Matthew 26:1-13

1 When Jesus had finished teaching all these things, he said to his disciples,

2 "In two days, as you know, it will be the Passover Festival, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." ¹

3 Then the chief priests and the elders met together in the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest,

4 and made plans to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death.

5 "We must not do it during the festival," they said, "or the people will riot."

6 Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease.

7 While Jesus was eating, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar filled with an expensive perfume, which she poured on his head. ²

8 The disciples saw this and became angry. "Why all this waste?" they asked.

9 "This perfume could have been sold for a large amount and the money given to the poor!"

10 Jesus knew what they were saying, and so he said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? It is a fine and beautiful thing that she has done for me.

11 You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me. ³

12 What she did was to pour this perfume on my body to get me ready for burial.

13 Now, I assure you that wherever this gospel is preached all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."

Cross References

• 1. 26.2Exodus 12.1-27.
• 2. 26.7Luke 7.37, 38.
• 3. 26.11Deuteronomy 15.11.