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seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest;
50 Then they all forsook Him and fled. and with him were assembled all the chief
51 Now a certain young man followed Him, priests, the elders, and the scribes. But Peter
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having a linen cloth thrown around his naked followed Him at a distance, right into the
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body. And the young men laid hold of him, and courtyard of the high priest. And he sat with
he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. the servants and warmed himself at the fire.
DAY 16:Who was involved in the arrest of Jesus?
“Judas,one of the twelve,”was the betrayer (Mark 14:43).All the Gospel writers refer to him this
way (vv. 10,20; Matt. 26:14,47; Luke 22:47; John 6:71); and in so doing, they display remarkable
restraint in describing and evaluating Judas. Especially in this context, such a simple description
actually heightens the evil of his crime more than any series of derogatory epithets or negative crit-
icisms could do. It also points out the precise fulfillment of Jesus’announcement in vv. 18–20.
“A great multitude with swords and clubs” also was there. This “multitude” was a carefully
selected group whose sole purpose was arresting Jesus so He could be put to death.A cohort (600
men at full strength) of Roman soldiers (John 18:3,12) was in this crowd because the Jewish lead-
ers (see Luke 22:52) who organized the throng needed permission from Rome to carry out the
death penalty and feared the crowds. The “swords” were the regular small hand weapons of the
Romans, and the wood “clubs”were ordinary weapons carried by the Jewish temple police.
Then there were the “chief priests…scribes…elders.” Although 3 distinct sections of the
Sanhedrin, they were acting in unity. These Jewish leaders had evidently for some time hoped to
accuse Jesus of rebellion against Rome.Then, His execution could be blamed on the Romans and
the leaders could escape potential reprisals from those Jews who admired Jesus. The Sanhedrin
likely had hurried to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, to ask immediate use of his soldiers, or
perhaps acted on a prearranged agreement for troop use on short notice. Whatever the case, the
leaders procured the assistance of the Roman military from Fort Antonia in Jerusalem.

9 And the children of Israel took the women
MARCH 17 of Midian captive, with their little ones, and
took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and
all their goods. They also burned with fire all
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the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts.
Numbers 31:1–32:42 11 And they took all the spoil and all the booty—
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: of man and beast.
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31 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for 12 Then they brought the captives, the booty,
the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest,
gathered to your people.” and to the congregation of the children of Israel,
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So Moses spoke to the people, saying, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan,
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“Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them across from Jericho. And Moses, Eleazar the
go against the Midianites to take vengeance priest, and all the leaders of the congregation,
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for the LORD on Midian. A thousand from went to meet them outside the camp. But
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each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall Moses was angry with the officers of the army,
send to the war.” with the captains over thousands and captains
So there were recruited from the divisions over hundreds, who had come from the battle.
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of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve 15 And Moses said to them: “Have you kept
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thousand armed for war. Then Moses sent all the women alive? Look, these women
them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; caused the children of Israel, through the
he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the
of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a
the signal trumpets in his hand. And they plague among the congregation of the LORD.
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warred against the Midianites, just as the 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the lit-
LORD commanded Moses, and they killed all tle ones, and kill every woman who has known
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the males. They killed the kings of Midian a man intimately. But keep alive for your-
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with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, selves all the young girls who have not known
Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of a man intimately. And as for you, remain out-
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Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also side the camp seven days; whoever has killed
killed with the sword. any person, and whoever has touched any
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