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Matthew 21; Matthew 22; Matthew 23; Matthew 24; Matthew 25; Matthew 26; Matthew 27

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Matthew 21

1 And when they were near Jerusalem, and had come to Beth-phage, to the Mountain of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
2 Saying to them, Go into the little town in front of you, and straight away you will see an ass with a cord round her neck, and a young one with her; let them loose and come with them to me.
3 And if anyone says anything to you, you will say, The Lord has need of them; and straight away he will send them.
4 Now this took place so that these words of the prophet might come true,
5 Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your King comes to you, gentle and seated on an ass, and on a young ass.
6 And the disciples went and did as Jesus had given them orders,
7 And got the ass and the young one, and put their clothing on them, and he took his seat on it.
8 And all the people put their clothing down in the way; and others got branches from the trees, and put them down in the way.
9 And those who went before him, and those who came after, gave loud cries, saying, Glory to the Son of David: A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord: Glory in the highest.
10 And when he came into Jerusalem, all the town was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And the people said, This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.
12 And Jesus went into the Temple and sent out all who were trading there, overturning the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those trading in doves.
13 And he said to them, It is in the Writings, My house is to be named a house of prayer, but you are making it a hole of thieves.
14 And the blind and the broken in body came to him in the Temple, and he made them well.
15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the works of power which he did, and the children crying out in the Temple, Glory to the son of David, they were angry and said to him,
16 Have you any idea what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, Yes: have you not seen in the Writings, From the lips of children and babies at the breast you have made your praise complete?
17 And he went away from them, and went out of the town to Bethany, and was there for the night.
18 Now in the morning when he was coming back to the town, he had a desire for food.
19 And seeing a fig-tree by the wayside, he came to it, and saw nothing on it but leaves only; and he said to it, Let there be no fruit from you from this time forward for ever. And straight away the fig-tree became dry and dead.
20 And when the disciples saw it they were surprised, saying, How did the fig-tree become dry in so short a time?
21 And Jesus in answer said to them, Truly I say to you, If you have faith, without doubting, not only may you do what has been done to the fig-tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and put into the sea, it will be done.
22 And all things, whatever you make request for in prayer, having faith, you will get.
23 And when he had come into the Temple, the chief priests and those in authority over the people came to him while he was teaching, and said, By what authority do you do these things? and who gave you this authority?
24 And Jesus said to them in answer, I will put one question to you, and if you give me the answer, I will say by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John, where did it come from? from heaven or from men? And they were reasoning among themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven; he will say to us, Why then did you not have faith in him?
26 But if we say, From men; we are in fear of the people, because all take John to be a prophet.
27 And they made answer and said, We have no idea. Then he said to them, And I will not say to you by what authority I do these things.
28 But how does it seem to you? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go and do work today in the vine-garden.
29 And he said in answer, I will not: but later, changing his decision, he went.
30 And he came to the second and said the same. And he made answer and said, I go, sir: and went not.
31 Which of the two did his father's pleasure? They say, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, that tax-farmers and loose women are going into the kingdom of God before you.
32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you had no faith in him, but the tax-farmers and the loose women had faith in him: and you, when you saw it, did not even have regret for your sins, so as to have faith in him.
33 Give ear to another story. A master of a house made a vine garden, and put a wall round it, and made a place for crushing out the wine, and made a tower, and let it out to field-workers, and went into another country.
34 And when the time for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the workmen, to get the fruit.
35 And the workmen made an attack on his servants, giving blows to one, putting another to death, and stoning another.
36 Again, he sent other servants more in number than the first: and they did the same to them.
37 But after that he sent his son to them, saying, They will have respect for my son.
38 But when the workmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property; come, let us put him to death and take his heritage.
39 And they took him and, driving him out of the vine-garden, put him to death.
40 When, then, the lord of the vine-garden comes, what will he do to those workmen?
41 They say to him, He will put those cruel men to a cruel death, and will let out the vine-garden to other workmen, who will give him the fruit when it is ready.
42 Jesus says to them, Did you never see in the Writings, The stone which the builders put on one side, the same has been made the chief stone of the building: this was the Lord's doing, and it is a wonder in our eyes?
