15:1 | Early in the morning, after forming a plan, the chief priests with the elders and the experts in the law* and the whole Sanhedrin tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.* |
15:2 | So* Pilate asked him, “Are you the king* of the Jews?” He replied,* “You say so.”* |
15:3 | Then* the chief priests began to accuse him repeatedly. |
15:4 | So Pilate asked him again,* “Have you nothing to say? See how many charges they are bringing against you!” |
15:5 | But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. |
15:6 | During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people,* whomever they requested. |
15:7 | A man named Barabbas was imprisoned with rebels who had committed murder during an insurrection. |
15:8 | Then the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to release a prisoner for them, as was his custom.* |
15:9 | So Pilate asked them,* “Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?” |
15:10 | (For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.)* |
15:11 | But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release* Barabbas instead. |
15:12 | So Pilate spoke to them again,* “Then what do you want me to do* with the one you call king of the Jews?” |
15:13 | They shouted back, “Crucify* him!” |
15:14 | Pilate asked them, “Why? What has he done wrong?” But they shouted more insistently, “Crucify him!” |
15:15 | Because he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them. Then,* after he had Jesus flogged,* he handed him over* to be crucified. |
15:16 | So* the soldiers led him into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence)* and called together the whole cohort.* |
15:17 | They put a purple cloak* on him and after braiding* a crown of thorns,* they put it on him. |
15:18 | They began to salute him: “Hail, king of the Jews!”* |
15:19 | Again and again* they struck him on the head with a staff* and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him. |
15:20 | When they had finished mocking* him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes back on him. Then* they led him away to crucify him.* |
15:21 | The soldiers* forced* a passerby to carry his cross,* Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country* (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus). |
15:22 | They brought Jesus* to a place called Golgotha* (which is translated, “Place of the Skull”).* |
15:23 | They offered him wine mixed with myrrh,* but he did not take it. |
15:24 | Then* they crucified* him and divided his clothes, throwing dice* for them, to decide what each would take. |
15:25 | It was nine o’clock in the morning* when they crucified him. |
15:26 | The inscription* of the charge against him read, “The king of the Jews.” |
15:27 | And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left.* |
15:28 | [[EMPTY]] |
15:29 | Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, |
15:30 | save yourself and come down from the cross!”* |
15:31 | In the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law* – were mocking him among themselves:* “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! |
15:32 | Let the Christ,* the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him.* |
15:33 | Now* when it was noon,* darkness came over the whole land* until three in the afternoon.* |
15:34 | Around three o’clock* Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”* |
15:35 | When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!”* |
15:36 | Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine,* put it on a stick,* and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down!” |
15:37 | But Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. |
15:38 | And the temple curtain* was torn in two, from top to bottom. |
15:39 | Now when the centurion,* who stood in front of him, saw how he died,* he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” |
15:40 | There were also women, watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses,* and Salome. |
15:41 | When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support.* Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem* were there too. |
15:42 | Now* when evening had already come, since it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath),* |
15:43 | Joseph of Arimathea, a highly regarded member of the council,* who was himself looking forward to* the kingdom of God,* went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.* |
15:44 | Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He* called the centurion and asked him if he had been dead for some time. |
15:45 | When Pilate* was informed by the centurion,* he gave the body to Joseph. |
15:46 | After Joseph* bought a linen cloth* and took down the body, he wrapped it in the linen and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock.* Then* he rolled a stone across the entrance* of the tomb. |
15:47 | Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body* was placed. |