Matthew 26:36-46

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. 26:45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 26:46 Get up, let us go. Look! My betrayer ⁸  is approaching!”

[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).

[26:46]  ⁸ tn Grk “the one who betrays me.”