43 For this reason I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing the fruits of it.
44 Any man falling on this stone will be broken, but he on whom it comes down will be crushed to dust.
45 And when his stories came to the ears of the chief priests and the Pharisees, they saw that he was talking of them.
46 And though they had a desire to take him, they were in fear of the people, because in their eyes he was a prophet.
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Matthew 22

1 And Jesus, talking to them again in stories, said:
2 The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a feast when his son was married,
3 And sent out his servants to get in the guests to the feast: and they would not come.
4 Again he sent out other servants, with orders to say to the guests, See, I have made ready my feast: my oxen and my fat beasts have been put to death, and all things are ready: come to the feast.
5 But they gave no attention, and went about their business, one to his farm, another to his trade:
6 And the rest put violent hands on his servants, and did evil to them, and put them to death.
7 But the king was angry; and he sent his armies, and those who had put his servants to death he gave to destruction, burning down their town with fire.
8 Then he said to his servants, The feast is ready but the guests were not good enough.
9 Go then to the cross-roads, and get all those whom you see to come to the bride-feast.
10 And those servants went out into the streets, and got together all those whom they came across, bad and good: and the feast was full of guests.
11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a guest's robe;
12 And he says to him, Friend, how came you in here not having a guest's robe? And he had nothing to say.
13 Then the king said to the servants, Put cords round his hands and feet and put him out into the dark; there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.
14 For out of all to whom the good news has come, only a small number will get salvation.
15 Then the Pharisees went and had a meeting to see how they might make use of his words to take him.
16 And they sent to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we see that you are true, and that you are teaching the true way of God, and have no fear of anyone, because you have no respect for a man's position.
17 Give us, then, your opinion of this: Is it right to give tax to Caesar, or not?
18 But Jesus saw their trick and said, Oh false ones, why are you attempting to put me in the wrong?
19 Let me see the tax money. And they gave him a penny.
20 And he said to them, Whose is this image and name on it?
21 They say to him, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's.
22 And hearing it, they were full of wonder, and went away from him.
23 On the same day there came to him the Sadducees, who say that there is no coming back from the dead: and they put a question to him, saying,
24 Master, Moses said, If a man, at the time of his death, has no children, let his brother take his wife, and get a family for his brother;
25 Now there were among us seven brothers; and the first was married and at his death, having no seed, gave his wife to his brother;
26 In the same way the second and the third, up to the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman came to her end.
28 When they come back from the dead, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? because they all had her.
29 But Jesus said to them in answer, You are in error, not having knowledge of the Writings, or of the power of God.
30 For when they come back from the dead there are no husbands and wives, but they are as the angels in heaven.
31 But about the dead coming back to life, have you no knowledge of what was said to you by God in the Writings:
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead but of the living.
33 And the people hearing it were surprised at his teaching.
34 But the Pharisees, hearing how the mouths of the Sadducees had been stopped, came together;
35 And one of them, a teacher of the law, put a question to him, testing him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the chief rule in the law?
37 And he said to him, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 This is the first and greatest rule.
39 And a second like it is this, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself.
40 On these two rules all the law and the prophets are based.
41 Now while the Pharisees were together, Jesus put a question to them, saying,
42 What is your opinion of the Christ? whose son is he? They say to him, The Son of David.
43 He says to them, How then does David in the Spirit give him the name of Lord, saying,
44 The Lord said to my Lord, Be seated at my right hand, till I put under your feet all those who are against you?
45 If David then gives him the name of Lord, how is he his son?
46 And no one was able to give him an answer, and so great was their fear of him, that from that day no one put any more questions to him.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.

Matthew 23

1 Then Jesus said to the people and to his disciples:
2 The scribes and the Pharisees have the authority of Moses;
3 All things, then, which they give you orders to do, these do and keep: but do not take their works as your example, for they say and do not.
4 They make hard laws and put great weights on men's backs; but they themselves will not put a finger to them
5 But all their works they do so as to be seen by men: for they make wide their phylacteries, and the edges of their robes,
6 And the things desired by them are the first places at feasts, and the chief seats in the Synagogues,
7 And words of respect in the market-places, and to be named by men, Teacher.
8 But you may not be named Teacher: for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 And give no man the name of father on earth: because one is your Father, who is in heaven.
10 And you may not be named guides: because one is your Guide, even Christ.
11 But let the greatest among you be your servant.
12 And whoever makes himself high will be made low, and whoever makes himself low will be made high.
13 But a curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you are shutting the kingdom of heaven against men: for you do not go in yourselves, and those who are going in, you keep back.
