It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might seize him by deception, and kill him.
Parallel translations
- KJV After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
- BSB Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away, and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a covert way to arrest Jesus and kill Him.
- NKJV After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.
- NASB Now the Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him covertly and kill Him;
- NLT It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and kill him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Two days before Passover, the chief priests and scribes plot to seize and kill Jesus by stealth. The plan to crucify the Lamb of God is underway.
Overview
As Passover approached — the feast commemorating Israel's redemption from Egypt — the leaders schemed against the one who would become the true Passover Lamb. Their secret plotting fulfills the long-foretold rejection of the Messiah. Yet even their wicked design served God's saving plan, for through this conspiracy the sacrifice for the world's sin would be accomplished (Acts 2:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Luke 22:1–2Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.
- Exod 12:6–20and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.
- John 13:1Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
- Deut 16:1–8Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
- Acts 4:25–28who by the mouth of your servant, David, said, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
- Lev 23:5–7In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover.
- Num 28:16–25“‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is Yahweh’s Passover.
- John 11:53–57So from that day forward they took counsel that they might put him to death.
- Ps 62:4They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
- John 11:47The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs.
- Matt 12:14But the Pharisees went out, and conspired against him, how they might destroy him.
- Matt 26:2–5“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
- Ps 64:2–6Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil;
- Ps 2:1–5Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
- Ps 52:3You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking the truth. Selah.
- Matt 6:2Therefore when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
- Ps 62:9Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 14:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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