Making Bricks Without Straw

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold ^ta feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, ^u“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, ^vI will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The ^wGod of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your ^xburdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, ^ythe people of the land are now many,¹ and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the ^ztaskmasters of the people and their ^aforemen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

10 So the ^btaskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The ^ctaskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s ^ctaskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and ^dthey said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

1 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 ^m“You know that after two days ⁿthe Passover is coming, and ^othe Son of Man ^pwill be delivered up to be crucified.”

3 ^qThen the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in ^rthe palace of the high priest, whose name was ^sCaiaphas, 4 ^tand plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, ^ulest there be an uproar among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

6 ^vNow when Jesus was at ^wBethany in the house of Simon the leper,¹ 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and ^xgiven to the poor.” 10 But ^yJesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For ^zyou always have the poor with you, but ^ayou will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it ^bto prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever ^cthis gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told ^din memory of her.”

Judas to Betray Jesus

14 ^eThen one of the twelve, whose name was ^fJudas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they ^gpaid him ^hthirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity ⁱto betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

17 ^jNow on ^kthe first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ^l‘The Teacher says, ^mMy time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.

20 ⁿWhen it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.² 21 And as they were eating, ^ohe said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23 He answered, ^p“He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes ^qas it is written of him, but ^rwoe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! ^sIt would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, ^tRabbi?” He said to him, ^u“You have said so.”

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

26 ^vNow as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and ^wafter blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; ^xthis is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he ^yhad given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for ^xthis is my ^zblood of the³ covenant, which is poured out for ^amany ^bfor the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you ^cin my Father’s kingdom.”

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

30 ^dAnd when they had sung a hymn, ^ethey went out to ^fthe Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will ^gstrike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, ^hI will go before you to Galilee.” 33 ⁱPeter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 ^jJesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, ^kbefore the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 ^lPeter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

36 ^mThen Jesus went with them ^eto a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him ⁿPeter and ^othe two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, ^p“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and ^qwatch⁴ with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face ^rand prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let ^sthis cup pass from me; ^tnevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 ^qWatch and ^upray that you ^vmay not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, ^wyour will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for ^xtheir eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for ^ythe third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on.⁵ See, ^zthe hour is at hand, and ^athe Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

47 ^bWhile he was still speaking, ^cJudas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, ^dRabbi!” And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, ^e“Friend, ^fdo what you came to do.”⁶ Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his ^gsword and struck the servant⁷ of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For ^hall who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 ⁱDo you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me ^jmore than twelve ^klegions of angels? 54 ^lBut how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” 55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day ^mI sat in the temple ⁿteaching, and you did not seize me. 56 But ^lall this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” ^oThen all the disciples left him and fled.

Jesus Before Caiaphas and the Council

57 ^pThen ^qthose who had seized Jesus led him to ^rCaiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 And ^sPeter was following him at a distance, as far as ^rthe courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with ^tthe guards to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests and the whole council^{8 u}were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, ^vthough many false witnesses came forward. At last ^wtwo came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ^x‘I am able to ^ydestroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’” 62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”⁹ 63 ^zBut Jesus remained silent. ^aAnd the high priest said to him, ^b“I adjure you by ^cthe living God, ^dtell us if you are ^ethe Christ, ^fthe Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, ^g“You have said so. But I tell you, from now on ^hyou will see the Son of Man ⁱseated at the right hand of Power and ^hcoming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest ^jtore his robes and said, ^k“He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, ^l“He deserves death.” 67 Then ^mthey spit in his face ⁿand ^ostruck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you ^pChrist! Who is it that struck you?”

Peter Denies Jesus

69 ^qNow Peter was sitting outside ^rin the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus ^sof Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for ^tyour accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, ^u“Before the rooster crows, you will ^vdeny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.