14 [
15 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you go about land and sea to get one disciple and, having him, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 A curse is on you, blind guides, who say, Whoever takes an oath by the Temple, it is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gold of the Temple, he is responsible.
17 You foolish ones and blind: which is greater, the gold, or the Temple which makes the gold holy?
18 And, Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the offering which is on it, he is responsible.
19 You blind ones: which is greater, the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy
20 He, then, who takes an oath by the altar, takes it by the altar and by all things on it.
21 And he who takes an oath by the Temple, takes it by the Temple and by him whose house it is
22 And he who takes an oath by heaven, takes it by the seat of God, and by him who is seated on it.
23 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you make men give a tenth of all sorts of sweet-smelling plants, but you give no thought to the more important things of the law, righteousness, and mercy, and faith; but it is right for you to do these, and not to let the others be undone.
24 You blind guides, who take out a fly from your drink, but make no trouble over a camel.
25 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of violent behaviour and uncontrolled desire.
26 You blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the plate, so that the outside may become equally clean.
27 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you are like the resting-places of the dead, which are made white, and seem beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and of all unclean things.
28 Even so you seem to men to be full of righteousness, but inside you are all false and full of wrongdoing.
29 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you put up buildings for housing the dead bodies of the prophets, and make fair the last resting-places of good men, and say,
30 If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 So that you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who put the prophets to death.
32 Make full, then, the measure of your fathers.
33 You snakes, offspring of snakes, how will you be kept from the punishment of hell?
34 For this reason, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them you will put to death and put on the cross, and to some of them you will give blows in your Synagogues, driving them from town to town;
35 So that on you may come all the blood of the upright on the earth, from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you put to death between the Temple and the altar.
36 Truly I say to you, All these things will come on this generation
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her! Again and again would I have taken your children to myself as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, and you would not!
38 See, your house is made waste
39 For I say to you, You will not see me from this time till you say, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.

Matthew 24

1 And Jesus went out of the Temple, and on the way his disciples came to him, pointing out the buildings of the Temple.
2 But he, answering, said to them, See you not all these things? truly I say to you that here there will not be one stone resting on another, which will not be pulled down.
3 And while he was seated on the Mountain of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Make clear to us, when will these things be? and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus said to them in answer, Take care that you are not tricked.
5 For people will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and a number will be turned from the true way through them.
6 And news will come to you of wars and talk of wars: do not be troubled, for these things have to be; but it is still not the end.
7 For nation will be moved against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and men will be without food, and the earth will be shaking in different places;
8 But all these things are the first of the troubles.
9 Then they will be cruel to you, and will put you to death: and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.
10 And numbers of people will be turned from the right way, and will give one another up and have hate for one another.
11 And a number of false prophets will come, causing error.
12 And because wrongdoing will be increased, the love of most people will become cold.
13 But he who goes through to the end will get salvation.
14 And this good news of the kingdom will be given through all the world for a witness to all nations; and then the end will come.
15 When, then, you see in the holy place the unclean thing which makes destruction, of which word was given by Daniel the prophet (let this be clear to the reader),
16 Then let those who are in Judaea go in flight to the mountains:
17 Let not him who is on the house-top go down to take anything out of his house:
18 And let not him who is in the field go back to get his coat.
19 But it will be hard for women who are with child and for those with babies at the breast in those days.
20 And say a prayer that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.
21 Because in those days there will be great sorrow, such as there has not been from the start of the world till now, or ever will be.
22 And if those days had not been made short there would have been no salvation for any, but because of the saints those days will be made short.
23 Then if any man says to you, See, here is the Christ, or, Here; do not put faith in him;
24 For there will come up false Christs, and false prophets, who will do great signs and wonders; so that if possible even the saints might be tricked.
25 See, I have made it clear to you before it comes about.
26 If, then, they say to you, See, he is in the waste land; go not out: See, he is in the inner rooms; put no faith in it.
27 Because as in a thunderstorm the bright light coming from the east is seen even in the west; so will be the coming of the Son of man.
