Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

¹It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end.

²The evening meal was underway, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

³Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.

⁴So He got up from the supper, laid aside His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist.

⁵After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel that was around Him.

⁶He came to Simon Peter, who asked Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸“Never shall You wash my feet!” Peter told Him.Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.”

⁹“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰Jesus told him, “Whoever has already bathed needs only to wash his feet, and he will be completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.”

¹¹For He knew who would betray Him. That is why He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His outer garments, He reclined with them again and asked, “Do you know what I have done for you?

¹³You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, because I am.

¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

¹⁵I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you.

¹⁶Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master,nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

¹⁷If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

¹⁸I am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture: ‘The one who shares My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’

¹⁹I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.

²⁰Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.”

²¹After Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit and testified, “Truly, truly, I tell you, one of you will betray Me.”

²²The disciples looked at one another, perplexed as to which of them He meant.

²³One of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side.

²⁴So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus which one He was talking about.

²⁵Leaning back against Jesus, he asked, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this morsel after I have dipped it.” Then He dipped the morsel and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.

²⁷And when Judas had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him.Then Jesus said to Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”

²⁸But no one at the table knew why Jesus had said this to him.

²⁹Since Judas kept the money bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor.

³⁰As soon as he had received the morsel, Judas went out into the night.

Love One Another

³¹When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.

³²If God is glorified in Him,God will also glorify the Son in Himself—and will glorify Him at once.

³³Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for Me, and as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

³⁴A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

³⁵By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

³⁶“Lord, where are You going?” Simon Peter asked.Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow later.”

³⁷“Lord,” said Peter, “why can’t I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.”

³⁸“Will you lay down your life for Me?” Jesus replied. “Truly, truly, I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.

The Parable of the Workers

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

²He agreed to pay them a denariusfor the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³About the third hourhe went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

⁴‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you whatever is right.’

⁵So they went.He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hourand did the same thing.

⁶About the eleventh hourhe went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.

⁷‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.So he told them, ‘You also go into my vineyard.’

⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to the first.’

⁹The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.

¹⁰So when the original workers came, they assumed they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹On receiving their pay, they began to grumble against the landowner.

¹²‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

¹³But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius?

¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you.

¹⁵Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

The Third Prediction of the Passion

¹⁷As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside and said,

¹⁸“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death

¹⁹and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life.”

A Mother’s Request

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him.

²¹“What do you want?” He inquired.She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”

²²“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”“We can,” the brothers answered.

²³“You will indeed drink My cup,”Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”

²⁴When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.

²⁵But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them.

²⁶It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

²⁷and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—

²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

The Blind Men by the Road

²⁹As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.

³⁰And there were two blind men sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³¹The crowd admonished them to be silent, but they cried out all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³²Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want Me to do for you?” He asked.

³³“Lord,” they answered, “let our eyes be opened.”

³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and at once they received their sight and followed Him.

Teachings about Divorce

¹When Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.

²Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

³Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

⁴Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?

⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

⁷“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses order a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

⁸Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart. But it was not this way from the beginning.

⁹Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

¹⁰His disciples said to Him, “If this is the case between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹“Not everyone can accept this word,” He replied, “but only those to whom it has been given.

¹²For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

Jesus Blesses the Children

¹³Then little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. And the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

¹⁴But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

¹⁵And after He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.

The Rich Young Man

¹⁶Just then a man came up to Jesus and inquired, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?”

¹⁷“Why do you ask Me about what is good?”Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸“Which ones?” the man asked.Jesus answered, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,

¹⁹honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’”

²⁰“All these I have kept,” said the young man. “What do I still lack?”

²¹Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

²²When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth.

²³Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

²⁴Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁶Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷“Look,” Peter replied, “we have left everything to follow You. What then will there be for us?”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things,when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wifeor children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

³⁰But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

Victory over Betrayal

¹Blessed is the one who cares for the poor;the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.

²The LORD will protect and preserve him;He will bless him in the landand refuse to give him overto the will of his foes.

³The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illnessand restore him from his bed of sickness.

⁴I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;heal me, for I have sinned against You.”

⁵My enemies say with malice:“When will he die and be forgotten?”

⁶My visitor speaks falsehood;he gathers slander in his heart;he goes out and spreads it abroad.

⁷All who hate me whisper against me;they imagine the worst for me:

⁸“A vile disease has been poured into him;he will never get up from where he lies!”

⁹Even my close friend whom I trusted,the one who shared my bread,has lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up,that I may repay them.

¹¹By this I know that You delight in me,for my enemy does not triumph over me.

¹²In my integrity You uphold meand set me in Your presence forever.

¹³Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,from everlasting to everlasting.Amen and Amen.