Agony in Gethsemane and Arrest

³⁶Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.”

³⁷He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed.

³⁸He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

⁴⁰Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?

⁴¹Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

⁴²Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.”

⁴³When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

⁴⁴So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again.

⁴⁵Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁶Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

⁴⁷And even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people.

⁴⁸The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss.”

⁴⁹So Judas came straight to Jesus. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss.

⁵⁰Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him.

⁵¹But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.

⁵²“Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword.

⁵³Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?

⁵⁴But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”

⁵⁵Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching every day.

⁵⁶But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.

³²They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.”

³³He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.

³⁴He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁵He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by.

³⁶“Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

³⁷Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?

³⁸Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

³⁹Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before.

⁴⁰When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.

⁴¹When he returned to them the third time, he said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But no—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴²Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

⁴³And immediately, even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders.

⁴⁴The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss. Then you can take him away under guard.”

⁴⁵As soon as they arrived, Judas walked up to Jesus. “Rabbi!” he exclaimed, and gave him the kiss.

⁴⁶Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him.

⁴⁷But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.

⁴⁸Jesus asked them, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me?

⁴⁹Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there among you teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me.”

⁵⁰Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away.

⁵¹One young man following behind was clothed only in a long linen shirt. When the mob tried to grab him,

⁵²he slipped out of his shirt and ran away naked.

³⁹Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives.

⁴⁰There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”

⁴¹He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,

⁴²“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

⁴³Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.

⁴⁴He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

⁴⁵At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief.

⁴⁶“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”

⁴⁷But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss.

⁴⁸But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

⁴⁹When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!”

⁵⁰And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear.

⁵¹But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

⁵²Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me?

⁵³Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”

¹After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.

²Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples.

³The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.

⁴Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

⁵“Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.)

⁶As Jesus said “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground!

⁷Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?” And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

⁸“I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.”

⁹He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”

¹⁰Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave.

¹¹But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

¹²So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up.