28 Wherever the dead body is, there will the eagles come together.
29 But straight away, after the trouble of those days, the sun will be made dark and the moon will not give her light and the stars will come down from heaven and the powers of heaven will be moved:
30 And then the sign of the Son of man will be seen in heaven: and then all the nations of the earth will have sorrow, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with a great sound of a horn, and they will get his saints together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Now take an example from the fig-tree: when her branch has become soft and puts out its leaves, you are certain that the summer is near;
33 Even so, when you see all these things, you may be certain that he is near, even at the doors.
34 Truly I say to you, This generation will not come to an end till all these things are complete.
35 Heaven and earth will come to an end, but my words will not come to an end.
36 But of that day and hour no one has knowledge, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, but the Father only.
37 And as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man.
38 Because as in those days before the overflowing of the waters, they were feasting and taking wives and getting married, till the day when Noah went into the ark,
39 And they had no care till the waters came and took them all away; so will be the coming of the Son of man.
40 Then two men will be in the field; one is taken, and one let go;
41 Two women will be crushing grain; one is taken, and one let go.
42 Be watching, then! for you have no knowledge on what day your Lord will come.
43 But be certain of this, that if the master of the house had had knowledge of the time when the thief was coming, he would have been watching, and would not have let his house be broken into.
44 Be ready then; for at a time which you have no thought of the Son of man will come.
45 Who is the true and wise servant, whom his lord has put over those in his house, to give them their food at the right time?
46 A blessing on that servant, who will be doing so when his lord comes.
47 Truly, I say to you, he will put him over all he has.
48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, My lord is a long time in coming;
49 And is cruel to the other servants, taking his pleasure with those who are overcome with wine;
50 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he is not looking for him, and in an hour of which he has no knowledge,
51 And will have him cut in two, and will give him a part in the fate of the false ones: there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.

Matthew 25

1 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, the friends of the bride, who took their lights, and went out with the purpose of meeting the husband.
2 And five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3 For the foolish, when they took their lights, took no oil with them.
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lights.
5 Now the husband was a long time in coming, and they all went to sleep.
6 But in the middle of the night there is a cry, The husband comes! Go out to him.
7 Then all those virgins got up, and made ready their lights.
8 And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lights are going out.
9 But the wise made answer, saying, There may not be enough for us and you; it would be better for you to go to the traders and get oil for yourselves.
10 And while they went to get oil, the master came; and those who were ready went in with him to the feast: and the door was shut.
11 After that the other virgins came, saying, Lord, Lord, let us in.
12 But he made answer and said, Truly I say to you, I have no knowledge of you.
13 Keep watch, then, because you are not certain of the day or of the hour.
14 For it is as when a man, about to take a journey, got his servants together, and gave them his property.
15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to everyone as he was able; and he went on his journey.
16 Straight away he who had been given the five talents went and did trade with them, and made five more.
17 In the same way he who had been given the two got two more.
18 But he who was given the one went away and put it in a hole in the earth, and kept his lord's money in a secret place.
19 Now after a long time the lord of those servants comes, and makes up his account with them.
20 And he who had the five talents came with his other five talents, saying, Lord, you gave into my care five talents: see, I have got five more.
21 His lord said to him, Well done, good and true servant: you have been true in a small thing, I will give you control over great things: take your part in the joy of your lord.
22 And he who had the two talents came and said, Lord, you gave into my care two talents: see, I have got two more.
23 His lord said to him, Well done, good and true servant: you have been true in a small thing, I will give you control over great things: take your part in the joy of your lord.
24 And he who had had the one talent came and said, Lord, I had knowledge that you are a hard man, getting in grain where you have not put seed, and making profits for which you have done no work:
25 And I was in fear, and went away, and put your talent in the earth: here is what is yours.
26 But his lord in answer said to him, You are a bad and unready servant; if you had knowledge that I get in grain where I did not put seed, and make profits for which I have done no work,
27 Why, then, did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I would have got back what is mine with interest?
28 Take away, then, his talent and give it to him who has the ten talents.
29 For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have more: but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
30 And put out the servant who is of no profit into the outer dark: there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.
31 But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then will he be seated in his glory:
32 And before him all the nations will come together; and they will be parted one from another, as the sheep are parted from the goats by the keeper.
33 And he will put the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
34 Then will the King say to those on his right, Come, you who have the blessing of my Father, into the kingdom made ready for you before the world was:
35 For I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in;
36 I had no clothing, and you gave it to me: when I was ill, or in prison, you came to me.
37 Then will the upright make answer to him, saying, Lord, when did we see you in need of food, and give it to you? or in need of drink, and give it to you?
