Matthew 26:36-44

Gethsemane

26:36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 26:37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and became anguished and distressed. 26:38 Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” 26:39 Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, ¹  “My Father, if possible, ²  let this cup ³  pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 26:40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He ⁴  said to Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour? 26:41 Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, ⁵  “My Father, if this cup ⁶  cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done.” 26:43 He came again and found them sleeping; they could not keep their eyes open. ⁷  26:44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same thing once more.

[26:39]  ¹ tn Grk “ground, praying and saying.” Here the participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[26:39]  ² tn Grk “if it is possible.”

[26:39]  ³ sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.

[26:40]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:42]  ⁵ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[26:42]  ⁶ tn Grk “this”; the referent (the cup) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:43]  ⁷ tn Grk “because their eyes were weighed down,” an idiom for becoming extremely or excessively sleepy (L&N 23.69).