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Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death;
Matthew 26:59 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
  • BSB Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death.
  • NKJV Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death,
  • NASB Now the chief priests and the entire Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death.
  • NLT Inside, 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.

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.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Mark 14:55–56Now the chief priests and the whole council sought witnesses against Jesus to put him to death, and found none.
  • Acts 6:11–13Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”
  • Deut 19:16–21If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,
  • Acts 24:1–13After five days, the high priest, Ananias, came down with certain elders and an orator, one Tertullus. They informed the governor against Paul.
  • Ps 27:12Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty.
  • Ps 94:20–21Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute?
  • Ps 35:11–12Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
  • Matt 5:22But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
  • 1 Kgs 21:8–13So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, who lived with Naboth.
  • Prov 25:18A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (9)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 26:59YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 26:59 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.