38 And when did we see you wandering, and take you in? or without clothing, and give it to you?
39 And when did we see you ill, or in prison, and come to you?
40 And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
41 Then will he say to those on the left, Go from me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which is ready for the Evil One and his angels:
42 For I was in need of food, and you gave it not to me; I was in need of drink, and you gave it not to me:
43 I was wandering, and you took me not in; without clothing, and you gave me no clothing; ill, and in prison, and you came not to me.
44 Then will they make answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you in need of food or drink, or wandering, or without clothing, or ill, or in prison, and did not take care of you?
45 Then will he make answer to them, saying, Truly I say to you, Because you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me.
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment; but the upright into eternal life.
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Matthew 26

1 And when Jesus had come to the end of all these words, he said to his disciples,
2 After two days is the Passover, and the Son of man will be given up to the death of the cross.
3 Then the chief priests and the rulers of the people came together in the house of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas.
4 And they made designs together to take Jesus by some trick, and put him to death.
5 But they said, Not while the feast is going on, for fear of trouble among the people.
6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,
7 There came to him a woman having a bottle of perfume of great price, and she put the perfume on his head when he was seated at table.
8 But when the disciples saw it they were angry, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
9 For we might have got much money for this and given it to the poor.
10 But Jesus, seeing it, said to them, Why are you troubling the woman? she has done a kind act to me.
11 For the poor you have ever with you, but me you have not for ever.
12 For in putting this perfume on my body, she did it to make me ready for my last resting-place.
13 Truly I say to you, Wherever this good news goes out in all the world, what this woman has done will be talked of in memory of her.
14 Then one of the twelve, who was named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,
15 What will you give me, if I give him up to you? And the price was fixed at thirty bits of silver.
16 And from that time he was watching for a chance to give him into their hands.
17 Now on the first day of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Where are we to make ready for you to take the Passover meal?
18 And he said to them, Go into the town to such a man, and say to him, The Master says, My time is near: I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.
19 And the disciples did as Jesus had said to them; and they made ready the Passover.
20 Now when evening was come, he was seated at table with the twelve disciples;
21 And while they were taking food, he said, Truly I say to you that one of you will be false to me.
22 And they were very said, and said to him, one by one, Is it I, Lord?
23 And he made answer and said, He who puts his hand into the plate with me, the same will be false to me.
24 The Son of man goes, even as the Writings say of him: but a curse is on that man through whom the Son of man is given up; it would have been well for that man if he had never come into the world.
25 And Judas, who was false to him, made answer and said, Is it I, Master? He says to him, Yes.
26 And when they were taking food, Jesus took bread and, after blessing it, he gave the broken bread to the disciples and said, Take it; this is my body.
27 And he took a cup and, having given praise, he gave it to them, saying,
28 Take of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the testament, which is given for men for the forgiveness of sins.
29 But I say to you that from now I will not take of this fruit of the vine, till that day when I take it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
30 And after a song of praise to God, they went out to the Mountain of Olives.
31 Then said Jesus to them, All of you will be turned away from me this night: for it is said in the Writings, I will put to death the keeper of the sheep, and the sheep of the flock will be put to flight.
32 But after I am come back from the dead, I will go before you into Galilee.
33 But Peter made answer and said to him, Though all may be turned away from you, I will never be turned away.
34 Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you that this night, before the hour of the cock's cry, you will say three times that you have no knowledge of me.
35 Peter says to him, Even if I am put to death with you, I will not be false to you. So said all the disciples.
36 Then comes Jesus with them to a place named Gethsemane, and says to his disciples, Be seated here, while I go over there for prayer.
37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and became sad and very troubled.
38 Then says he to them, My soul is very sad, even to death: keep watch with me here.
39 And he went forward a little, and falling down on his face in prayer, he said, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup go from me; but let not my pleasure, but yours be done.
40 And he comes to the disciples, and sees that they are sleeping, and says to Peter, What, were you not able to keep watch with me one hour?
41 Keep watch with prayer, so that you may not be put to the test: the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is feeble.
42 Again, a second time he went away, and said in prayer, O my Father, if this may not go from me without my taking it, let your pleasure be done.
