Matthew 26:1-16

1When Jesus finished saying all these things, he told his disciples,

2“You know that the Passover will take place in two days. At that time the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

3Then the chief priests and the leaders of the people gathered in the palace of the chief priest Caiaphas.

4They made plans to arrest Jesus in an underhanded way and to kill him.

5But they said, “We shouldn’t arrest him during the festival, or else there may be a riot among the people.”

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

7While Jesus was sitting there, a woman went to him with a bottle of very expensive perfume and poured it on his head.

8The disciples were irritated when they saw this. They asked, “Why did she waste it like this?

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

10Since Jesus knew what was going on, he said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me.

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

12She poured this perfume on my body before it is placed in a tomb.

13I can guarantee this truth: Wherever this Good News is spoken in the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

14Then one of the twelve apostles, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests.

15He asked, “What will you pay me if I hand him over to you?” They offered him 30 silver coins.

16From then on, he looked for a chance to betray Jesus.