He said, "No." Now the servants and the attendants were standing and warming themselves at a charcoal fire which they had lit (for it was cold), and Peter also stood beside them and warmed himself. Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews gather; I have said nothing in secret. Why ask me? Ask my hearers what I have said to them; they know what I said." As he said this, one of the attendants who stood by gave him a blow, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?" "If I have said anything wrong," replied Jesus, "prove it; if I said what was true, why strike me?" & 25] Simon Peter followed Jesus along with another disciple; and as this disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest, he passed into the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus, Then Annas had him bound and sent him to Caiaphas the high priest. They asked him, "Are you not one of his disciples?" He denied it, saying, "No," Said one of the high priest's servants, a kinsman of the man whose ear had been cut off by Peter, "Did I not see you with him in the orchard?" Again Peter denied it. And at that very moment the cock crowed. Then from the house of Caiaphas they took Jesus to the praetorium. (It was early morning.) They would not enter the praetorium themselves, in case of being ceremonially defiled, for they wanted to eat the passover; so Pilate came outside to them and asked, "What charge do you bring against this man?" They retorted, "If he had not been a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you." Then said Pilate, "Take him yourselves, and sentence him according to your own Law." The Jews said, "We have no right to put anyone to death" (that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, by which he had indicated the kind of death he was to die). So Pilate went back inside the praetorium and called Jesus, saying, "Then you are king of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "Are you saying this of your own accord, or did other people tell you about me?" "Am I a Jew?" said Pilate. "Your own nation and the high priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus replied, "My realm does not belong to this world; if my realm did belong to this world, my men would have fought to prevent me being handed over to the Jews. No, my realm lies elsewhere." "So you are a king?" said Pilate, "you!" "Certainly," said Jesus, "I am a king. This is why I was born, this is why I came into the world, to bear testimony to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." "Truth!" said Pilate, "what is truth!" With these words he went outside to the Jews again and told them, "I cannot find anything wrong about him. But it is your custom that I should release a prisoner for you at the passover. Is it your will that I release you the king of the Jews?" Again they yelled, "No, not him! Bar-Abbas!" Now Bar-Abbas was a robber.