43 And he came again and saw them sleeping, for their eyes were tired.
44 And he went away from them again, and a third time said the same prayer.
45 Then he comes to the disciples; and says to them, Go on sleeping now, and take your rest: for the hour is come, and the Son of man is given into the hands of evil men.
46 Up, let us be going: see, he who gives me up is near.
47 And while he was still talking, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a band armed with swords and sticks, from the chief priests and those in authority over the people.
48 Now the false one had given them a sign saying, The one to whom I give a kiss, that is he: take him.
49 And straight away he came to Jesus and said, Master! and gave him a kiss.
50 And Jesus said to him, Friend, do that for which you have come. Then they came and put hands on Jesus, and took him.
51 And one of those who were with Jesus put out his hand, and took out his sword and gave the servant of the high priest a blow, cutting off his ear.
52 Then says Jesus to him, Put up your sword again into its place: for all those who take the sword will come to death by the sword.
53 Does it not seem possible to you that if I make request to my Father he will even now send me an army of angels?
54 But how then would the Writings come true, which say that so it has to be?
55 In that hour Jesus said to the people, Have you come out as against a thief with swords and sticks to take me? I was teaching every day in the Temple and you took me not.
56 But all this has taken place so that the writings of the prophets might come true. Then all his disciples went from him in flight.
57 And those who had made Jesus prisoner took him away to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and those in authority over the people had come together.
58 But Peter went after him at a distance, to the house of the high priest, and went in and took his seat with the servants, to see the end.
59 Now the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin were looking for false witness against Jesus, so that they might put him to death;
60 And they were not able to get it, though a number of false witnesses came.
61 But later there came two who said, This man said, I am able to give the Temple of God to destruction, and to put it up again in three days.
62 And the high priest got up and said to him, Have you no answer? what is it which these say against you?
63 But Jesus said not a word. And the high priest said to him, I put you on oath, by the living God, that you will say to us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.
64 Jesus says to him, You say so: but I say to you, From now you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
65 Then the high priest, violently parting his robes, said, He has said evil against God: what more need have we of witnesses? for now his words against God have come to your ears:
66 What is your opinion? They made answer and said, It is right for him to be put to death.
67 Then they put shame on him, and were cruel to him: and some gave him blows, saying,
68 Be a prophet, O Christ, and say who gave you a blow!
69 Now Peter was seated in the open square outside the house: and a servant-girl came to him, saying, You were with Jesus the Galilaean.
70 But he said before them all that it was false, saying, I have no knowledge of what you say.
71 And when he had gone out into the doorway, another saw him and says to those who were there, This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.
72 And again he said with an oath, I have no knowledge of the man.
73 And after a little time those who were near came and said to Peter, Truly you are one of them; because your talk is witness against you.
74 Then with curses and oaths he said, I have no knowledge of the man. And straight away there came the cry of a cock.
75 And the word of Jesus came back to Peter, when he said, Before the hour of the cock's cry, you will say three times that you have no knowledge of me. And he went out, weeping bitterly.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.

Matthew 27

1 Now when it was morning, all the chief priests and those in authority took thought together with the purpose of putting Jesus to death.
2 And they put cords on him and took him away, and gave him up to Pilate, the ruler.
3 Then Judas, who was false to him, seeing that he was to be put to death, in his regret took back the thirty bits of silver to the chief priests and those in authority,
4 Saying, I have done wrong in giving into your hands an upright man. But they said, What is that to us? it is your business.
5 And he put down the silver in the Temple and went out, and put himself to death by hanging.
6 And the chief priests took the silver and said, It is not right to put it in the Temple store for it is the price of blood.
7 And they made a decision to get with the silver the potter's field, as a place for the dead of other countries.
8 For this cause that field was named, The field of blood, to this day.
9 Then came true that which was said by Jeremiah the prophet, And they took the thirty bits of silver, the price of him who was valued by the children of Israel;
10 And they gave them for the potter's field, as I had word from the Lord.
11 And Jesus was before the ruler, who put a question to him, Are you the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him, You say so.
12 But when the chief priests and those in authority made statements against him, he gave no answer.
13 Then says Pilate to him, Do you give no attention to what their witnesses say against you?
14 And he gave him no answer, not even a word: so that the ruler was greatly surprised.
15 Now at the feast it was the way for the ruler to let free to the people one prisoner, at their selection.
16 And they had then an important prisoner, whose name was Barabbas.
17 So when they came together, Pilate said to them, Whom will you have? Barabbas, or Jesus, who is named Christ?
18 For he saw that for envy they had given him up.
19 And while he was on the judge's seat, his wife sent to him, saying, Have nothing to do with that upright man, for I have had much trouble this day in a dream because of him.
