1 It was almost time for the Passover Festival. Jesus, knowing that his time had come, namely, to leave this world and return to the Father, and having already shown his love to those in the world who belonged to him, showed it to them right up to the very end. 2 Being served was the evening meal, and the devil had already put the thought of betraying Jesus into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 3 Although Jesus knew that the Father had placed under his authority the whole creation, and that it was from God that he had come and to God that he was about to return, 4 he rose from the meal and laid down his outer garments, and, taking a long linen towel, he tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured some water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the free end of the towel that he had tied around himself.

6 So he came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 “What I am doing,” replied Jesus, “ˢyou don’t understand right now. Yet ˢyou will understand after these things.”

8 “Never!” protested Peter. “You will never wash my feet!”

“If I don’t wash ˢyou,” replied Jesus, “you will have no share in the inheritance with me.”

9 “Lord,” said Simon Peter, “not my feet only, then, but my hands and my head, too!”

10 “If someone has bathed,” replied Jesus, “it is only his feet that he needs to wash; the rest of his body is already clean. ᵖYou disciples, likewise, are yourselves clean—albeit not all of you.” 11 (Jesus already knew which one of them was planning to betray him, you see. This is the reason why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”)

12 So when Jesus had finished washing their feet and had taken up his outer garments and put them back on, and had reclined at the table again, he said, “Do ᵖyou disciples understand the significance of what I’ve just done for you? 13 ᵖYou call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because I am. 14 If I, then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed ᵖyour feet, you yourselves must wash the feet, likewise, of one another. 15 Indeed, I have set for ᵖyou disciples an example, so that just as I have done for you, you, too, may do the same thing yourselves. 16 Amen, amen, I solemnly tell ᵖyou this: A slave is not greater than his master, nor is an apostle greater than the one who sends him. 17 If these things ᵖyou understand, blessed are ᵖyou if you do them.

18 “It isn’t all of you about whom I am speaking. I know those whom I chose for myself. Yet the Scripture must be fulfilled: ‘My close friend who shares my bread has turned against me.’+ 19 I’m telling ᵖyou this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe and trust that I AM who I AM.+ 20 Amen, amen, I solemnly tell ᵖyou this: If someone welcomes my messenger, it is me whom he is actually welcoming. And if someone welcomes me, he is actually welcoming the one who sent me.”

21 After these things had been said by Jesus, his spirit was in anguish, and he declared, “Amen, amen, I solemnly tell ᵖyou this: One of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples began to look at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. 23 One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus particularly loved, was reclining at the place of honor next to Jesus. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple to find out who in the world Jesus could possibly be talking about. 25 So, leaning back against Jesus’ chest, that disciple asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

26 “My close friend to whom I will give this piece of bread after I have dipped it in the dish,” replied Jesus, “he’s the one.” When he had dipped the piece of bread, then, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 And as soon as Judas received the bread, Satan entered him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What ˢyou’re about to do, do quickly.” 28 (None of the others reclining at the table understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Some of them thought, since Judas was in charge of the money-bag, that Jesus was telling him to go and buy the things they needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.) 30 So, after receiving the piece of bread, Judas left without delay. And it was night.

31 Now then, after Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be clothed and exalted in glory, and God will most assuredly receive glory and honor through what is about to happen to him. 32 If God receives glory and honor through him, God will also clothe and exalt him in glory in his own presence, and will do so indeed very soon. 33 My dear children, I will be with ᵖyou only a little while longer. ᵖYou will look for me, and just as I told the Jewish authorities, so I now say, too, to ᵖyou: Where I am going, ᵖyou will surely not be able to come. 34 It is a new commandment that I am giving ᵖyou, that you love one another. The same kind of love that I have shown ᵖyou, you yourselves, likewise, must show one another. 35 This is how everyone will know that ᵖyou are disciples of mine: If you show one another this kind of love.”

36 “Lord,” Simon Peter asked him, “where are you planning to go?”

“Where I am about to go,” replied Jesus, “ˢyou cannot with me come along now, though ˢyou will come along later.”

37 “Lord, why can I not with you come along right now?” asked Peter. “I will lay down for you my very life!”

38 “Will ˢyou really lay down for me your very life? Amen, amen, I solemnly tell ˢyou this: The rooster will certainly not crow until you have disowned me three times.”