1Immediately in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders and scribes and the whole council, held a meeting. Then they bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
2Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered, “Those are your words.”
3The chief priests accused him of many things.
4Pilate asked him again, “Don't you have an answer? See how many accusations they are making against you!”
5But Jesus gave no further answer, which made Pilate wonder.
6Now at the festival, Pilate always released one prisoner to them, whoever they requested.
7There was a man named Barabbas, who was imprisoned with other rebels who had committed murder during a rebellion.
8The crowd shouted loudly and began to demand that he do for them what he usually did.
9Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
10He knew that the chief priests had handed Jesus over out of jealousy.
11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released to them instead.
12Pilate asked them again, “So what should I do with the one you call the King of the Jews?”
13They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
14Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”
15Pilate, wanting to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them. After he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.
16The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace courtyard, which is called the Praetorium; then they called the whole company of soldiers together.
17They dressed him in a purple robe and made a crown out of thorns, which they placed on his head.
18They greeted him, saying, "Greetings, King of the Jews!"
19They hit his head with a stick, spit on him, and knelt down to show him false respect.
20After they had finished making fun of him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to nail him to a cross.
21They forced a man named Simon from Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), who was passing by on his way in from the countryside, to carry Jesus' cross.
22They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means "The Place of the Skull."
23They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he refused it.
24After they nailed him to the cross, they divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice to see what each person would get.
25It was nine in the morning when they nailed him to the cross.
26A sign was placed above him with the charge written on it: "THE KING OF THE JEWS."
27They also nailed two criminals to crosses with him, one on his right and one on his left.
28This fulfilled the Scripture that says, "He was counted among criminals."
29People who walked by insulted him, shaking their heads and saying, "Ha! You said you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days!
30Save yourself! Come down from the cross!"
31In the same way, the leading priests and the religious scholars made fun of him among themselves. They said, "He saved others, but he can't save himself.
32Let the Anointed One, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now so we can see it and believe." Even the criminals who were nailed to crosses with him insulted him.
33At noon, darkness covered the whole land until three in the afternoon.
34At three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
35When some of the people standing nearby heard him, they said, "Listen! He's calling for Elijah."
36Someone ran and soaked a sponge in sour wine, put it on a stick, and offered it to him to drink, saying, "Wait! Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down."
37Jesus shouted loudly and then died.
38The temple curtain tore in two, from top to bottom.
39When the Roman officer, who was standing nearby, saw how Jesus died, he said, "This man really was the Son of God!"
40There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
41These women had followed Jesus and served him when he was in Galilee. Many other women who had traveled with him to Jerusalem were also there.
42When evening came, it was Preparation Day, the day before the Sabbath.
43Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council who was also looking forward to God’s Kingdom, bravely went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
44Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. He called for the Roman officer and asked if Jesus had been dead for a while.
45After confirming with the officer, Pilate gave the body to Joseph.
46Joseph bought a linen cloth. He took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb carved out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
47Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, watched to see where he was laid.