New Testament Plan

¹“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

³The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps,

⁴but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.

⁵When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶“At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’

⁷“All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps.

⁸Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’

⁹“But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰“But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked.

¹¹Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’

¹²“But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’

¹³“So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.

¹⁴“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.

¹⁵He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last — dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

¹⁶“The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.

¹⁷The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more.

¹⁸But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

¹⁹“After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money.

²⁰The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

²¹“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together! ’

²²“The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

²³“The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

²⁴“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.

²⁵I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

²⁶“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate,

²⁷why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

²⁸“Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.

²⁹To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

³⁰Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

³¹“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.

³²All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

³³He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.

³⁵For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.

³⁶I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

³⁷“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?

³⁸Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?

³⁹When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

⁴⁰“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

⁴¹“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.

⁴²For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink.

⁴³I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

⁴⁴“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

⁴⁵“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

⁴⁶“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

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

²“As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest,

⁴plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him.

⁵“But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”

⁶Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy.

⁷While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.

⁸The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said.

⁹“It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me?

¹¹You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.

¹²She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial.

¹³I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”

¹⁴Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests

¹⁵and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.

¹⁶From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

¹⁷On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

¹⁸“As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’”

¹⁹So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.

²⁰When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve.

²¹While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”

²²Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”

²³He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me.

²⁴For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”

²⁵Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?” And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”

²⁶As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”

²⁷And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it,

²⁸for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.

²⁹Mark my words — I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

³⁰Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

³¹On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

³²But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

³³Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”

³⁴Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter — this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

³⁵“No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.

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.

⁵⁷Then the people who had arrested Jesus led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of religious law and the elders had gathered.

⁵⁸Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and came to the high priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat with the guards and waited to see how it would all end.

⁵⁹Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death.

⁶⁰But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone’s testimony. Finally, two men came forward

⁶¹who declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

⁶²Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?”

⁶³But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I demand in the name of the living God — tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy.

⁶⁶What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they shouted. “He deserves to die!”

⁶⁷Then they began to spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him,

⁶⁸jeering, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you that time?”

⁶⁹Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.”

⁷⁰But Peter denied it in front of everyone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

⁷¹Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth. ”

⁷²Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said.

⁷³A little later some of the other bystanders came over to Peter and said, “You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.”

⁷⁴Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying — I don’t know the man!” And immediately the rooster crowed.

⁷⁵Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly.

¹Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death.

²Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

³When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders.

⁴“I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.” “What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”

⁵Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

⁶The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.”

⁷After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners.

⁸That is why the field is still called the Field of Blood.

⁹This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says, “They took the thirty pieces of silver — the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel,

¹⁰and purchased the potter’s field, as the LORD directed. ”

¹¹Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him. Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

¹²But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.

¹³“Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded.

¹⁴But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.

¹⁵Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd — anyone they wanted.

¹⁶This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas.

¹⁷As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you — Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

¹⁸(He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)

¹⁹Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”

²⁰Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.

²¹So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?” The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”

²²Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

²³“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

²⁴Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

²⁵And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death — we and our children!”

²⁶So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

²⁷Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment.

²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.

²⁹They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!”

³⁰And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.

³¹When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

³²Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.

³³And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).

³⁴The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.

³⁵After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.

³⁶Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there.

³⁷A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

³⁸Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

³⁹The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery.

⁴⁰“Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

⁴¹The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus.

⁴²“He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!

⁴³He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

⁴⁴Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.

⁴⁵At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.

⁴⁶At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

⁴⁷Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah.

⁴⁸One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink.

⁴⁹But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.

⁵¹At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart,

⁵²and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.

⁵³They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance.

⁵⁶Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

⁵⁷As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus,

⁵⁸went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him.

⁵⁹Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth.

⁶⁰He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.

⁶¹Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.

⁶²The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate.

⁶³They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’

⁶⁴So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”

⁶⁵Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.”

⁶⁶So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.