20 Now the chief priests and those in authority got the people to make request for Barabbas, and for Jesus to be put to death.
21 But the ruler made answer and said to them, Which of the two is it your pleasure that I let go free? And they said, Barabbas.
22 Pilate says to them, What, then, am I to do with Jesus, who is named Christ? They all say, Let him be put to death on the cross.
23 And he said, Why, what evil has he done? But they gave loud cries, saying, To the cross with him!
24 So when Pilate saw that he was able to do nothing, but that trouble was working up, he took water and, washing his hands before the people, said, The blood of this upright man is not on my hands: you are responsible.
25 And all the people made answer and said, Let his blood be on us, and on our children.
26 Then he let Barabbas go free: but after having Jesus whipped, he gave him up to be put to death on the cross.
27 Then the ruler's armed men took Jesus into the open square, and got all their band together.
28 And they took off his clothing, and put on him a red robe.
29 And they made a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and put a rod in his right hand, and they went down on their knees before him, and made sport of him, saying, Long life to the King of the Jews.
30 And they put shame on him, and gave him blows on the head with the rod.
31 And when they had made sport of him, they took the robe off him, and put his clothing on him, and took him away to put him on the cross.
32 And while they were coming out, they saw a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they made him go with them, so that he might take up his cross.
33 And when they came to the place named Golgotha, that is to say, Dead Man's Head,
34 They gave him wine mixed with bitter drink: and after tasting it, he took no more.
35 And when they had put him on the cross, they made division of his clothing among them by the decision of chance.
36 And they were seated there watching him.
37 And they put up over his head the statement of his crime in writing, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38 Then two thieves were put on crosses with him, one on the right and one on the left.
39 And those who went by said bitter words to him, shaking their heads and saying,
40 You who would give the Temple to destruction and put it up again in three days, get yourself free: if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.
41 In the same way, the chief priests, making sport of him, with the scribes and those in authority, said,
42 A saviour of others, he has no salvation for himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will have faith in him.
43 He put his faith in God; let God be his saviour now, if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God.
44 And the thieves who were on the crosses said evil words to him.
45 Now from the sixth hour it was dark over all the land till the ninth hour.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus gave a loud cry, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why are you turned away from me?
47 And some of those who were near by, hearing it, said, This man is crying to Elijah.
48 And straight away one of them went quickly, and took a sponge, and made it full of bitter wine, and put it on a rod and gave him drink.
49 And the rest said, Let him be; let us see if Elijah will come to his help.
50 And Jesus gave another loud cry, and gave up his spirit.
51 And the curtain of the Temple was parted in two from end to end; and there was an earth-shock; and the rocks were broken;
52 And the resting-places of the dead came open; and the bodies of a number of sleeping saints came to life;
53 And coming out of their resting-places, after he had come again from the dead, they went into the holy town and were seen by a number of people.
54 Now the captain and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earth-shock and the things which were done, were in great fear and said, Truly this was a son of God.
55 And a number of women were there, watching from a distance, who had come with Jesus from Galilee, waiting on his needs.
56 Among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
57 And in the evening, there came a man of wealth from Arimathaea, Joseph by name, who was a disciple of Jesus:
58 This man went in to Pilate, and made a request for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate gave orders for it to be given to him.
59 And Joseph took the body, folding it in clean linen,
60 And put it in the resting-place which had been cut out of the rock for himself; and after rolling a great stone to the door of it he went away.
61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, seated by the place of the dead.
62 Now on the day after the getting ready of the Passover, the chief priests and Pharisees came together to Pilate,
63 Saying, Sir, we have in mind how that false man said, while he was still living, After three days I will come again from the dead.
64 Give orders, then, that the place where his body is may be made safe till the third day, for fear that his disciples come and take him away secretly and say to the people, He has come back from the dead: and the last error will be worse than the first.
65 Pilate said to them, You have watchmen; go and make it as safe as you are able.
66 So they went, and made safe the place where his body was, putting a stamp on the stone, and the watchmen were with them.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.